2 replies to this topic

[Hanin]

Hello All,

 

I want to design an experiment in the lab to measure the viscosity of heavy oil.

I've tried using the falling ball method however it didn't work since the heavy oil in non transparent so I could not see the ball when it was falling.

I already used the capillary viscometer so now I want another method. Also, this method needs to be manual, I mean I want something similar to the falling viscometer method.

 

Any suggestions on that?

 

Your help is highly appreciated.

 

Best Regards,

 

[P.K.Rao]

You can try Redwood II viscometer used for coal tars. It gives viscosity in seconds. You can try ASTM D 5018 also

[JMW]

Or you could use a magent in the ball and a pair of reed switches outside the tube. Just hook up to some lights and then time it from the first activation to the second. 

 

Or you could use the redwood viscometer as suggested. This is not only used for tar products but was once commonly used for Fuel oils - a typical heavy fuel oil would be 3,500sec Redwood No 2.

The falling ball method is now commonly used on board ships burning heavy fuel oil for offline measurements. This doesn't rely on terminal velocity but simply time of flight. A good example is to be found on the Kittiwake site. They also have some viscosity calculators there.

 

PS, you are controlling temperature aren't you?