A vibrating tube flow densitometer for measurements with corrosive solutions at temperatures up to 723 K and pressures up to 40 MPa

Abstract

A new version of a vibrating tube flow densitometer has been designed permitting measurements of density differences between two fluids in the temperature range from 298 to 723 K and at pressures up to 40 MPa. The instrument is equipped with a Pt/Rh20 vibrating tube (1.6-mm o.d.) and a Pt/Rh10 transporting tube (1.2-mm o.d.) permitting measurements with highly corrosive liquids. The period of oscillation of the tube is about 7.5 ms, with a typical stability better than 10⁻⁴% over about a 1-h period over the entire temperature interval. The calibration constantK at room temperature is about 530 kg·m⁻³·ms⁻², with a temperature coefficient of approximately −0.13kg·m⁻³·ms⁻²·K⁻¹, and is practically pressure independent. It can be determined by calibration with a reproducibility generally better than 0.1%. The instrument was tested with NaCl(aq) solutions in the temperature range from 373 to 690 K for density differences between sample and reference liquid ranging from 200 to 2 kg·m⁻³; the corresponding errors are believed to be below 0.3 and 5%, respectively. A highly automated temperature control maintains the temperature of the tube stable to within ±0.02 K.