To address these needs, NER modified the AutoLab 1500 to operate at higher temperatures and pressures. The existing system is capable of temperatures of 200oC at confining pressures of 200 MPa. Since the vessel design is coaxial and unencumbered by a large thermally conductive support frame, the logical choice was to increase the maximum operating temperature to 300oC by adding internal heaters and increasing the bore length. The system supports NER’s standard measurement options: velocity, permeability, and acoustic emissions at the maximum temperature and pressure conditions. For velocity measurements, compressional (or extensional) and torsional (shear) waves are propagated through waveguides on each end of the sample.
Key Features
- Deformation experiments for conventional and specialized loading paths
- Servo-hydraulic control of strain rate, force, confining pressure, pore pressure and flow rate
- Combined external and internal heaters to generate temperatures of 300oC
- Pore pressure intensifiers compatible with water, brine, oil, gas (including CO2)
- AutoLab software for system control and data
