- autoclave
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/aw"teuh klayv'/, n., v., autoclaved, autoclaving.n.1. a heavy vessel for conducting chemical reactions under high pressure.2. See pressure cooker.3. Med., Bacteriol. an apparatus in which steam under pressure effects sterilization.v.t.4. to place in an autoclave.
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Vessel, usually of steel, able to withstand high temperatures and pressures.The chemical industry uses various types of autoclaves in manufacturing dyes and in other chemical reactions requiring high pressures. In bacteriology and medicine, instruments, equipment, supplies, and culture media are sterilized by superheated steam in an autoclave. In 1679 Denis Papin (1647–с 1712) invented a prototype known as a steam digester; still used in cooking, it is now called a pressure cooker.* * *
▪ vesselvessel, usually of steel, able to withstand high temperatures and pressures. The chemical industry uses various types of autoclaves in manufacturing dyes and in other chemical reactions requiring high pressures. In bacteriology and medicine, instruments are sterilized by being placed in water in an autoclave and heating the water above its boiling point under pressure.In 1679 Denis Papin (Papin, Denis) invented the steam digester, a prototype of the autoclave that is still used in cooking and is called a pressure cooker.The name autoclave indicates a self-closing vessel with internal pressure sealing its joints, but many autoclaves are kept closed by external mechanical means.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
