Effective design for a laboratory discard sterilizer.

A modification of the direct air displacement system of processing laboratory discard material in an autoclave is described. The method overcomes many of the drawbacks encountered previously with existing laboratory sterilizers and yet provides an effective means of replacing air with steam in difficult laboratory discard loads. Plastic Petri dishes were used as the standard load and plastic boxes as the container. Thermocouple results indicate that the described method gives good steam penetration of the load and allows safe handling by the operator.