Saturated steam autoclaves construction

Saturated steam autoclaves are generally provided with a jacket, that is constituted by a second wall that more or less fully encloses the inner chamber and thus forms a secondary space around it. For the sake of brevity, the various jacket construction methods are not presented here. The purpose of a jacket is summarized as follows 1) to preheat the autoclave initially and keep it warm during loading/imloading 2) to preheat the load during the initial air removal phase 3) to contribute to the drying of the load in the final vacuum phase and 4) to reduce any condensate entrained by the steam. 

Most of the textured apparel and industrial yams are woven or knitted directly into fabric. The carpet BCF yams can be tufted directly off package into loop pile or velvet constructions. For the textured saxony constructions, the BCF and the spun staple yams must be ply-twisted and heat-set. The heat-setting temperature for nylon-6 and nylon-6,6 is 180—220°C in hot—dry atmosphere, and 120—140°C in saturated steam. The yams are twist-set in pressurized autoclaves or continuously on the Superba and Suesson machines (121). Before setting the twist, the yam is heated and relaxed for predevelopment of the bulk. 

Great care is needed in the design of autoclaves and sterilization cycles because of the requirement for the presence of moisture. The autoclave must be loaded to allow complete steam penetration to occur in all parts of the load before timing of the sterilization cycle commences. The time required for complete penetration, the so-called heat-up time, varies with different autoclave construction and different types of loads and packaging materials. The time may not exceed specific limits in order to guarantee reproducibility and, for porous loads, saturated steam. The volume of each container has a considerable effect on the heatup time whenever fluids are sterilized. Thermocouples led into the chamber through a special connector are often employed to determine heatup times and peak temperatures. The pressure is relieved at the end of each sterilization cycle. Either vented containers must be used or... 

---