Viscosity and phase separations of binary CO–He and CO–Ar mixtures

Abstract

Binary mixtures of 10 and 25 vol% CO in He and 10 vol% CO in Ar have been studied at high pressures and ambient temperature in diamond anvil cells. Phase separations were observed at 5.7(3) GPa, 3.6(2) GPa and 1.6(1) GPa. Earlier studies of –He mixtures of comparable concentrations revealed phase separations at significantly larger pressures, while –Ar mixtures separate at pressures comparable to those observed in the CO–Ar system here. The viscosity of a CO-rich fluid phase was determined by measuring the velocities of rising He bubbles. After corrections for the influence of the finite container size and of remaining helium in CO, the viscosity of the CO-rich fluid at 3.8(1) GPa was ≈3(1) mPa s, similar to what would be expected for isoelectronic liquid under the same conditions.