The relation between the load, duration, and steam penetration capacity of a surface steam sterilization process: a case study

In practice it is claimed that load characteristics influence a surface steam sterilization process. To the best of our knowledge, no information on this topic has been found in the literature. The purpose of this study was to find if a load influences the duration and related characteristics of a surface steam sterilization process. In a case study, every load monitoring using an objective, quantifying steam penetration test was performed during 30 days. This resulted in 98 production processes with load monitoring. The acquired data were analyzed. A relation between the weight of a load and the duration of a surface steam sterilization process has been found. In this case study, it is demonstrated that the process time increases with the weight of the sterilizer load. Additionally, it is concluded that when the duration of a process is longer, diffusion will have a greater effect and steam penetration increases.