Device for the Study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization

Device for the Study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization (DECLIC) is designed for special inserts that allow researchers to study both ambient-temperature critical-point fluids and high-temperature super-critical fluids. A separate class of inserts is designed to study the dynamics and morphology of the fronts that form as a liquid material solidifies. DECLIC is a multi-user facility developed by the French Space Agency, CNES, and flown in collaboration with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration to support experiments in fluid physics and materials science. When in use, DECLIC is installed in an EXPRESS Rack.

The top drawer of DECLIC is called Experiment Locker (EXL) and contains the DECLIC optical bench. The optical bench contains several optical and optoelectronic sensors to perform measurements at low or high acquisition rates. The EXL receives the experimental insert, where the material to be investigated is conditioned. The lower drawer of DECLIC is called the Electronic Locker (ELL) and contains the thermal control system and all the electronic systems necessary for autonomous operation of the system. A DECLIC insert includes electronics and a thermostat that houses the cell containing the material being investigated. The electronics and the thermostat provide the temperature and temperature gradient necessary for the experiment.

DECLIC supports three inserts. The Alice Like Insert (ALI) is dedicated to the study of the gas-liquid phase change near the SF6 critical point and the study of the piston effect (i.e., the rapid and homogeneous transmission of the thermal power injected into a critical fluid subject to heating from the wall of the cell). The High Temperature Insert (HTI) is used to study heat and mass transfer in supercritical, high-temperature and high-pressure water and measure its physical properties. The Directional Solidification Insert (DSI) is used to observe the microstructures that form at the liquid-solid interface during the solidification of a transparent material.