THERMAL PHASE SEPARATION SIMULATOR

摘要

A thermal phase separation simulator and method for testing chemicals is disclosed. The simulator comprises a circular block heater carousel (lO)mounted for rotation on a stage (20). The carousel includes a circular array of test wells (12) for receiving a plurality of test bottles (60), a plurality of heating elements (14) and thermocouples (15) disposed between the wells. Each well has an illumination port (40) and a vertical slit (24) to the outside to allow visual observation or imaging of a vertical swatch of the bottle. An illumination source (41) aligns with the illumination port of each well in response to rotation of the carousel. The method includes adding a mixed phase fluid to a plurality of bottles, adding a chemical agent to each bottle, and simulating a thermal phase separation. Images of the fluid in each bottle are captured and analyzed to determine the performance of the one or more chemical agents.