Double Ended Autoclaves

 A Double Ended, or Pass-through, steam sterilizer is typically used to provide a sterile path either from a Category 3 Containment Area to a lobby or from a Preparation Room into a Clean Room. For Category 3 machines the majority of the loads will be waste coming out of the Containment Area. For Clean Rooms the majority of the loads will be equipment going into the Clean Room.

Double Ended Priorclaves can be 150 to 360L, produced from any of the Front Loading models, except the Compact series and the Front Loading 100L – these models do not have enough body length to accommodate all of the required components. The Double Ended model will have a long end, which carries the service connections, and a short end. Both ends will have a Control Panel, but under normal circumstances one Control Panel will be for Control, and the other will be for indication, so the operator at the other end will know what is happening. Printers are normally fitted to the long end, as it is not good practice to have the paper output in the Containment or Clean Area.

We also recommend an electrically heated model, rather than steam heated, especially for waste. One of the features of a Category 3 waste machine is Effluent Retention. This is achieved by placing a 0.05 micron filter in the vent outlet to prevent organisms, including viruses, from exiting the autoclave. All condensate is held in the bottom of the chamber and is sterilized during the cycle. The problem with this is the water level quickly becomes too deep to heat successfully, leaving a cold spot in the bottom of the chamber. Most manufacturers use a steam jacket to heat this condensate but our view is this adds to the cost of construction and reduces the life of the chamber. By using our standard chamber configuration of generating steam in the bottom of the chamber, the condensate, which would otherwise have collected there, generates the steam, and is the hottest part of the chamber – additional security at no additional cost.

The following are typical considerations for Double Ended Priorclaves:

1. Direction of flow through the autoclave?
2. Where are doors hinged?
3. What is being sterilized?
4. Control from which end?
5. Printer at which end?
6. Position of water supply, drain, etc.?
7. Position of electrical supply?

Please Contact Us to request additional information on Priorclave Double Ended Steam Sterilizers.