Replacing a bulk sterilizer in an existing lab or pharmaceutical facility can be complicated by tight corridors, narrow doorways, or elevator limitations. Rather than disrupting your operation with costly construction, Beta Star’s Split Bulk Sterilizer provides a smarter, engineered solution.
When a major Pennsylvania university needed to replace an outdated autoclave inside an active research building, Beta Star’s custom Split Bulk design made it possible without tearing down walls or interrupting sensitive lab study activities.
The Challenge
The facility’s layout created multiple barriers to a standard bulk sterilizer installation:
Doorways and hallways limited egress for a single-piece chamber
Installation had to occur during the academic semester
The new system needed to fit existing loading carts and utilities
Overhead ducting restricted space for positioning the sterilizer
The university needed a solution that could navigate these constraints while maintaining ASME certification and performance reliability.
The Solution
Beta Star engineered a Split Bulk 49″ x 86″ x 86″ double-door sterilizer, designed to be transported in sections and assembled on-site. Each chamber section was built as a flanged pressure vessel to ASME Section VIII standards.
Before shipment, the sterilizer was fully assembled and tested at Beta Star’s facility. Once delivered:
The unit was split into three sections to pass through standard doorways
Sections were lowered and rotated into a custom pit for assembly
Final on-site welding, hydro-testing, and certification were completed overnight
The system also included Beta Star’s EnviroVac® water conservation technology and a touchscreen HMI control panel for simple, programmable operation.
Split Bulk Allows Door and Hallway Egress
The Result
The university successfully replaced its outdated bulk sterilizer without construction, downtime, or facility disruption. The project demonstrated how Beta Star’s Split Bulk Sterilizer design enables high-capacity sterilization upgrades in existing spaces that traditional systems can’t reach.
Key Benefits:
No wall removal or major renovation
Minimal impact on daily operations
ASME-certified quality and safety
Efficient installation with sustainable water use
Why Choose Beta Star
Beta Star’s Split Bulk Sterilizers are purpose-built for facilities facing egress challenges or modernization needs. Each system is custom-engineered for your space and delivered with expert installation, testing, and long-term service support.
For over 40 years, Beta Star Life Science Equipment has helped life-science and pharmaceutical organizations modernize sterilization capacity safely and efficiently.
Achieving sterility by using autoclaves is a difficult and sometimes delicate process. This delicacy of the process requires a significant investment in autoclave equipment, and maximizing the value of that initial investment is a great way to protect your facility’s assets. Refurbished autoclaves are a great way to maximize the lifetime value of investments in autoclaves.
In this article, we’ll define a new solution for refurbished autoclaves through a service we call Control Upgrades or Control Rebuilds. Deciding between these two methods is based on an inspection of the piping system (piping and valves) coupled with a discussion about autoclave performance issues.
In a significant percentage of situations where an autoclave is performing suboptimally, an aging control system has been at the root of the system. This fact is the focal point of our new approach to delivering a refurbished autoclave.
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Refurbished Autoclaves vs. Control Upgrades vs. Control Rebuilds
Traditional methods for refurbishing autoclaves typically involve the removal of an entire unit from the field for refurbishing at the manufacturer’s factory. You’re probably familiar with the process: remove an autoclave with performance issues from the lab, ship the unit to a manufacturer’s facility, complete the inspection process, make modifications, and then sell or reinstall the unit back into the laboratory. There are several problems with this method:
Significant downtime and cost: There is the potential for significant downtime and cost involved in shipping units from laboratory locations to the manufacturer’s factory.
Limited availability: If you’re purchasing a newly refurbished autoclave not originally from your facility, you are beholden to manufacturer availability. This availability can be limited with rapid changes in availability.
Facility disruption: removal and reinstallation of an existing autoclave can bring several days of disruption to a facility’s operations during both the removal and/or installation of the refurbished autoclave.
This is why we’ve developed Control Upgrades and Control Rebuilds as alternatives to a traditional refurbished autoclave. Simply put, these methods are a customer-proven process to refurbish an autoclave in the existing space. If an autoclave inspection determines that the piping system (piping and valves) has years of existing usable life left, we recommend a Control Upgrade to bring updated functionality, monitoring, and troubleshooting to the autoclave. If only the chamber and jacket have usable life, a Control Rebuild is recommended to refurbish the autoclave. Both of these methods are done onsite, minimizing downtime and costs associated with shipping, ensuring the availability of a refurbished autoclave, and minimizing disruption.
Can Control Upgrades and Rebuilds from Beta Star be completed only on Beta Star autoclaves?
No! We’ve completed control upgrades and rebuilds on a variety of manufacturers’ autoclaves.
