Glycerin-containing Working Fluids for Hydraulic Drives for Special Purposes

The cavitation properties of a liquid must be taken into account in the engineering design of hydraulic machines and devices for hydraulic automation in cases when in their working process the absolute pressure in the liquid may drop below atmospheric, and the liquid is in a rarefied state for a certain time. Cold boiling, which occurs at a relatively low temperature and reduced absolute pressure inside or on the surface of the liquid, is considered as hydrostatic cavitation, if the liquid is stationary, or as hydrodynamic cavitation, if the liquid enters conditions under which the velocity head sharply increases in the flow section and the absolute pressure.In accordance with the theory of cavitation, the first phase of cavitation occurs when the absolute pressure in the degassed liquid drops to the value of the saturated vapor pressure and the air dissolved in the liquid, leaving the intermolecular space, turns into microbubbles of undissolved air and becomes a generator of cavitation "nuclei". Of practical interest is a quantitative assessment of the value of the minimum permissible absolute pressure in a real, partially or completely degassed liquid, at which hydrostatic cavitation occurs.Since the pressure of saturated vapor of a liquid is, to a certain extent, associated with the forces of intermolecular interaction, it is necessary to have information on the cavitation properties of technical solutions, including the solution of air in a liquid, since a solute can weaken intermolecular bonds and affect the value of the pressure of saturated vapors of the solvent. The article describes an experiment carried out by the authors to evacuate liquids. During the experiment, evacuation of various liquids was carried out using a developed hydraulic vacuum pump with a pneumatic drive.The article presents the technologies of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic degassing of liquids used in the experiment.As a result of experimental studies of the cavitation properties of pure glycerin and glycerin in the form of a 49/51% solution in water, mineral oil and aviation kerosene, quantitative estimates of the permissible absolute pressure in the considered technical fluids and solutions were obtained, its dependence on the saturated vapor pressure, the influence of the degree of hydrodynamic degassing the liquid, and the amount of dissolved substance in it on the strength of the liquid to rupture.In the process of studying the cavitation properties of solutions, it was found that the level of permissible absolute pressure in the solution is greater than that of the solvent. It has been suggested that dissolved solid, liquid or gaseous substances weaken the intermolecular bonds of the solvent and increase the pressure of its saturated vapor.On the basis of the experimental studies, a method for determining the highest rarefaction in solvents and in glycerol solutions has been developed. In addition, a comparative assessment of the cavitation properties of the considered technical fluids is given.