A NEW APPARATUS FOR STUDIES OF NEAR CRITICAL HYDROCARBON FLUIDS .1. PVT, DENSITY, AND VISCOSITY

A new mercury-free high pressure apparatus has been designed and devel oped for studies of the phase behavior and physical properties of near critical hydrocarbon fluids such as volatile oils and gas condensates . The apparatus has two cells with volumes of 40 cm3 and 500 cm3, resp ectively. The sample volume is determined by directly mechanically dri ven pistons in both cells. The cells are connected through either a hi gh pressure, high temperature vibrating tube density meter or a capill ary tube, viscosity meter. The phases in equilibrium can be studied vi sually through sapphire parts in both cells. The maximum working press ure is 700 bar and the temperature working range is from -20-degrees-C up to 250-degrees-C. In this work results from an investigation of a reservoir fluid are presented, including PVT, density, and viscosity m easurements.The apparatus was built by the company ROP, France.