JP3711303B2 - Liquid viscosity measuring device and measuring method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for measuring a viscosity of a liquid that are most suitable for directly measuring the viscosity of a liquid, for example, the viscosity of a lubricating oil in a refrigerator, using a capillary viscometer.
[0002]
[Background]
The physical property of a liquid has a viscosity that represents its viscosity. Viscosity is one of the most important physical properties for lubricating oils and is an important factor in the lubrication of machine elements.
Here, as a device for measuring the viscosity of a liquid, various types of devices such as a capillary viscometer, a high-pressure falling ball type viscometer, an electromagnetic vibration type viscometer, and the like have been known. A type of viscometer is used.
A capillary viscometer calculates viscosity based on the flow rate of the liquid to be measured flowing through the capillary, and has a predetermined volume of a liquid reservoir that stores the liquid to be measured, and a capillary that circulates the liquid from the liquid reservoir. The viscosity (kinematic viscosity) can be measured with high accuracy.
The high-pressure falling ball viscometer is to obtain a viscosity (absolute viscosity) based on the velocity of a sphere that freely falls at a constant speed and the liquid to be measured and the sphere placed in a high-pressure sealed container.
The electromagnetic vibration type viscometer is to immerse an object such as an iron piece in a liquid to be measured and vibrate with an electromagnetic wave to obtain a viscosity (absolute viscosity) based on attenuation of the vibration of the object due to the viscosity of the liquid to be measured. .
Among these, according to the capillary viscometer, the kinematic viscosity can be accurately measured by a simple operation in the open space. For this reason, capillary viscometers are widely used for measuring the viscosity of petroleum products.
On the other hand, according to the high-pressure falling ball viscometer and the electromagnetic vibration type viscometer, the viscometer body can be formed in a closed container shape, so it can also be used for measuring the absolute viscosity of liquids in a high-pressure gas atmosphere. Can do.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional capillary viscometer has a problem that it is not suitable for measuring the viscosity of a liquid in an atmosphere of high-pressure gas because the operation of the viscometer becomes extremely difficult if the main body of the viscometer is placed in a sealed container.
In addition, the high-pressure falling ball viscometer can directly measure the absolute viscosity, but cannot directly measure the kinematic viscosity, and has a problem that the measurement accuracy is not good for a low-viscosity liquid.
In addition, the electromagnetic vibration viscometer can directly measure the absolute viscosity as well as the high-pressure falling ball viscometer, but cannot directly measure the kinematic viscosity, and the temperature changes due to frictional heat caused by vibration of the object. Therefore, there is a problem that the measurement accuracy is not good.
Here, the lubricating oil used in a refrigerator using a refrigerant such as Freon is used in an environment where compressed high-pressure refrigerant gas is an atmosphere.
Since the lubricant gas dissolves in the lubricating oil placed in such an atmosphere of high-pressure refrigerant gas, the viscosity of the lubricant changes, and if the amount of refrigerant gas dissolved increases, the performance of the lubricant will be affected. There is.
For this reason, in the technical field related to lubricating oil, in particular, lubricating oil for refrigerators, there is a demand for a viscosity measuring device that can directly measure the kinematic viscosity under the pressure and atmosphere in which the lubricating oil is actually used. .
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid viscosity measuring apparatus and a measuring method that enable direct measurement of the kinematic viscosity of liquid under a high-pressure gas atmosphere by a simple operation.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A first invention of the present invention is a liquid viscosity measuring device comprising a container for containing a liquid whose viscosity is to be measured in a sealed state, and a capillary viscometer movably disposed inside the container. The capillary viscometer includes a magnetic body, and magnetism generating means for moving the magnetic body of the capillary viscometer from the outside of the container in a non-contact manner is provided.
In the above, the container is an elongated sealed pressure-resistant container, the capillary viscometer is movable along the longitudinal direction of the container, and the magnetism generating means is a ring-shaped permanent magnet into which the container can be inserted. It is preferable that
Moreover, it is desirable that a proximity sensor for detecting a liquid level position of the liquid inside the capillary viscometer is provided outside the container.
Furthermore, it is preferable that the container is formed of a transparent material, and at least a part of the capillary viscometer is formed of a transparent material that allows the inside to be visually recognized.
Furthermore, it is desirable that at least one of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a refractive index sensor, a density sensor, and a concentration sensor, which measure the liquid inside the container, be provided in the container.