Control Upgrade and Rebuild Process (for In-Lab Refurbished Autoclaves)
Refurbished Autoclaves Require a Chamber with Structural Integrity
The first step in the refurbished autoclave consideration process is an evaluation of the chamber and jacket. These core components make up a significant percentage of a new autoclave investment. If they are not able to be a part of a refurbished autoclave, then investing in a new autoclave is more cost-efficient. The age of the autoclave chamber, current condition, and water quality are three of the main evaluation points.
Age of the Chamber
Evaluating the age of the chamber requires an understanding of one number: 15. As in, 15 years. That number, for most autoclave manufacturers and sizes, is the standard chamber warranty.
Now, refurbishing an autoclave will void most, if not all, chamber warranties from the original manufacturer. But, this number gives insight into the confidence in the durability of the chamber through 15 years.
Current Condition
During the chamber condition process, technicians conduct a thorough inspection to check for any early signs of chamber corrosion potentially caused by corrosive autoclave loads and water quality. In addition, chamber sealing needs to be confirmed to ensure the door and chamber mechanism function as they should. Lastly, any weld seams along the chamber will be carefully examined.
Water Quality
If any hints of corrosion are detected, water quality tests may need to be conducted. The presence of water impurities will reduce the expected lifespan of the chamber. Water quality tests may be required if rouge (staining of the chamber) or hints of corrosion are detected during inspection.
Evaluating the Piping System with the Control System
After the chamber, an inspection of the piping system (piping and valves) is conducted to determine the estimated remaining life expectancy. At this stage, the experience of the technician is vital. This evaluation is best completed with years of experience analyzing piping systems while learning the warning signs as end-of-usable life approaches.
At the end of this evaluation, the condition of the piping system determines whether the Control Upgrade (replacing only the control system) or Control Rebuild (replacing the control and piping systems) is the recommended method.
Control Upgrades/Rebuilds vs. New: Why Go with the In-Lab Refurbished Autoclave Route?
The first (and arguably most important) reason to consider refurbishment is that it is a cost-effective solution for facilities looking to upgrade their sterilization equipment. Depending on the inspection, refurbished autoclaves are available at a fraction of the cost of a new unit. By choosing a refurbished autoclave, facilities can save significant amounts of money that can be used for other critical operations.
Secondly, the Control Upgrade/Rebuild route minimizes facility disruption. Acquiring a new autoclave can be a time-consuming process that involves extensive planning, installation, and validation (depending on the lab). In contrast, the Control Upgrade can be completed in as little as three days, minimizing downtime and reducing the impact on facility operations. This approach is especially important for facilities that cannot afford to shut down for extended periods of time.
Thirdly, purchasing new autoclaves can create a significant amount of unnecessary waste. When a facility replaces an autoclave, unit components are recycled when possible, but the remainder of the unit ends up in a landfill. The analysis completed ensures the lifespan of the chamber, jacket, and piping systems are maximized. This approach is not only environmentally responsible but also financially sustainable, as it requires investment only for the components that are at their end of life.
McNeal, an experienced sales manager, joins Beta Star’s growing autoclave sales team.
We are pleased to announce the addition of Jeremy McNeal to the Beta Star Team as Southern Regional Sales Manager for autoclaves across the Southeastern region of the United States. Jeremy brings over 18 years of experience in capital equipment sales through roles as a manufacturer’s rep, 3rd party rep, and even an entrepreneur.
In his new role, Jeremy will be providing sterilization solutions to new and existing clients. Jeremy’s deep understanding of the industry, derived from his varied professional roles, will help our customers find the right autoclave solution for their needs.
Jeremy is driven by a customer-centric problem-to-solution approach. “I find it important to work with every relevant stakeholder in an organization to learn about the unique problems, needs, and situations in their sterilization process. This allows us to offer the best options to each customer in an industry where one-size does not fit-all,” said McNeal.
Jeremy joins the team during a time of record growth in new business. He will be a crucial part of our ability to continue to serve new customers and organizations with simple and reliable sterilization solutions.
He’ll work with our engineering and service teams to be a resource for you. Based out of a home office in the Dallas Fort-Worth area, Jeremy will be the contact for the southeastern region of the United States. This includes Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.
Jeremy joins fellow sales managers Lynn Johnson and Bill Purvis to provide greater sales coverage to you. Lynn will continue as Western Regional Sales Manager out of his home office in Omaha, NE. Bill will continue as Eastern Regional Sales Manager out of Beta Star’s Honey Brook, PA headquarters, covering the northeast, Canada, and parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
Jeremy will be a great asset to our team. With his ability to listen to, and provide solutions for, your sterilization needs, we’re confident you’ll find him to be an asset to you. Please join us in welcoming Jeremy to the team!
Jeremy’s first week was spent training at Beta Star headquarters. He met his coworkers, learned from engineering and service departments, and shared his insights with the team.
An updated coverage map of the US, including Jeremy’s territory, gives us more resources to better serve the autoclave sales and solution development needs of existing and future customers.
