Pressure Vessel

One example of student innovation at Canterbury College is this pressure vessel. It was one of the first prototypes designed by Dr Robin Mann and, with the help of engineers, made in-house for his PhD project. Mann studied Chemistry at Canterbury College, completing his Bachelors, Masters, and PhD during the 1950s-1960s. The aim of Mann’s PhD was to test what happens to the rate of a chemical reaction when it is put under pressure. It was essential then, that a pressure tool be designed to meet the project’s needs.

The first pressure vessel (used for the first half of the project) was made from a Ford Model A wooden steering wheel which was connected to a metal rod that screwed into a metal cylinder. The equipment was then connected to a pressure reader by wire. As the rod was screwed in, the space inside the cylinder was reduced, subsequently increasing the pressure put on the chemical reaction occurring inside the cylinder.

While this model was good, it had several efficiency problems. To test one chemical reaction under a series of different pressures took up to ten hours. This model also contained small parts which made it difficult to fix. According to Mann, the pressure vessel (or bomb as it was often called) also tended to blow up, as he recalls one incident where the wiring was propelled into the ceiling. Thankfully, no one was standing over the equipment at the time.

About half-way through the project, Mann became dissatisfied with the progress and designed a second, more sophisticated pressure vessel. This model was approximately five times bigger than the first, making it much easier to work on. It was also up to four times faster and used a pressure pump instead of a steering wheel.

While the equipment was never again used for scientific research, the heavy metal component of the first model found its way into a chemistry professor’s office on the Ilam campus. For a time it was used as a stand for indoor plants and later became a room ornament. It has since been reunited with the rest of the pressure vessel and preserved in the Canterbury College Collection.