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Essentially you are correct, the temperature and time is important for autoclaving - some bacteria form spores that are not killed by 100 degrees celsius, but the increased pressure allows this temperature to be reached, thus sterilising the things you put into the autoclave. The increased pressure means that water boils at a higher temperature than it does at standard air pressure according to the triple-point diagram for water.
#95361 principle of autoclaving
Posted
on 18 December 2010 - 07:20 PM
#95473 principle of autoclaving
Posted
on 20 December 2010 - 07:18 AM
what a lot of people forget is that once water is gaseous you can raise its temperature a lot higher than the boiling point (superheated steam, anyone?).
increasing the pressure in the autoclave can only serve to maintain the transition point at a higher temperature and you won't have to completely convert the liquid to gas to reach the higher temperatures required.
increasing the pressure in the autoclave can only serve to maintain the transition point at a higher temperature and you won't have to completely convert the liquid to gas to reach the higher temperatures required.
