X-ray transparent flow reactors

The method

This flow-through set­up was de­si­gned un­der the lead of Dr. Wolf-Achim Kahl and enables per­co­la­ti­on ex­pe­ri­ments in­ves­ti­ga­ting the in­ter­de­pen­den­cies of po­ro­si­ty, per­me­a­bi­li­ty, flu­id flow ra­tes as well as pore space geo­me­try and their feed­back re­la­ti­ons­hip in the cour­se of dis­so­lu­ti­on and pre­ci­pi­ta­ti­on re­ac­tions (Kahl et al. 2016). Rock co­res (up to a diameter of 19 mm) or pow­der sam­ples are con­fi­ned wi­t­hin an X-ray trans­pa­rent flow-trough re­ac­tion cell made of PEEK (po­ly­ethe­re­ther­ke­to­ne). Tem­pe­ra­tu­re can be ad­jus­ted up to a le­vel of 200 °C, whi­le a flu­id re­ac­tant can be forced through the so­lid re­ac­tant wi­t­hin the cell at pres­su­res up to 10 MPa. Whi­le flu­id sam­ples can be drawn at any time, in ad­di­ti­on, re­ac­tion pro­gress can be mo­ni­to­red through re­pea­ted mi­cro­to­mo­gra­phic scans (µ-CT). Three flow-through set­ups are avail­able in the Hydro­ther­mal Lab (Hy­Lab) of the Pe­tro­lo­gy of the Oce­an Crust re­se­arch group.

References

Kahl W-A, Hansen C, Bach W (2016): A new X-ray-transparent flow-through reaction cell for a μ-CT-based concomitant surveillance of the reaction progress of hydrothermal mineral–fluid interactions. Solid Earth 7, 651-658.
| doi:10.5194/se-7-651-2016 |