A Capillary Tube Viscometer Designed for Measurements of Hydrogen Gas Viscosity at High Pressure and High Temperature

A capillary tube viscometer was developed to measure the dynamic viscosity of gases for high pressure and high temperature. The apparatus is simple and designed for safe-handling operation. The gas was supplied to the capillary tube from a high-pressure reservoir tank through a pressure regulator unit to maintain a steady state flow. The measurements of a pressure drop across the capillary tube with high accuracy under extreme conditions are the main challenge for this method. A differential pressure sensor for high pressures up to 100 MPa is not available commercially. Therefore, a pair of accurate absolute pressure transducers was used as a differential pressure sensor. Then the pressure drop was calculated by subtracting the outlet pressure from the inlet one with a resolution of 100 Pa at 100 MPa. The accuracy of the present measurement system is confirmed by measuring the viscosity of nitrogen as a reference gas. The apparatus provided viscosities of nitrogen from ambient temperature to 500 K and hydrogen from ambient temperature to 400 K and for pressures up to 100 MPa with a maximum deviation of 2.2 % compared with a correlation developed by the present authors and with REFPROP (NIST).