The steam generators in the mechanical room are at 35 psi. This allows us to use the autoclave on the third floor. I'm not certain if this is related to decreased demand from the campus or the warm damp conditions outside today. Please get as much done as you can while I try to untangle our new favorable conditions.

Happy new year to everyone!

The following biosafety cabinets will be certified Monday morning 12/20 starting at 8:00 AM

All,

The boilers in the basement continue to limp along. It appears that the heating load associated with the campus being occupied and the heating needs associated along with reduced steam temperatures coming into the building keep us from achieving the minimum 20 PSI required to run the autoclave units. 

The steam generated is sufficient for the vivarium humidity and fluctuates based on outdoor temperatures and humidity. With warm weather forecast for the weekend, I've turned on the unit on the 3rd floor for the weekend. The units on 2 and 4 have leaks in the supply pipes which will be repaired next Thursday. 

I am working to get proposals for individual steam generator units installed on each research floor along with one in the cell processing facility in the basement which could be isolated to that individual autoclave or if combined potentially supplement the entire steam needs for the building. 

I have been moving the autoclave waste to Chemistry for sterilization and disposal, please continue to leave your autoclavable waste in the autoclave rooms. 

I wish I had better news, Construction services is aware and also working on a solution. 

UMBC will be producing a segment of "The College Tour" this Sunday in the lobby area of the building. 

I just want everyone to be aware of this if you're in this weekend.. 

The campus is doing work on the high temperature hot water (steam) system away from the building. However our boilers supplying steam to both the vivarium and autoclaves are being seriously affected by the work. 

Autoclaves are available now through first thing Monday morning, after that I will turn them off for the duration of the repair work. The projected length at this point is 14 to sixteen days after Monday, but the university is trying to reduce the length as best as possible. 

Engineering, Chemistry and Biology have all offered assistance with their units, however Biological sciences is very tied up with their current capacity. 

Please get as much as you can plan for your research done in the next several days and then coordinate your needs over the next few weeks so I can coordinate the logistics for our needs.

I'm sorry to have to get you this unfortunate news on short notice, but these repairs will help us all in the long run. 

The Steris tech will need to have the units turned off on Wednesday evening to change the exhaust valves the next day. I'll be turning the units off around 5:00 PM on Wednesday to make sure everything is ready. Please plan on having your autoclaving done Wednesday prior to 4:00. Thank you!

Steris will be out this week to do our quarterly autoclave inspections and work on some error messages we've been seeing. It appears that Jaclyn will be in on Thursday at this point, please make a note of this and plan around the work.

Thank you!

B&V will be out to complete this year's biosafety cabinet certifications next week, November 11th and 12th. Each certification takes about an hour. Please be aware of this and try to plan around it. 

Most of the units on the upper floors have been certified late this past summer. If you're unsure, the certification sticker should be on the right hand side of the sash with the last date of inspection. 

Thank you all for your attention.

I'll be out of the office most if not all of next week, I will be checking email so please feel free to email me any problems or concerns which come up.

The Autoclave PMs scheduled for tomorrow have been cancelled due to quarantine protocols. 

The PMs will be conducted during the first week of November. 

The boiler work is still scheduled for Friday, so everyone has an extra day to catch up on autoclaving. 

One of the two steam generators for the building needs to have a gasket replaced this Friday. This will necessitate the boiler being turned off Thursday evening so the unit is cool enough to work on the following day.

With Steris doing preventive maintenance tomorrow and a single unit handling the entire building, we may not have sufficient steam pressure to run the autoclaves on Friday, this remains to be seen, but I want to err on the side of caution. 

That being said, please get as much autoclaving done today or over the weekend for your needs early next week, We will be supplementing the vivarium with portable humidifiers over the next several days to help with the capacity of the single boiler.

Thank you for your understanding.