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid viscosity measuring method using the liquid viscosity measuring apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the magnetism generating means is operated to operate in the liquid to be measured contained in the container. After the capillary viscometer immersed in the liquid is moved above the liquid, the passage time required for the liquid level of the liquid inside the capillary viscometer to pass through two predetermined positions is measured. .
[0007]
In the present invention, a predetermined amount of liquid is placed inside the container so that the capillary viscometer placed inside the container is not immersed in the liquid to be measured, and the capillary viscosity is placed in the container. If a meter and a high-pressure atmosphere gas are put and the container is sealed in this state, the liquid to be measured is placed under the high-pressure atmosphere gas. Here, the capillary viscometer is moved in a non-contact manner by operating the magnetism generating means outside the container by receiving the magnetic force of the magnetism generating means when the magnetic material of the capillary viscometer placed inside the sealed container is received. Can be done. Therefore, after moving the capillary viscometer to a position where it is completely immersed under the liquid level, after filling the capillary viscometer with the liquid to be measured, the capillary viscometer is completely removed upward from the liquid level. move, if dropped the aforementioned liquid from capillary viscometer, next to the liquid surface of the liquid in the capillary viscometer and Turkey to pass through the predetermined two positions, measuring the time passing between these two positions By doing so, the kinematic viscosity can be directly measured. Therefore, it becomes possible to directly measure the kinematic viscosity of the liquid under a high-pressure gas atmosphere with a simple operation, thereby achieving the object.
[0008]
Then, the container into which the liquid is placed is an elongated hermetic pressure-resistant container, the capillary viscometer is movable along the longitudinal direction of the container, and a ring-shaped permanent magnet is adopted as the magnetism generating means. If the container is inserted inside, the distance between the magnetism generating means and the capillary viscometer is shortened, and the magnetic lines of the magnetism generating means are concentrated in the vicinity of the capillary viscometer. The magnetic force of the magnetic generating means that effectively acts on the body is increased, and the capillary viscometer inside the container can be reliably moved by the magnetic generating means outside the container.
[0009]
In addition, if a proximity sensor for detecting the liquid level position of the liquid inside the capillary viscometer is provided outside the container, the passage time required for the liquid level of the liquid in the capillary viscometer to pass through two predetermined positions can be reduced. It is possible to perform automatic measurement, which makes it possible to automate the measurement of kinematic viscosity of a liquid.
Further, the container is formed of a transparent material, and at least a part of the capillary viscometer is formed of a transparent material that allows the inside to be visually recognized, and the liquid level in the capillary viscometer is a predetermined distance from a predetermined position. If the decrease can be observed visually, the kinematic viscosity can be directly measured with a simpler structure.
If the container is provided with at least one of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a refractive index sensor, a density sensor and a concentration sensor for measuring the liquid inside the container, the pressure, temperature, refractive index, density and concentration can be measured. The measured value can be obtained simultaneously with the measurement of the kinematic viscosity, and the obtained kinematic viscosity can be corrected quickly.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a viscosity measuring apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The viscosity measuring apparatus 1 includes a container 10 that stores a liquid 2 to be measured for viscosity in a sealed state, a capillary viscometer 20 disposed inside the container 10, and a thermostatic chamber 3 that stores the container 10. It is provided.
In addition, although the liquid 2 used as a measuring object is not specified, it is preferable to assume petroleum products, such as lubricating oil, with many opportunities of kinematic viscosity measurement.
The thermostat 3 is filled with a heat medium 4 made of a liquid such as water. The thermostat 3 is provided with temperature adjusting means 5 in order to keep the heat medium 4 at a predetermined temperature. Although not shown in the figure, the temperature adjusting means 5 includes a heating device and a cooling device, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the heat medium 4, and a heating device and a cooling device based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor. It has a controller to control.
[0011]
The container 10 is a transparent hermetic pressure resistant container made of glass or the like formed in an elongated tubular shape. While the lower end of the container 10 in the figure is closed, an opening that can be sealed with a lid 11 is provided at the upper end in the figure. Through this opening, the liquid 2 to be measured can be put into the container 10. Further, an introduction pipe 12 for introducing the atmospheric gas 6 into the container 10 is inserted into the lid 11. A check device 13 such as a check valve is provided at the upper end of the introduction pipe 12 in the drawing so that the atmospheric gas 6 contained in the container 10 does not leak outside.
