Researchers have developed a new container-less chemical reactor which allows astronauts to conduct ‘suspended’ chemical experiments. The reactor, called Space-Drums, has now been installed on the International Space Station.
The device, which has been developed by an international team of scientists (including Professor Nick Pace from the University of Bath’s Department of Physics), allows the crew to develop new materials in zero gravity without them coming into contact with anything.
Explaining the technology, Professor Jacques Yves Guigné, who invented it, said: “Space-DRUMS use beams of sound energy to position solids or liquids which are floating in zero-gravity.
“If you’ve ever been to a really loud rock concert and stood in front of the speakers, you can actually feel the force of the sound when they turn up the volume - Space-DRUMS works like this but on a much gentler scale – the beams of sound energy work like invisible fingers that gently push the sample into the centre of the container so that it doesn’t touch the walls.
“Space-DRUMS uses 20 of these ‘fingers of sound’ arranged within a dodecahedron configured reactor such that the positions of the samples can be adjusted accurately. “This method of acoustic levitation means there is no chemical contamination from the container, which is vital for making ultra-pure materials such as temperature-resistant ceramics used in coatings for planes and engines,” he concluded.
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