Preserva Lab

Hot Aia Oven

A Hot Air Oven is a type of electrical devices which use dry heat to sterilize equipment that cannot be wet and on material that will not melt, catch fire, or change form when exposed to high temperatures. It is an electrically heated drying chamber, suitable for drying granules, with double-walled body housing, insulated with heavy fibreglass wool, with special U type heaters, air circulation fan, thermostat, panel box etc. The machine is duly painted and finished inside with heat resistant aluminium paint.

Hot Air Oven features the use of mild steel sheet and duly powder coated outer body finish as well as inner chambers and perforated trays, also made of stainless steel metal to provide for durable process support. The system also features mineral wool-based filling between spaces of the inner chamber and an outer wall that provides for minimum thermal losses. Furthermore, the presence of a synthetic door gasket made of neoprene on the double-walled door as well as adjustable shelving provision also adds to the utility value of the system.

Advantages and disadvantages:

Unlike an autoclave, Hot Air Ovens are safer to work with and they do not require water and there is not much pressure build-up within the oven. This also makes them more suitable to be used in a laboratory environment. They are much smaller than autoclaves but can still be as effective. They can be more rapid than an autoclave and higher temperatures can be reached compared to other means. However, as they use dry heat instead of moist heat, some organisms like prions, may not be killed by them every time, based on the principle of thermal inactivation by oxidation.

Applications:

A complete cycle involves heating the oven to the required temperature, maintaining that temperature for the proper time interval for that temperature, turning the machine off and cooling the articles in the closed oven till they reach room temperature. The standard settings for a hot air oven are-

• 1.5 to 2 hours at 160 °C (For sterilization)
• 6 to 12 minutes at 190 °C (For sterilization)
• Usage for dry heat to sterilize articles.
• Suitability in Hospitals and laboratories.

Precaution:

• Do not set the temperature near or below the ambient if the supply voltage is less than 220V or more than 240V.
• Do not overload the equipment with the samples.
• Do not block the air passage area with samples.
• Do not place anything on top of the equipment or do not stand on the top of the equipment.
• Install the backside of the equipment 300 mm away from the wall.
• Leave a minimum of 15 mm free space from all sides of the equipment.
• Keep the unit horizontally levelled.