Volume 6: Fluids and Thermal Systems; Advances for Process Industries, Parts A and B
Full text: Unavailable
This study reports the rheological properties of the novel material “dry water” which contains about 98% by weight water but resembles a dry powder. Dry water is a water-in-air inverse foam which consists of microscopic water droplets encapsulated with hydrophobic fumed-silica nanoparticles. This novel material offers a large surface to volume ratio on the order of 2 × 105 m2/m3 for the gas and water phases. Thus, it provides a convenient medium for surface area limited processes and finds applications from cosmetics to gaseous fuel storage. In this study both steady and dynamic rheological properties of dry water were measured. In particular, the elastic (G′) and viscous (G″) moduli, and the complex dynamic shear viscosity (η*) were recovered from experimental data. Results showed that both the elastic and viscous moduli decreased with increasing strain at strains larger than 4%, and both moduli are weak functions of rotational frequency. Complex dynamic shear viscosity decreased with strain and rotational frequency. When compared with the studies in literature, rheological experiments and obtained results indicated that dry water behaves as a gel rheologically under the investigated conditions.