Design of a Gamma Densitometer for Hydrocarbon Fuel at High Temperature and Supercritical Pressure

The densities of endothermic hydrocarbon fuel at supercritical pressure condition are measured online using a radial measurement method. The densitometer is based on the attenuation theory of gamma ray using a count rate mode. One advantage of the method is that it is noninstrusive and practical for a small tube measurement. The densitometer was measurably optimized for the design and calibrated by the reference fluids with different density ranges. A kind of endothermic hydrocarbon fuel was measured covering the temperature from (283 to 950) K at the supercritical pressures of (3.0 and 4.0) MPa. The data were regressed with polynomial equations and the isobaric thermal expansion could be obtained by the fitted density curve.