METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING AEROGEL

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for manufacturing aerogel of high void volume by a simple process. SOLUTION: An aerogel manufacturing device 10 is provided with a gel driving container 14 storing a basket 12 keeping wet gel, bringing the wet gel in the basket with a supercritical fluid and drying the wet gel to manufacture aerogel, a supercritical fluid mechanism, a drying means for reducing the pressure in a gel drying container and discharging the supercritical fluid to the outside to dry the wet gel and prepare dry gel and a finish drying means 24 for introducing and discharging dry air into and from the gel drying container to manufacture lumpy aerogel. The supercritical fluid mechanism is provided with a pump 20 for raising the pressure of the fluid to be turned into the supercritical fluid to more than its supercritical pressure and a heater 22 for heating the pressure-raised fluid up to the critical temperature or higher and preparing the supercritical fluid, and the supercritical fluid is introduced into the gel drying container.