In-situ Neutron Tomography on Mixing Behavior of Supercritical Water and Room Temperature Water in a Tubular Flow Reactor

We have synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles through hydrothermal reaction at around 400 °C and 25 MPa by mixing the stream of metal ion solution at room temperature with another stream of supercritical water in a continuous flow-type reactor. In order to visualize the mixing behavior of the two streams, we performed neutron tomography measurements. By performing tomography measurements while rotating the mixing piece with supplying supercritical water and room temperature water, we succeeded in obtaining the three dimensional distribution of neutron attenuation. The results clearly showed how the two streams mix, which serves as a reference for numerical simulation.