Abstract

At elevated temperatures and pressures substances may become supercritical. Supercritical fluids have properties resembling both gasses and liquids, meaning that these fluids are interesting for various applications. This work describes some general aspects of the supercritical phase and the properties of near and supercritical water. The properties of supercritical water are related to the changes in dielectric constant, auto-dissociation of water and the significant decrease in the degree of hydrogen bonding at supercritical conditions.

Keywords: Supercritical water, phase transitions, hydrogen bonding