We investigated the kinetics of supercritical CO2 (SCCO2)-based drying of silica aerogels, a common, but time consuming and energy intensive step in their manufacture. An apparatus was developed to continuously measure alcohol extraction rates from alcogels as a function of key process variables by two redundant techniques. Kinetics data are reported for the drying of 2.5 mm, 5 mm, and 7.5 mm thick annular alcogels by pumping SCCO2 through a 10 mm-thick concentric annulus surrounding their exterior. The SCCO2 was at a temperature of 323 K and a pressure of 12.4 MPa and its mass flow rate varied from 1 kg/h to 5 kg/h. Gel thickness and SCCO2 flow rate were both shown to significantly effect drying rate and required drying time. The results of a conjugate mass transfer model assuming pure diffusion in the alcogel compared favorably with the data when the composition dependence of molecular diffusivity was captured utilizing available correlations. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.