High-Pressure UV-Curing Rheometer for Investigating Phase Change Flow

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Water is one of the most significant compounds in nature that is not only responsible for life but also plays a significant role in many processes related to energy and safety. Water can undergo two significant phase changes when it is exposed to the proper thermodynamic conditions and components: Ice and Gas Hydrate. Ice accretion on modern infrastructure such as aircrafts, ships, offshore oil platforms, wind turbines, telecommunications and power transmission lines jeopardizes their integrity and poses a significant safety hazard to operators and civilians alike. Gas hydrates on the other hand, are viewed as a new/alternative method to sustain our increasing energy demands and hence, our quality of life. Naturally occurring gas hydrates have enormous amounts of stored energy that exceeds conventional carbon reserves and mostly contain natural gas. The add-ons requested in this proposal to the existing High-Pressure Rheometer will provide a unique insight into the flow of water, in a liquid state, but also as a slurry with soft-solids (ice and hydrate). The range of temperatures and pressures with the custom unit described can be performed with only one other unit (in Austria, that we are aware of). This information is essential for the design of safe, economical, and environmentally responsible processes and facilities to deal with ice and hydrate-forming systems, as well as for the exploitation of in-situ methane hydrate as a future energy resource. Further enhancements to the rheometer include studying phase change materials using a UV curing system (to pattern surfaces) and an extensional rheometer tooling to again orient surfaces via extensional flow to observe the effect of patterned surfaces on ice accretion and related phenomena. A novel approach will be undertaken in this work, exploring the effects of nanomaterial surfaces and polymeric additives on both ice and gas hydrate forming systems. The goal is to elucidate the behavior of the flow of water in the presence of these surfaces and additives as it transitions to either ice or hydrate. The outcome of such work has the potential to place Canada at the forefront of technologies related to de-icing techniques that preclude ice accretion and natural gas recovery, storage and transportation.