During oxidation of black carbon samples to produce benzenepolycarboxylic acids, pressure buildup within glass ampules can cause them to explode, resulting in sample loss, injury to ovens, or a "domino-effect" where breakage of one ampule shatters adjacent ones.
Here we provide schematics and detailed instructions for the manufacturing of The Aluminum Nitric-acid Keg, or TANK. This apparatus was designed to isolate individual samples during black carbon sample prep and to stop the domino-effect, decreasing sample loss and limiting the release of nitric acid fumes. Since it’s development, TANK also seems to reduce the occurrence of explosions overall, likely due to more consistent heating of samples in the aluminum block.
Riley and Maddy drill holes into TANK.
Early drawings of the apparatus.
TANK was designed and manufactured by students Maddy Miller, Riley Barton, and Alex Collins, with shop resources and guidance from Morgan Schaller. CAD files and blueprints are publicly available at protocols.io.
