Supercritical drying chamber for aerogel production

[pietzeekoe]

is that dry ice at the end?

[bkraz333]

@pietzeekoe Yup!

[dtiydr]

To see if its leaking just put it in water and you would se -exactly- where it leaks. Even small leaks you cant hear would easly been seen in water, just a tip.

Btw just love your vids on doing aerogel tnx!

[gargleful]

Where did you get the liquid co2?

[bkraz333]

@gargleful A local welding supply store. They sell CO2 in tanks with or without siphon tubes.

[budforever442200]

Very cool!! Are you going to try a caffeine extraction from coffee beans? Oh please extract some caffeine from beans! Subscribed.

[smitty3919]

I really like how you check for leaks on your chamber.... good idea

[bogdanbelcea]

What kind of Aerogel will t be ?

[allknighter]

Still, congratulations on your experiment - I hope it goes well!

[allknighter]

Hi! I make aerogels for a living! Did you use aerogel.org for the design of your autoclave? I'm a little concerned about the brass fittings on your reactor - all parts should be rated for 1500 PSI at minimum. Also, you ought to consider adding a pressure gauge and pop-safety valve on your reactor, as the pressure of supercritical CO2 can easily go over the maximum rating of your window. Finally, anyone working with supercritical CO2 NEEDS safety glasses! Respect the pressure!

[artifactingreality]

Thank you for these videos; it is nice to watch engineers and inventors doing interesting things and I think the world will become very interesting once a "critical mass" of inventors are publishing their work online. That is really what we need in the 21st century and I salute you sharing your skills and time like this.

[mtktm]

what is aerogel?

[bkraz333]

@mtktm I'll take "what are internet search engines" for $500.

[oisiaa]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the aerogel videos.

[butteredskatoast]

What about heat to make the liquid supercritical? It looks like its going supercritical at 1:43, but how? Can't wait to see the next video! This is exciting stuff! What do you plan on doing with the aerogel?

[bkraz333]

@butteredskatoast Yeah, I should have explained it. I was just opening a valve and letting the liquid CO2 boil. The chamber was at room temperature. I will use a flexible heater cable wrapped around the pipe fitting to raise the temperature above the critical point.

[KiloSierraAlpha]

Awesome :))) Can't wait to see you make aerogel!

PS: To check how much CO2 you have in the tank, use a weight scale ;) You'll need to check how much the empty tank weighs first... there's spec sheets for them online.

[keits96]

Nice, can't wait for the result ;)

[pquackenbush]

Next time try the yellow teflon tape, which is meant for gas fittings. It's much thicker and does not tear like the cheap white tape.

[cyrex686]

Are those just regular brass water fittings?