Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Make pressure tolerant containers! For liquid gases storage, diamond production and other.

AsocialSurvival - 9-11-2014 at 05:49

What is the best, but more common material for that? On what does it's strength depend? Is it density, mass, melting point, allotrope...? I know that Anvil cell is one very strong. But, why? What else can I use? Is strength increased by mass and thickness? What people have to know when they wanna build those containers and reactors?

phlogiston - 9-11-2014 at 11:57

Having trouble with your fusion reactor?

Bert - 9-11-2014 at 17:05

Personally, I ALLWAYS use Krell metal for these applications. Some have used transparent Aluminum, but that's a marginal improvised materials choice.

AsocialSurvival - 9-11-2014 at 23:07

:mad:

IrC - 10-11-2014 at 07:01

Quote: Originally posted by Bert  
Personally, I ALLWAYS use Krell metal for these applications. Some have used transparent Aluminum, but that's a marginal improvised materials choice.


If the Krell had used 26 inches of Aluminum Oxynitride instead of their metal Altair IV would still exist and Robbie would still have a job.

Etaoin Shrdlu - 10-11-2014 at 13:26

Okay, but first I want my infinite nitric acid reactor.

elementcollector1 - 10-11-2014 at 13:39

Actually, I'd like to know just what the standard practice is for high-pressure containers. From what I've discussed with a few professors, welded steel and sintering aren't going to work very well - so what does that leave?

Brain&Force - 10-11-2014 at 14:08

This is actually a valid question, unusually enough, if you scale down the requirements from interstellar to temps around 2000 C and a few atmospheres of pressure.

Diamond anvil cells can produce 300 gigapascals of pressure, but they're not feasible for the amateur. Those are, however, interesting for studying the different types of ice.

HgDinis25 - 10-11-2014 at 14:48

Quote: Originally posted by Bert  
Personally, I ALLWAYS use Krell metal for these applications. Some have used transparent Aluminum, but that's a marginal improvised materials choice.


I had to google Krell... Damn now I feel bad about my ignorance :P

Ontopic, it kind of depends on the pressure you're going to put on it. Diamond isn't produced inside pressurized containres, AFAIK.

Pressurized CO2 extinctors are a fairly good example of relatively high pressure gas containers.

Metacelsus - 10-11-2014 at 15:15

Fire extinguishers are nowhere close to what's considered "high pressure" in research.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piston-cylinder_apparatus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anvil_press (both for larger samples, a diamond anvil cell is usually used for smaller samples)

[Edited on 10-11-2014 by Cheddite Cheese]

Imperial - 21-11-2014 at 16:48

Many lab created gemstones these days are not made in high pressure vessels but rather through other means. For instance, Laser-heated pedestal growth is able to create extremely pure gem stones of almost any composition several hundred grams+ in just a few hours. Many industrial processes that produce huge 1-tonne blocks of stones (like huge blocks of sapphire/ruby) do so with basic chemical crystalization techniques over many months in big chambers. These stones are often far from pure, but pure segments are easily isolated.

There's a reason why diamond necklaces with synthetic diamonds only cost a couple hundred bucks, with it's "natural" counter part costing millions. The chemical composition is the same, although the synthetic is more chemically pure and therefor more brilliant. These days when people spend tons of money on jewelry they're doing it more for the rarity/historical factor, knowing their gems were naturally made in the earth.

Believe it or not it can be extremely difficult to produce synthetic gems in the laboratory that mimic their natural earthen counter parts.

We regularly produce synthetic gemstones in our lab for scientific applications. You would be surprised how incredibly hard it is to sell synthetic but chemically sound gem stones. Because of their synthetic ease they are worth next to nothing outside of the industries that use them for their chemical properties (optics, glass, touchscreens, those sorts of things).