Autoclaves - INCR

The Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI) at the original occupation contained 3 wash-up rooms, each serving a floor of the building. A total of 8 autoclaves were located in the 3 wash-up rooms, and the steam required for their operation was provided by the building steam supply.

One of the wash-up rooms was removed during the recent East Module refurbishment. The autoclaves and glass washers within the remaining 2 wash-up rooms were obsolete and beyond repair by 2022/2023. One of the wash-up rooms was refurbished and fitted with new autoclaves with self-steam generators and glass washers as part of the 2023/24 Capital Equipment bids. The original building steam generator also reached the end of life in the same period, and given the move to self-steam-generated autoclaves, the steam plant was removed in 2025. sThe facility initially anticipated the requirement for 2 additional autoclaves to sterilise biological waste; however, having analysed the use of the autoclaves fitted in 2023/24, there is sufficient resilience to reduce the requirement to one autoclave with a drying cycle and self-steam generation to complement the current equipment within the QMRI building.