title: A system for acoustical and optical analysis of encapsulated microbubbles at ultrahigh hydrostatic pressures.
abstract: Acoustics are commonly used for borehole (i.e., oil well) imaging applications, under conditions where temperature and pressure reach extremes beyond that of conventional medical ultrasonics. Recently, there has been an interest in the application of encapsulated microbubbles as borehole contrast agents for acoustic assessment of fluid composition and flow. Although such microbubbles are widely studied under physiological conditions for medical imaging applications, to date there is a paucity of information on the behavior of encapsulated gas-filled microbubbles at high pressures. One major limitation is that there is a lack of experimental systems to assess both optical and acoustic data of micrometer-sized particles data at these extremes. In this paper, we present the design and application of a high-pressure cell designed for acoustical and optical studies of microbubbles at hydrostatic pressures up to 27.5 MPa (271 atm).
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. zhushma@unc.edu
authors.forename: Aleksandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhushma
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lebedeva
authors.forename: Pabitra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.forename: Sergei S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sheiko
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Dayton
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002214:Capsules; D004867:Equipment Design; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D045423:Microbubbles; D055620:Optical Phenomena
chemical_list: D002214:Capsules