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.

Technical specifications

Non-endloaded Piston Cylinder (Johannes-Type)

  • Pressure range: 3 - 22 kbar (0.3 - 2.2 GPa)
  • Temperatures  to 1000°C (currently limited by full NaCl assemblies)
  • Piston bore: 22mm
  • Piston ram: 180 tons
  • Assembly: NaCl (and NaCl-pyrex-MgO for high-temperature applications)
  • Large sample capacity: Up to four 2.3 mm capsules or single 1/4" capsule

End-loaded Piston Cylinders (Boyd-England-Type)

  • Pressure range: 5- 40 kbar (0.5 - 4 GPa)
  • Temperature range: up to 1800°C
  • Piston bore: 14 and 19mm (3/4")
  • Piston rams: 90 and 150 (3/4") tons
  • End-load rams: 250-320 tons
  • Assembly: NaCl, NaCl-Pyrex-MgO/BN, Talc-Pyrex-Al2O3/BN
  • Sample capacity: Up to three 2.3mm capsules or single 4mm capsule

Contact

Dr. Christian Liebske
  • NW E 76.1
  • +41 44 632 78 03

Inst. für Geochemie und Petrologie
Clausiusstrasse 25
8092 Zürich
Switzerland

JavaScript has been disabled in your browser