4 ms·

I'm pretty sure it is because when there is high pressure the boiling point of water is higher.

Aachen 2mo ago
How would that help? It never says water, always steam, and it needs to get in all crevices evenly which afaik is easier with a gas than a liquid. If the steam condenses to water (for example due to raising its boiling point above the autoclave's temperature of ~125°C) that'd probably be bad Apparently at 2 bars, water boils at 120°C. The first temperature mentioned on Wikipedia is 121°C. That's awfully close; but elsewhere the article is quite clear about using higher-than-atmospheric atmospheric pressure. I don't see an explanation that fits all the mentioned facts
- Eisenstein 2mo ago
  > If the steam condenses to water (for example due to raising its boiling point above the autoclave's temperature of ~125°C) that'd probably be bad If water boils at 100C then steam condenses at 99C. If water boils at 120C then steam condenses at 119C. > higher-than-atmospheric atmospheric pressure. What does that mean? > I don't see an explanation that fits all the mentioned facts Is it really a difficult concept? If the boiling point rises so does the condensation point.
  - Dylan16807 2mo ago
    Yes, pressure raises the boiling point. But if we want it to be steam, isn't that a bad thing? Don't we want a nice big safety margin between our active steam temperature and the temperature it condenses?
    - Eisenstein 2mo ago
      > But if we want it to be steam, isn't that a bad thing? Not if we want the steam to be hotter. > Don't we want a nice big safety margin between our active steam temperature and the temperature it condenses? Water is in one of three states: liquid, gas, solid. It has to be one of those. Where does the margin come from?
      - Dylan16807 2mo ago
        You're phrasing that like you're unaware you can keep heating stean after boiling it. Steam can be 100C at 1atm, it can be 125C at 1atm, it can be 500C at 1atm.
        Eisenstein 2mo ago
        The autoclave does not superheat steam.
        Dylan16807 2mo ago
        Okay. Now we're back at the original unanswered question, which is why it's doing it that way. Is the pressure helping directly? Why not use a heater; is dangerous levels of pressure easier than an extra heating element?
        Eisenstein 2mo ago
        When you raise the pressure the boiling point of water increases which makes steam which is hotter than 100C. This is not 'superheated' because it is still at the boiling point (which is raised by pressure). This will condense on things inside the autoclave and dump the its heat into the thing killing anything on it. If you superheat the steam it is just as effective as air, which is to say not very. If you want to know more than that, you need to ask someone else, because that's about the extent of my knowledge.
        Dylan16807 2mo ago
        Okay so the answer to my first question of "if we want it to be steam" is "not particularly, letting it condense is good". It took some roundabouts but we got there. Thanks for the information.

How would that help? It never says water, always steam, and it needs to get in all crevices evenly which afaik is easier with a gas than a liquid. If the steam condenses to water (for example due to raising its boiling point above the autoclave's temperature of ~125°C) that'd probably be bad Apparently at 2 bars, water boils at 120°C. The first temperature mentioned on Wikipedia is 121°C. That's awfully close; but elsewhere the article is quite clear about using higher-than-atmospheric atmospheric pressure. I don't see an explanation that fits all the mentioned facts

Eisenstein 2mo ago
> If the steam condenses to water (for example due to raising its boiling point above the autoclave's temperature of ~125°C) that'd probably be bad If water boils at 100C then steam condenses at 99C. If water boils at 120C then steam condenses at 119C. > higher-than-atmospheric atmospheric pressure. What does that mean? > I don't see an explanation that fits all the mentioned facts Is it really a difficult concept? If the boiling point rises so does the condensation point.
- Dylan16807 2mo ago
  Yes, pressure raises the boiling point. But if we want it to be steam, isn't that a bad thing? Don't we want a nice big safety margin between our active steam temperature and the temperature it condenses?
  - Eisenstein 2mo ago
    > But if we want it to be steam, isn't that a bad thing? Not if we want the steam to be hotter. > Don't we want a nice big safety margin between our active steam temperature and the temperature it condenses? Water is in one of three states: liquid, gas, solid. It has to be one of those. Where does the margin come from?
    - Dylan16807 2mo ago
      You're phrasing that like you're unaware you can keep heating stean after boiling it. Steam can be 100C at 1atm, it can be 125C at 1atm, it can be 500C at 1atm.
      - Eisenstein 2mo ago
        The autoclave does not superheat steam.
        Dylan16807 2mo ago
        Okay. Now we're back at the original unanswered question, which is why it's doing it that way. Is the pressure helping directly? Why not use a heater; is dangerous levels of pressure easier than an extra heating element?
        Eisenstein 2mo ago
        When you raise the pressure the boiling point of water increases which makes steam which is hotter than 100C. This is not 'superheated' because it is still at the boiling point (which is raised by pressure). This will condense on things inside the autoclave and dump the its heat into the thing killing anything on it. If you superheat the steam it is just as effective as air, which is to say not very. If you want to know more than that, you need to ask someone else, because that's about the extent of my knowledge.
        Dylan16807 2mo ago
        Okay so the answer to my first question of "if we want it to be steam" is "not particularly, letting it condense is good". It took some roundabouts but we got there. Thanks for the information.