Supercritical
Encyclopedia
Supercritical may refer to:
- Critical massCritical massA critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The...
, the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction - Critical temperature, Tc, the temperature above which distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist
- Supercritical fluidSupercritical fluidA supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid...
, a substance at a temperature and pressure above its thermodynamic critical point - Supercritical carbon dioxideSupercritical carbon dioxideSupercritical carbon dioxide is a fluid state of carbon dioxide where it is held at or above its critical temperature and critical pressure.Carbon dioxide usually behaves as a gas in air at STP or as a solid called dry ice when frozen...
, same as above, applied to carbon dioxide - Supercritical fluid chromatographySupercritical fluid chromatographySupercritical Fluid Chromatography is a form of normal phase chromatography that is used for the analysis and purification of low to moderate molecular weight, thermally labile molecules. It can also be used for the separation of chiral compounds...
, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using supercritical carbon dioxide as the mobile phase - Supercritical airfoilSupercritical airfoilA supercritical airfoil is an airfoil designed, primarily, to delay the onset of wave drag in the transonic speed range. Supercritical airfoils are characterized by their flattened upper surface, highly cambered aft section, and greater leading edge radius compared with traditional airfoil shapes...
, an airfoil designed to delay the onset of wave drag in the transonic speed range - Supercritical dryingSupercritical dryingSupercritical drying is a process to remove liquid in a precisely controlled way. It is useful in the production of microelectromechanical systems , the drying of spices, the production of aerogel, and in the preparation of biological specimens for scanning electron microscopy.As the substance in...
, the process to remove liquid in a precisely controlled way, similar to freeze drying - Supercritical mass, where there is an increasing rate of fission
- Supercritical water reactorSupercritical water reactorThe supercritical water reactor is a Generation IV reactor concept that uses supercritical water as the working fluid...
(SCWR), a Generation IV nuclear reactor concept that uses supercritical water as the working fluid - Supercritical water oxidationSupercritical water oxidationSupercritical water oxidation or SCWO is a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point. Under these conditions water becomes a fluid with unique properties that can be used to advantage in the destruction of hazardous wastes such as PCBs...
or SCWO, a process that occurs in water at temperatures and pressures above a mixture's thermodynamic critical point - Supercritical flowSupercritical flowA supercritical flow is when the flow velocity is larger than the wave velocity. The analogous condition in gas dynamics is supersonic....
, when the flow velocity is larger than the wave velocity - Supercritical steam generators, a steam generator operating above the critical point of water, hence having no water - steam separation
- Hopf bifurcationHopf bifurcationIn the mathematical theory of bifurcations, a Hopf or Poincaré–Andronov–Hopf bifurcation, named after Henri Poincaré, Eberhard Hopf, and Aleksandr Andronov, is a local bifurcation in which a fixed point of a dynamical system loses stability as a pair of complex conjugate eigenvalues of...
, a local bifurcation ; when the first Lyapunov coefficient is negative, the bifurcation is called supercritical - Pitchfork bifurcationPitchfork bifurcationIn bifurcation theory, a field within mathematics, a pitchfork bifurcation is a particular type of local bifurcation. Pitchfork bifurcations, like Hopf bifurcations have two types - supercritical or subcritical....
, similar to the case of a Hopf bifurcation