Analysis of release-resistant water in materials and related devices and methods
OwnerMichael Smithinventor
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Abstract
Provided herein are new methods of analyzing release-resistant water in materials, such as geologic materials. The methods of the invention typically comprise removal of extraneous water, e.g., by drying, preparing the material for the release of release-resistant water (e.g., by crushing the material, but typically not so greatly as to cause the release of fluid from hermetically sealed components, such as fluid inclusions), and then analyzing the amount of release-resistant water in the sample, either directly in-situ or by the additional step of extracting the release-resistant water and measuring the extraction. The invention also provides new devices and/or systems useful in the performance of such methods.
Claims23
A method for analyzing a material containing release-resistant water comprising:
- (a) applying a condition to remove at least about 99% of any extraneous water present in the material, wherein the applied condition is at least as effective as removing the extraneous water from the material by subjecting the material to at least 100 degrees Celsius at normal atmospheric pressure for a sufficient period of time to convert any such extraneous water to water vapor, to establish the material as at least essentially free of extraneous water but still containing at least a detectable amount of release-resistant water, wherein release-resistant water is water that is not removable by the applied condition;
- (b) applying an additional extraction condition to the material in the state resulting from step (a) of the method to extract a detectable amount of the release-resistant water contained in the material without causing the release of more than 1% of any water contained in crystalline mineral compounds in the material;
- (c) using capacitance manometry to measure the amount of release-resistant water obtained in step (b) of the method;
- and
- (d) using the measured amount of release-resistant water identified in step (c) of the method to assess one or more characteristics of the material.
A method for analyzing a material containing release-resistant water comprising:
- (a) applying a condition to remove at least about 99% of any extraneous water present in the material, wherein the applied condition is at least as effective as removing the extraneous water from the material by subjecting the material to at least 100 degrees Celsius at normal atmospheric pressure for a sufficient period of time to convert any such extraneous water to water vapor, to establish the material as at least essentially free of extraneous water but still containing at least a detectable amount of release-resistant water, wherein release-resistant water is water that is not removable by the applied condition;
- (b) applying an additional extraction condition to the material in the state resulting from step (a) of the method to extract a detectable amount of the release-resistant water contained in the material without causing the release of more than 1% of any water contained in crystalline mineral compounds in the material;
- (c) measuring the amount of release-resistant water obtained in step (b) of the method;
- and
- (d) using the measured amount of the release-resistant water identified in step (c) of the method to assess one or more characteristics of the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.