22 ANALYTICAL AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
chosen as the specialist contractor to design and build the turnkey, laboratory containment facility from start to finish. Tis included: the demolition and alteration to the building structure; the selection of the pass-through autoclave and other laboratory capital equipment and furniture; the organisation of the full commissioning and validation of all the capital equipment they sourced for the containment suite.
According to Nick Henley, CDC’s Contracts Director, Priorclave’s already proven track record with Brunel University had secured them as the preferred supplier of the laboratory autoclave in the new containment suite.
Double door/ pass-through type autoclaves
Lee Oakley examines the issues around specifying, design and installation of a double door/pass-through-type autoclaves for clean room and containment applications.
B
runel University based in Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK, needed a new pass-through
autoclave for their new CAT III containment laboratory suite to be installed within the Heinz Wolf building. Tis would provide a Centre for Infection, Immunity and Disease Mechanisms, and a School of Health Sciences with a CAT II and CAT III Research Facility.
www.scientistlive.com Above A view of the autoclave from
within the containment room.
Te company contracted to source the autoclave based on the Brunel brief was Cleanroom Design and Construction Limited (CDC) based in Stourbridge. As CDC have considerable experience in the type of laboratories Brunel University require they were
Pass-through or double entry autoclaves are used in relatively small numbers and require, often complicated, building work as part of the installation process. For this reason double entry units are considered, to some extent, bespoke and create degrees of flexibility which raises additional points for consideration. Such points for example may include the application – clean room or containment, the direction of workflow, door swing profile, thermocouple entry ports etc.
Logistics in delivery Prior to quotation is an on-site survey to locate the services after which final manufacture would require the full details of the proposed locations and operation routes. However, while Priorclave met with Dr Anthony Tsolaki of Brunel University to discuss the requirements of the autoclave and the best options to suit, it was impossible to do a full site survey as the would-be laboratory was a building site with no walls. Nevertheless, the Priorclave representative was able to walk the route from entry into the building to the laboratory. Te route required the use of a goods lift and passing through single doorways as narrow as 900mm, then through another laboratory whose entrance lay between a sink and a bench. Tere
are many obstacles just waiting to create difficulties and if these can be anticipated at the site survey then corrective measures during manufacture and at the point of delivery can minimise or even eliminate costly and nasty surprises.
Performance characteristics Dr Tsolaki explained that the autoclave needed to be electrically heated or have its own separate steam generator as there was no on-site steam available. Due to the nature of the cycles the autoclave would fulfil, it would also need a vacuum facility, a printer and an exhaust filtration system for the containment of any hazardous pathogens. It was also noted that the hardness of the water around Uxbridge would require the installation of a water softener.
At this point Priorclave needed to specify the autoclave by using room drawings. After deciding on a 350L capacity version, Priorclave submitted drawings to CDC with the autoclave in-situ and various changes were made by CDC to accommodate the unit. One of the main problems of pass-through autoclaves is space inside the machine to house the workings. Te more options on the autoclave the more space is required beneath the chamber to fit them - on a pass-through autoclave there is a wall taking up valuable space. For this reason as well as cost, Priorclave opted for elements within the chamber rather than supply an autoclave with a separate steam generator. Te former uses less power as the autoclave is switched on only when in use while a separate steam generator would be kept on all day, even when the autoclave is not in use.
In the case of Brunel University, their application of this autoclave was for containment purposes. It is used for the de-contamination of material prior to its release from the containment suite which would be hazardous material. Both ends of the autoclave were required to be isolated and were sealed at the
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