Rheological Characterization of Micro-Fibrillated Cellulose Fibre Suspensions Using Multi Scale Velocity Profile Measurements

Abstract

A rheometric method based on velocity pro ling simultaneously by optical coherence tomography and the ultrasound velocity profilometry was introduced and used in a preliminary study of the rheological and boundary layer ow properties of micro fibrillated cellulose. The two velocity pro ling methods appear adequate and complementary for rheological characterization of opaque complex fluids. The ultrasound method is useful in measuring the velocity profile in the interior parts of the tube, while the optical technique is capable of high-resolution measurement of the boundary layer ow close to the tube wall. The preliminary results obtained for a 0.4% micro-fibrillated cellulose suspension show typical shear thinning behaviour in the interior part of the tube while the near wall behaviour shows existence of a slip layer of thickness ~200 m. Both the velocity profile measurement and the imaging mode data obtained by the optical coherence tomographic method indicate that the slip layer is related to a concentration gradient appearing near the tube wall. In a sublayer of thickness ~100 m, the fluid appears nearly Newtonian, and the viscosity value approaches that of pure water with decreasing distance from the wall.