The atmosphere gas 6 is assumed to be a wide variety of gases, vapors of easily vaporized substances, and the like. For example, the use of hydrogen, ammonia, propane, chlorofluorocarbon, ether or the like is assumed.
Around the container 10, a ring-shaped permanent magnet 14 and two pairs of optical fibers 15 arranged with their end faces facing each other are arranged.
The permanent magnet 14 is a magnetism generating means for moving the capillary viscometer 20 from the outside of the container 10 without contact.
The container 1 is inserted into the ring-shaped permanent magnet 14. In this state, the permanent magnet 14 can move along the side surface of the container 1 between a position near the lower end of the container 10 in the drawing and a predetermined position in the middle part of the container 10.
The movement of the permanent magnet 14 is automatically performed by driving means such as an electric motor via an arm 14A attached to the magnet 14.
[0012]
In the optical fiber 15, each of the optical fibers 15 A and 15 B and the optical fibers 15 C and 15 D forms part of a proximity sensor that detects the liquid level position of the liquid 2 stored in the capillary viscometer 20. ing.
That is, the optical fiber 15A projects light from a predetermined light source provided in a viscosity calculator (not shown) toward the end face of the optical fiber 15B.
On the other hand, the optical fiber 15B receives the light from the optical fiber 15A and guides it to the light receiving element in the viscosity calculator.
When the liquid level of the liquid 2 falls to a position between the optical fibers 15A and 15B, the liquid level blocks the light from the optical fiber 15A, and the optical fiber 15B cannot receive the light. Thereby, the liquid level position of the liquid 2 in the capillary viscometer 20 is detected at a predetermined position of the container 10.
Similarly, the optical fiber 15C is for projecting light from the aforementioned light source toward the end face of the optical fiber 15D, while the optical fiber 15D is for receiving light from the optical fiber 15C. . If the liquid level of the liquid 2 is between the optical fibers 15C and 15D and blocks the light from the optical fiber 15C, the optical fiber 15D cannot receive the light, so that at a position different from the optical fibers 15A and 15B, The liquid level position of the liquid 2 in the capillary viscometer 20 is detected.
Although not shown in the figure, the container 10 is provided with a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a refractive index sensor, a density sensor, and a concentration sensor that measure the liquid 2 inside the container 10 as a measurement target. .
[0013]
The capillary viscometer 20 has a transparent cylindrical shape made of glass or the like with both ends opened, and its longitudinal direction is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the container 10, and the longitudinal direction of the container 10 It is possible to move along.
In the vicinity of the upper end of the capillary viscometer 20 in the drawing, as shown in FIG. 2, a liquid reservoir 21 having a side wall inflated is provided. Marks 21A and 21B used for measuring the flow rate of the liquid 2 are provided above and below the liquid reservoir 21 in the figure. The marked lines 21A and 21B do not block light from the optical fibers 15A and 15C.
A capillary tube portion 22 having a remarkably small inner diameter is provided at the lower portion of the standard line 21B of the capillary viscometer 20 in the figure. The kinematic viscosity of the liquid 2 is measured by measuring the time required for the predetermined amount of the liquid 2 to pass through the inside of the narrow tube portion 22 (in other words, the flow rate of the liquid 2).
A belt-like outer ring portion 23 made of a magnetic material is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the side wall of the thin tube portion 22. By moving the permanent magnet 14 along the longitudinal direction of the container 10, the belt-shaped outer ring portion 23 is attracted by magnetic force. Thereby, the capillary viscometer 20 moves following the permanent magnet 14 in a non-contact manner by an operation outside the container 10.
[0014]
The moving range of the capillary viscometer 20 is the position A where the liquid 2 is completely immersed under the surface of the liquid 2, and the positions where the marked lines 21A and 21B are sandwiched between the optical fibers 15A and 15B and the optical fibers 15C and 15D, respectively. It is between B.
Here, when the capillary viscometer 20 is moved from position A to position B, the inside of the capillary viscometer 20 is filled with the liquid 2.
When the capillary viscometer 20 filled with the liquid 2 is held at the position B, the liquid 2 drops from the capillary viscometer 20 and the liquid level of the liquid 2 is lowered until the capillary viscometer 20 is empty. I will do it.
Then, it is detected by the optical fibers 15C and 15D that the liquid level of the liquid 2 has passed the marked line 21B, a counter (not shown) built in the above-described viscosity calculator is started, and the liquid level of the liquid 2 is The passage through the marked line 21A is detected by the optical fibers 15A and 15B, and the aforementioned counter is stopped. As a result, the above-described viscosity calculator measures the time required for a predetermined amount of the liquid 2 to pass through the inside of the narrow tube portion 22 and automatically measures the kinematic viscosity.
