A new apparatus for combined measurements of the viscosity and density of fluids for temperatures from 233 to 523 K at pressures up to 30 MPa

A new apparatus for measuring the viscosity and density of fluids is presented. The main element of the instrument is an electronically controlled magnetic suspension coupling. For the density measurement (buoyancy principle according to the single-sinker method), this coupling is used for the contactless transfer of the forces acting on a sinker in the measuring cell to an analytical balance. The coupling also serves as a frictionless bearing for a slender rotating cylindrical body which is slowed down due to the viscous drag of the fluid surrounding the cylinder. The viscosity of the fluid can be directly determined from the decay rate of the rotational frequency. The new combined viscometer-densimeter covers a viscosity range of 5 to 150 mu Pa times s and a density range from 20 to 2000 kg times m super(-3) at temperatures from 233 to 523 K and pressures up to 30 MPa. Test measurements on the viscosities and densities of nitrogen and carbon dioxide at 253, 293, and 523 K at pressures up to 30 MPa show an estimated total uncertainty of plus or minus 0.6 to plus or minus 1.0% in viscosity and of plus or minus 0.02 to plus or minus 0.05% in density.