Steam Autoclaves - Priorclave Company Profile

Company Profile
Since our foundation in 1988 by staff with many years experience in the laboratory industry, Priorclave has grown to become one of the UK's premier manufacturers of Laboratory Autoclaves. Our present premises in South East London have been enlarged over the years to provide over 2,500 m² of manufacturing space.

		Manufacturing Policy
		It has always been our policy to re-invest significant amounts of our profits into Product Development and Manufacturing systems and equipment. Priorclaves are manufactured using modern CNC equipment, allowing us to respond quickly to our customer's demands for high quality cost effective equipment.
		At Priorclave we aim to manufacture as many components as possible ourselves giving us close control over the quality and manufacturing times. We are an approved manufacturer of Pressure vessels for our autoclaves with our manufacturing processes and designs carefully scrutinised by Zurich Insurance in addition to our BS EN ISO9001 Quality System.
Innovation At Priorclave we pride ourselves on our ability to introduce new ideas and processes into the Laboratory Autoclave market. Where we lead so often others follow: Low loading heights, compact designs, modular construction for easy upgrading, thermal safety lock on all models, full microprocessor control across the whole range, media warming, vacuum assisted cooling, application led literature. These now mostly commonplace features were introduced by Priorclave to the UK autoclave market.
		Commitment to Quality To continue to provide the best for our customers we are fully committed to: Operation of an ISO9001 Quality System Full EMC Compliance Testing Monitored approval of vessel design and welding procedures Continued investment in new technology Continued development of products, keeping quality conscious laboratories at the cutting edge of technology Design of equipment that is reliable, easy to operate and good value for money Continued use of the best materials available. For instance, our pressure vessels are only made from grade 316L stainless steel for its superior corrosion resistance over other grades. Maintaining a dedicated Service & Technical Support Team UKAS Accreditation as a Calibration Laboratory
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Safety

Autoclaves at working pressure can be dangerous, so for your protection Priorclaves include the following safety features:

All Pressure vessels are manufactured in-house and tested to 1.5 times their maximum working pressure:

Regulation safety valves to BS6759 are fitted to all Priorclaves and set to ensure microbiological as well as physical safety.

Priorclaves have thermal interlocks fitted with an override key for use at the operator's discretion on low risk loads. Serious accidents have occurred when removing liquids in glass bottles from autoclaves. Although the autoclave may look to be at a safe temperature bottles inside it may still be pressurised and could explode in contact with cooler air from outside, either within the autoclave or whilst unloading it. To protect against this hazard BS2646 requires a device preventing access until the load is cooler than 80^oC

Door retention devices guarding against residual pressure are fitted in accordance with the UK Health & Safety Executive's note PM73.

Pressure interlocks on all autoclave doors in addition to the interlocks and safety devices described above.

Non-tip shelves are fitted on front loading models.

Priorclaves are built to:

BS2646-1993

BS5500 cat.3

EN61010-2-41

EN5008-1 / EN50082-1

HSE Note PM73

European Pressure Vessel Directive -97/23/EC

Quality

ISO9001 Quality System