[0015]
Next, the measurement procedure in this embodiment will be described.
First, after a predetermined amount of liquid 2 and a capillary viscometer 20 are placed in the container 10, the lid 11 is closed, a high-pressure atmosphere gas 6 is introduced into the container 10, and the inside of the container 10 is brought to a predetermined pressure. . Here, if necessary, before the lid 11 is closed, high-pressure atmospheric gas is blown to expel the air inside the container 10.
Next, the internal heating medium 4 is set to a predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting means 5 in advance, and a sealed container 10 is installed at a predetermined position in the thermostat 3 where the permanent magnet 14 has been lowered to the position A.
When the entire container 10 is in a thermal equilibrium state, the driving means for moving the permanent magnet 14 is activated to move the permanent magnet 14 and raise the capillary viscometer 20 to the position B.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid 2 drops from the capillary viscometer 20 and the liquid level of the liquid 2 drops.
Then, the optical fiber 15 is detected that the liquid level of the liquid 2 has passed the marked line 21B and the marked line 21A, and the time required for the predetermined amount of the liquid 2 to pass through the inside of the narrow tube portion 22 is given to the viscosity calculator. The viscosity is automatically measured along with the automatic measurement, and the measurement is completed.
[0016]
According to this embodiment as described above, there are the following effects.
That is, the capillary viscometer 20 placed inside the sealed container 10 is provided with a belt-like outer ring portion 23 made of a magnetic material, and the belt-like outer ring portion 23 is attracted by the permanent magnet 14, so that the permanent magnet 14 Is operated outside the container 10, the capillary viscometer 20 can be moved in a non-contact manner.
For this reason, the container 2 is filled with an amount of the liquid 2 that leaves a space where the capillary viscometer 20 in the container 10 is not immersed in the liquid 2, and the capillary viscometer 20 and the high-pressure atmospheric gas 6 are placed in the container 10. Even if the container 10 is sealed in this state, it becomes possible to move the capillary viscometer 20 completely immersed under the liquid level of the liquid 2 to a position where it is completely removed from the liquid level of the liquid 2 to the capillary 2 By simply operating the viscometer 20, the kinematic viscosity under high-pressure atmospheric gas can be directly measured.
[0017]
Further, in order to measure the transit time required for the liquid level of the liquid 2 in the capillary viscometer 20 to pass between the predetermined marked lines 21B and 21A, two pairs of optical fibers 15A are arranged so that the end faces face each other. Since -15D is provided, the passage time between the marked lines 21B and 21A can be automatically measured, the kinematic viscosity can be automatically measured, and the direct measurement of the kinematic viscosity of the liquid 2 can be further facilitated.
[0018]
In addition, the container 10 is made elongated and the magnetism generating means is a ring-shaped permanent magnet 14, and the container 10 is inserted into the permanent magnet 14, so the distance between the permanent magnet 14 and the capillary viscometer 20 is shortened. At the same time, the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 14 are concentrated in the vicinity of the capillary viscometer 20, and the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 14 that effectively acts on the belt-shaped outer ring portion 23 of the capillary viscometer 20 is increased. The capillary 14 can reliably move the capillary viscometer 20 inside the container 10.
[0019]
In addition, since the liquid level position of the liquid 2 is detected by the optical fiber 15 that is not affected by the magnetic force at all, even if the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 14 is strong, other types of proximity sensors As shown in Fig. 2, the passage of the liquid level of the liquid 2 is reliably detected without causing malfunction due to the influence of magnetism, and the passing time required for the liquid level to pass between the marked lines 21A and 21B is accurate. Can be measured.
[0020]
Furthermore, the container 10 and the capillary viscometer 20 are made transparent so that the liquid level drop of the liquid 2 in the capillary viscometer 20 can be visually observed from the outside of the container 10. Even if is omitted, the kinematic viscosity can be directly measured, so that the minimum necessary accuracy can be ensured even with a very simple structure.
[0021]
In addition, since the container 10 is provided with a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a refractive index sensor, a density sensor, and a concentration sensor to measure the liquid 2 inside the container 10, measurement of pressure, temperature, refractive index, density, and concentration is performed. The value can be obtained simultaneously with the measurement of the kinematic viscosity, and the correction of the measured value of the obtained kinematic viscosity can be performed almost simultaneously with the measurement.
