Electric pulse rock sample disaggregator

Maxwell Physics International has developed and demonstrated a pulsed power-based system for disaggregating rocks, the Rock Sample Disaggregator 140L (RSD-140L) using pulse power. When a sufficiently powerful, short-duration, pulsed electric field is applied to rock particles between electrodes submerged in water, extensive ionization occurs along mineral grain boundaries. Electrical breakdown of the rock occurs along the ionized paths, creating high peak current flow and high internal tensile stress between the mineral grains. The result is selective fracture, breaking up the rock along internal grain boundaries (disaggregation).