Autoclave study
Delphine Faugeroux
Office of Sustainability
1
What is an autoclave?
An autoclave is a pressure chamber used to sterilize equipment and supplies by
subjecting them to high pressure saturated steam at 121°C (250°F) for around 15–20
minutes depending on the size of the load and the contents.
Autoclave in
Genomics
Building
Capacity:
540 Liters
2
UCR autoclaves numbers
37 autoclaves on campus
Most of them are “Medical-grade” type
Designed for
constant
operation
Started monitoring two “Steris” autoclaves in August 2015
Entomology = Building #1: One autoclave in the building
Stand alone steam supply ; 24”x36”x36” ; 2001
Live energy monitoring: boiler + autoclave
Also has a water meter that is measured weekly
# of runs per day recorded
Genomic = Building #2: 8 autoclaves in the building
Connected to steam plant ; 36” ; 2008
Live water monitoring only
# of runs per day recorded
Water meter
installed on
autoclave in
Entomology
3
Autoclave Study Goals
How often are autoclaves used on campus?
# of runs per day
Weekend vs weekday
How much water / energy do they use?
During a run / When idle
What are the more efficient options?
Water and energy
How to ensure the procurement of efficient units?
Stakeholders
4
Building #2: WATER – Daily use
Daily Water use in Genomics Building
gallons of water used
# of runs per day * 1000
4,000
gals used per day
3,500
3,000
2,500
Meeting with a
technician to
reduce the
bleeding valve
flow
2,000
1,500
1,000
39 days with no
use: 15,933 gal
of water
500
0
9/18
9/25
10/2
10/9
10/16 10/23 10/30
11/6
11/13 11/20 11/27
12/4
12/11 12/18 12/25
1/1
1/8
1/15
1/22
1/29
2/5
2/12
2/19
2/26
No correlation between water use and number of runs
3/4
3/11
3/18
3/25
4/1
4/8
5
Building #2 : WATER – average per day
Since monitoring began: Average of 654 gal/day or 239,000 gal/year
Between 0 to 7 max runs per day
# runs per day
53%
when
idle
water - gal/day
8
4,000
7
7
3,500
6
3,000
5
2,500
3,362
2,000
4
1,500
3
1,000
654
2
500
0.56
1
0
0
0
-
min
min
max
max
average
average
7
Building #1: WATER and ENERGY
# runs per day
water - gal/day
6
4,000
5.00
energy - Kwh/day
250
3,583
3,500
5
200
3,000
175
4
3
2
2,500
150
2,000
125
1,500
100
648
1,000
0.46
1
-
500
40
max
average
• Between 0 to 5 max runs per day
84
75
50
25
0
min
222
225
11.20
-
min
max
average
min
max
average
Low use
• On average, the unit uses 84kWh/day and 30,600 kWh for 1 year, as much as 4.2 ULT
freezers – based on 20kWh/day
Stand alone unit
8
Autoclave study conclusion
Energy intensive: 84kWh/day
Water intensive:
For 37 autoclaves :
8,800,000 gal/year
1,134 MWh/year
Genomics: 654 gal/day
Entomology: 648 gal/day
Idle: 53% of water consumption
239,000
gal/year/autoclave
9
What are the other options on the market ?
Capacity up to: 500 Liters
Need warm up
time
Cycles are longer
Square Chambers
Use only 45 gal/cycle 18kW on-demand steam
No single pass cooling water 16,000 kWh/year for 5 cycle/day
10
New EHS Building – April 2016
Need low input: only for Bio-Hazard AND radioactive waste
Willing to try a different company, train potential users on site and use the unit as
a demo
Willing to add metering and share the data
Metering equipment: $1,200 , require collaboration with IT for internet connection
With energy and
water meters
11
Priorclave: Comparison with autoclave in Entomology
 Based on the average of 1 cycle per day
Energy and water use: Steris - Priorclave comparison for 1 run per day
700
648
600
500
400
300
81%
saving
200
100
93%
saving
84
43.8
15.6
0
energy - Kwh/day
Steris average
water - gal/day
Priorclave average
12
New EHS building – case study
Cost analysis:
Cost of a new unit:
•Steris: $52,110
•Priorclave: $39,865
+ maintenance : ̴ $3,000/year
+ maintenance : based on usage
+ metering equipment $1,200
Operational costs saved for 1 autoclave:
•Energy saving: 25,000 kWh per year saved or a minimum of $2,500/year @ $0.1/kWh
•Water saving : 220,000 gal/year
SAVING
1 years
15 years
20 years
25 years
Energy - $
$2,500
$37,500
$50,000
$ 62,500
Carbon - M Ton CO2
17.6
264
352
440
Water –M gallons
0.22 M
3.3 M
4.4 M
5.5 M
13
Choose the right autoclave
More than 1
run every 2
hours
Every day
“MEDICAL” Grade
“RESEARCH” Grade
Vacuum pumps / steam jacket
 Constant maintenance
expense
No vacuum pimp / No steam
jacket
 Maintenance only relative to
usage
“High-throughput” – designed
for 24/7 hospital use, over a
dozen cycles per day
“Light duty” – less than 5 cycles
per day
24/7 Independent steam
generator
On-demand in chamber steam
generator
Less than
1,000
cycles per
year
14
Stakeholders for the study
Building managers
Autoclave users
Facilities for installation
EHS employees - autoclave users targeted
Architects and Engineers Department
Planning Department for future project/new building
Scientific Procurement Department for replacement
 Develop a Procurement Guide for efficient scientific equipment
15