Piston Cylinders

The High Pressure group operates a number of different conventional solid-media piston-cylinder apparatus. Most piston-cylinders are of the end-loaded type with 14 and 19 mm piston bores; similar to the original Boyd & England type design. We also operate a non-endloaded apparatus with a 22 mm bore. We commonly use NaCl and NaCl-pyrex-MgO/BN assemblies with straight graphite furnaces and Pt₆Rh-Pt₃₀Rh (B-type) thermocouples, except for highest temperature applications where W-Re thermocouples are being employed. Pressure can range from 0.5 - 4.0 GPa and is controlled with worm-gear-type automatic pressure control systems. Experiments encompass applications ranging from igneous and metamorphic petrology to material synthesis, fluid equilibria and element partitioning questions to rheological behaviour of molten and partially molten systems.

People interested to work in our laboratories are welcome; for interesting projects, we provide access to our experimental and analytical facilities to external users, mainly through collaborations. We may be able to provide limited funding for short term visitors.