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I found the following quote: > RheEnergise said it invented the new high-density fluid, known as R-19. Chief executive Stephen Crosher told Professional Engine

I found the following quote: > RheEnergise said it invented the new high-density fluid, known as R-19. Chief executive Stephen Crosher told Professional Engineering that the liquid is a fine-milled suspended solid in water, with low viscosity and low abrasion characteristics. The base material is used in oral medication applications, in a similar way that chalk is used as a bulking agent for pills and tablets. He said the raw materials are common and available, including in the UK, and the fluid could either be manufactured on-site or at a depot. [0] Maybe someone knowledgeable about oral medication applications has any idea. [0] https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/high-density-pumped-hydro-could-be-installed-on-thousands-of-small-hills https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/high-density-pumped...

gadders 3y ago
I wonder if it's kaolin?
- gorlilla 3y ago
  My first guess was some form of alginate.
  - pfdietz 3y ago
    An organic compound would not have the density.
  - kortex 3y ago
    Alginate is probably not as dense as a suspension of kaolin, and also being an ionic polymer, there's no need for a surfactant or dispersant to stabilize it. Also it is probably way more expensive.
- cinntaile 3y ago
  Kaolin apparently has a specific gravity of 2.16–2.68, so it doesn't seem to be dense enough on its own unless the ratio of kaolin:water is extremely high? Good guess though!
isoprophlex 3y ago
Interesting! I wonder how the economics work out wrt aging of the liquid, abrasion (low abrasion != no abrasion)... and of course how environmentally friendly it is to dispose of. It seems hardly worth it to use a specialized fluid for "only" a 2.5x density multiplier, on first glance.
Hextinium 3y ago
After looking up mining slurry densities limestone is 2.7x the density of water. Calcium carbonate (limestone) is also used for filler in some medications. I'm pretty sure its just limestone slurry.
- jaclaz 3y ago
  It is more like that is a sort of drilling mud (bentonite possibly additioned with baryte ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_mud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_mud Bentonite is also used in medicine (dermatology).
IshKebab 3y ago
Probably just silica? It would be non-toxic and maybe dense enough.

gadders 3y ago

I wonder if it's kaolin?

gorlilla 3y ago
My first guess was some form of alginate.
- pfdietz 3y ago
  An organic compound would not have the density.
- kortex 3y ago
  Alginate is probably not as dense as a suspension of kaolin, and also being an ionic polymer, there's no need for a surfactant or dispersant to stabilize it. Also it is probably way more expensive.
cinntaile 3y ago
Kaolin apparently has a specific gravity of 2.16–2.68, so it doesn't seem to be dense enough on its own unless the ratio of kaolin:water is extremely high? Good guess though!

isoprophlex 3y ago

Interesting! I wonder how the economics work out wrt aging of the liquid, abrasion (low abrasion != no abrasion)... and of course how environmentally friendly it is to dispose of. It seems hardly worth it to use a specialized fluid for "only" a 2.5x density multiplier, on first glance.

Hextinium 3y ago

After looking up mining slurry densities limestone is 2.7x the density of water. Calcium carbonate (limestone) is also used for filler in some medications. I'm pretty sure its just limestone slurry.

jaclaz 3y ago
It is more like that is a sort of drilling mud (bentonite possibly additioned with baryte ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_mud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_mud Bentonite is also used in medicine (dermatology).

IshKebab 3y ago

Probably just silica? It would be non-toxic and maybe dense enough.