Patent ID: 6535796
Filing Date: 2003-03-18
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A process for characterizing complex fluids wherein the fluids include electrically conductive materials and are subjected to controlled shearing in a rheological cell or turbulent shearing in a mixing cell, according to various experimental protocols varying shearing rate, temperature, injections of constituents, and observing or measuring, according to a variation of the following parameters:microscopic structure; viscosity; grain size; and dielectric conductivities or constants, in various directions and at various points, wherein said measurements and observations are performed simultaneously on the same sample and displayed simultaneously on the same screen, with microscopic observation of a physical phenomena selected from the group consisting of emulsification, coalescence, dilution, flocculation and decantation, whereby to establish correlations between: (a) a variation of viscosity, particle size, homogeneity and texture characteristics, and (b) conductivity or resistivity measurements characteristic of said variations.