Steam Sterilizer

The basic principle of steam sterilization, as accomplished in an autoclave, is to expose each item to direct steam contact at the required temperature and pressure for the specified time. Thus, there are four parameters of steam sterilization: steam, pressure, temperature, and time.Steam sterilization is achieved by exposing the items to be sterilized with saturated steam under pressure. Steam enhances the ability of heat to kill microorganisms by reducing the time and temperature required to denature or coagulate proteins in the microorganismsUsing steam followed by dry heat would enable the dry heat to dry the load after the moist heat had destroyed most microorganisms. Spores resistant to moist heat are not typically resistant to dry heat and vice versa, so some sterilization may occur with time in dry heat after steam sterilization.