Moreover, since the signal output from the above-mentioned sensor can be taken out with a thin electric wire, the hole for taking out the electric wire from the container 10 can be easily sealed, and the high pressure in the container 10 is impaired. There is no.
[0022]
Although the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. .
That is, the proximity sensor for detecting the liquid surface position of the liquid 2 is not limited to a photoelectric sensor provided with an optical fiber, and may be a capacitive sensor, but a photoelectric sensor provided with an optical fiber is adopted. Then, the effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0023]
In the above embodiment, the capillary viscometer 20 is simply put in the container 10, but the structure of the viscosity measuring device is almost the same as that of the capillary viscometer 20 as shown in FIG. A counter balance 24 having the same weight may be provided, the capillary viscometer 20 and the counter balance 24 may be connected by a wire 25, and the wire 25 may be bridged between pulleys 26 provided at both ends of the container 10. In this way, the weight of the capillary viscometer 20 is offset by the weight of the counterbalance 24, and the capillary viscometer 20 can be moved with a weaker magnetic force.
[0024]
Furthermore, the magnetism generating means is not limited to a permanent magnet, but may be an electromagnet. When an electromagnet is employed, a structure that moves the electromagnet itself, which is the magnetism generating means, can be employed as in the above embodiment, and the capillary viscometer can be fixed by fixing the electromagnet and changing the excitation current to the electromagnet. It is also possible to adopt one that moves.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of electromagnets 17 each having an iron core 16 extending along the side surface of the container 10 are provided so that the magnetic lines of force are concentrated on the central axis of the container 10. If the outer ring portion 23 is arranged around and the magnetic force is applied to the belt-shaped outer ring portion 23, the capillary viscometer 20 can be moved by changing the excitation current to the electromagnet 17 without moving the electromagnet 17 itself.
At this time, for detecting the position of the capillary viscometer 20, if a pair of optical fibers 15E and 15F are provided in the container 10 and the excitation current to the electromagnet 17 is adjusted according to the position of the capillary viscometer 20, the capillary viscometer Automatic control for holding 20 in place can be performed.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to directly measure the kinematic viscosity of a liquid under a high-pressure gas atmosphere with a simple operation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing one procedure in the measurement of the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modification of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a different modification of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Viscosity measuring device 2 Liquid to be measured
10 containers
14 Magnetic generation means
15 Optical fiber that is part of proximity sensor
20 Capillary viscometer
23 Belt-shaped outer ring made of magnetic material

Claims (6)

A liquid viscosity measuring device comprising a container for containing a liquid whose viscosity is to be measured in a sealed state, and a capillary viscometer movably disposed inside the container,
Viscosity measurement of a liquid, wherein the capillary viscometer includes a magnetic body, and magnetism generating means for moving the magnetic body of the capillary viscometer from the outside of the container in a non-contact manner is provided. apparatus. 2. The liquid viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container is an elongated hermetic pressure-resistant container, the capillary viscometer is movable along a longitudinal direction of the container, and the magnetism generating means is disposed inside the container. An apparatus for measuring the viscosity of a liquid, wherein the apparatus is a ring-shaped permanent magnet that can be inserted through a container. 3. The liquid viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a proximity sensor for detecting a liquid surface position of the liquid inside the capillary viscometer is provided outside the container. Viscosity measuring device. 4. The liquid viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container is made of a transparent material, and at least a part of the capillary viscometer can be visually confirmed. An apparatus for measuring a viscosity of a liquid, characterized by being made of a material. 5. The liquid viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a refractive index sensor, a density sensor, and a concentration sensor that uses the liquid inside the container as a measurement target. An apparatus for measuring the viscosity of a liquid, wherein one is provided in the container. A container for containing a liquid whose viscosity is to be measured in a sealed state, and a capillary viscometer configured to include a magnetic substance is movably disposed in the container, and the magnetic substance of the capillary viscometer is disposed in the container. A method for measuring the viscosity of a liquid for measuring the viscosity of the liquid using a liquid viscosity measuring device provided with a magnetism generating means for non-contact movement from the outside of the container,
After moving the capillary viscometer immersed in the liquid to be measured stored in the container by operating the magnetism generating means,
A method for measuring a viscosity of a liquid, comprising: measuring a transit time required for the liquid level of the liquid inside the capillary viscometer to pass through two predetermined positions.

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