The Extreme Environments Team
The Extreme Environments Team is building the 4.4-foot supercritical extractor that will be used to make large sheets of aerogel, do supercritical chemistry, and evacuate large samples of materials.
An autoclave is a high-pressure vessel with controllable pressures and temperatures.
The Jumboclave
The jumbo autoclave being designed will be made of high-carbon steel, with a working pressure max of 3,000 psi and temperatures of 500 degrees Celsius. This will allow for supercritical research on aerogels and other reactions.
Inside the Jumboclave will be a set of robotic arms and automated injection systems designed to do chemistry in high-pressure environements.
The Jumboclave features two 2" diameter borosilicate windows for observation and illuminating the aerogels. The Jumboclave can support a variety of organic fluids and some inorganic. Flammable fluids are used with the Outer Aerogel-extractor Supercritical Evacuation System, or OASES. The evacuation system nuetralizes any gas that could seep out of the system.
The extractor will be able to make aerogels of sizes up to 9 square feet, up to 6 inches high.
The Manuclave is a 2.5" diameter high-carbon steel supercritical drying vessel that was built two years ago. It has been used nearly 100 times and has made nearly 50 aerogels.
The Manuclave was built by Stephen Steiner and operates on liquid carbon dioxide cylinders. Its maximum volume is 800 mL and typical operating times vary from 4 hours to 2 days. The maximum operating pressure is 2,000 psi and 200 degrees Celsius.
The vessel is heated with a gas burner and cooled in a freezer.
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