Simultaneous measurement of fluids density and viscosity using HP/HT capillary devices

• Simultaneous measurement of fluids density and viscosity under pressure and temperature.
• Development of a microfluidics-based methodology for fast measurements.
• Validation of the method with pure CO2 and N2 and with mixtures CO2 + N2 and CO2 + Cyclohexane.
• Possibility to couple thermophysical fluid properties measurements with in situ characterization techniques.

Accessing fluids thermophysical properties is crucial in chemical engineering for they are required in most of process parameter calculations. Nevertheless, these are not always available in the literature. In the present paper, we propose a fast and efficient microfluidic approach for simultaneously accessing density and viscosity of homogeneous fluids mixtures. In comparison with classical set-ups, microfluidic devices exhibit higher heat transfer capability and small volumes, resulting in an easy control of temperature, fast conditions screening and improved operation safety. A set-up was designed based on the subtraction of two pressures: capillary and bypass lines. The devices use a capillary system with a diameter of 73.6 μm (±0.5%). The proposed set-up can work in a wide range of pressures (10 < P(bar) < 200) and temperatures (30 < T(°C) < 227). The developed strategy was applied to pure fluids (CO2 and N2), and to mixtures (CYC + CO2 and CO2 + H2).

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