Optical cells for study of water properties near its liquid-gas critical point

Yves Garrabos (1, 2) , Carole Lecoutre-Chabot (1, 2) , Fabien Palencia (1, 2) , Daniel Null Beysens (3, 2) , Vadim Nikolayev (3, 2) , Pierre Evesque (4)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 ESEME : Équipe du Supercritique pour l'Environnement, les Matériaux et l'Espace : Équipe commune CEA-CNRS (2000-2014)
3 PMMH - Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogenes (UMR 7636)
4 MSSMat - Laboratoire de mécanique des sols, structures et matériaux

We present a design of an optical cell dedicated to study the water properties near the liquid-gas critical point using the DECLIC-CNES instrument on board the International Space Station. This designed cell satisfies safety requirements for high pressure and high temperature operating conditions of the high temperature insert (HTI). This design is optimized for using high-resolution and high-speed optical diagnostics, local temperature controls and measurements of the DECLIC instrument, in particular to observe and to analyze the thermal and density response of critical water after a transient heating produced by one heat pulse actuator. Illustrations of the high-level performances are provided by the preliminary results obtained during the Earth’s tests of the flight model of the HTI insert.

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique statistique [cond-mat.stat-mech]

Yves Garrabos, Carole Lecoutre-Chabot, Fabien Palencia, Daniel Null Beysens, Vadim Nikolayev, et al.. Optical cells for study of water properties near its liquid-gas critical point. International Journal of Microgravity Science and Application, 2008, 25 (3), pp.279-283. ⟨10.15011/jasma.25.3.279⟩. ⟨hal-00360508⟩