A Dickson-type reactor is an experimental arrangement that can be used to simulate various processes occurring in hydrothermal systems under laboratory conditions.
Dickson-Type Reactor
The method
This flexible reaction cell setup was initially described by Dickson et al. (1963) and later significantly modified by Seyfried et al. (1979, 1987). It can be utilized to investigate equilibrium processes that occur within hydrothermal systems. Fluid and solid reactants reside within a corrosion resistant flexible reaction cell made of gold or titanium (Wu et al. 2016). Pressure and temperature can be adjusted independently up to a level of 50 MPa and 400 °C. The setup allows for concomitant fluid sampling and solid reactants can be recovered upon termination of an experiment. Four customized autoclave systems are available in the Hydrothermal Lab (HyLab) of the Petrology of the Ocean Crust research group.
Contact person for technical information
References
- Dickson FW, Blount CW, Tunell G (1963): Use of hydrothermal solution equipment to determine the solubility of anhydrate in water from 100 °C to 275 °C and from 1 bar to 1000 bars pressure. American Journal of Science.
| doi:10.2475/ajs.261.1.61 | - Seyfried WE, Gordon PC, Dickson FW (1979): A new reaction cell for hydrothermal solution equipment. American Mineralogist.
| PDF | - Seyfried WE, Janecky DR, Berndt ME (1987): Rocking autoclaves for hydrothermal experiments. II. The flexible reaction-cell system. In: Hydrothermal Experimental Techniques. Wiley-Interscience Publications.
| PDF | - Wu SJ, Cai MJ, Yang CJ, Li KW (2016): A new flexible titanium foil cell for hydrothermal experiments and fluid sampling. Review of Scientific Instruments.
| doi:10.1063/1.4963700 |