Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

On the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

Charles S. Hannigan 30/04/2012

1. Abstract Using a rotational viscometer, the relationship between the viscosity of Energol 320 oil and temperature was found to be =(7.481.13)e-(0.0590.007)T. The investigation found systematic discrepancies between the relationship from this experiment and that of the manufacturers data. Though this would likely be too small to affect any practicable application of the oil, the reasons behind the error are fully explored in the discussion section. Secondarily, the viscometer used in the investigation was calibrated, which has uses for any future experiments carried out using the apparatus.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

2. Introduction 2.1. Aims of the Experiment This experiment aims to measure the viscosity of Energol 320 Oil over as large a temperature range as possible using a rotating cylinder method. The final aim being to find the relationship between viscosity and temperature for the oil - the collected data will then be compared with the manufacturers own data. 2.2. Viscosity and Fluids Viscosity is to fluidity as resistance is to conductance they are essentially the same thing but defined in inverse ways. Viscosity can be simply put as the thickness of a fluid but is more technically the resistance to flow through a fluid due to shear and tensile stresses [1]. So the lower a substances viscosity, the more fluid it is, which leads to some people suggesting solids are simply fluids with exceptionally high viscosities. Of course, in this report, fluid will be used in the context of liquids and gases. 2.3. Applications Finding the viscosity of a substance can be vital for knowing how a system works or ensuring a device will operate correctly within its environment. Knowledge of viscosity can also be vital to other areas of physics just as Robert Millikan found out when he attempted to find the charge of the electron with his [now] famous oil drop experiment [2] his value for the viscosity of air was slightly too low, making his value for e wrong by several times the error he quoted in his experiment. Viscosity also plays a part in public safety in volcanically active regions the viscosity of magma can be used to approximate the range of a flow, thus being able to determine risk to any populated areas. In addition to this, the fluidity of molten or semi-molten material plays a part in many aspects of geology [3].

These examples and others from the worlds of cooking, manufacturing and chemistry, show knowing how fluid a substance is and how this property changes with factors such as temperature and pressure has real world practical applications. 2.4. Energol 320 Motor Oil A major one of these real world applications will be touched upon in this investigation the use of lubricants in engines, gearboxes and many other moving components. For example engine oil has to have viscosity of the appropriate 2

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

magnitude throughout the operating range of the engine this can be from a cold winter start to hundreds of degrees in the combustion chambers. Without a good lubricant an engine can be subject to excessive wear or even to seizing up [4]. Therefore, the manufacturers of these oils test their viscosities exhaustively to ensure they are up to the job.

2.5. Previous Methods of Finding Viscosity Many methods have been proposed and used to measure the viscosity of a fluid, with most following one of two principles: firstly there are gravitational methods whereby an object is dropped down a tube full of a particular fluid (e.g. a falling sphere viscometer) or the fluid flow rate down a tube is measured (U-tube viscometers [5]). There is also the rotational viscometer, which relies on measuring the torque required to rotate an object in a fluid, which is related to the viscosity. The set up in this investigation will very closely mirror that of Searles rotational Viscometer, which he set out in his 1912 treatise on the viscosity of treacle [6]. 3. Theory 3.1. Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity There two different kinds of viscosity, though they are closely related to one another dynamic viscosity () is a measure of a fluids resistance to shear flow, while kinematic viscosity () is the dynamic velocity divided by the density of the substance [7]. As dynamic viscosity and density will both change with temperature, kinematic viscosity has two variables dictating its value.

3.2. Accompanying Formulae This experiment has been carried out previously by Dr Searle, under almost identical experimental conditions in his 1912 paper he laid out the derivation required to find viscosity [6]: (1) Where is dynamic viscosity and g is acceleration due to gravity, while the other constituents of the formula are best left to be defined once the design of the viscometer has been described. The derivation makes the assumption that the cylinder used in the experiment is of infinite length, l, which in reality is an impossible notion and so requires a correction factor outlined in section 4.3.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

The basic physical principle behind the theory is that when applying a couple (a system of forces resulting in no acceleration of the centre of mass, meaning it can still induce rotation [8]) to a cylinder in a fluid it experiences an opposing couple. This resistance is dependent on the viscosity of the fluid and the dimensions of the viscometer.

3.3. Molecular Level Viscositys origins lay at the molecular scale in the case of liquids the strength of the intermolecular bonds dictate the viscosity [9]. If the bonds between molecules are weak either due to the electronic structure of the compound or because the kinetic energy of the molecule is high compared to the bond potential (i.e. at higher temperatures) then the attachment between molecules within different flow layers will be lower and shear stress between the layers will be lower thus giving a smaller value for viscosity. In the case of gases the intermolecular bonds do not play a role in the viscosity, instead the diffusivity of the gas is the main factor. 3.4. Turbulence Viscosity as has been described so far only holds for low flow velocities above a certain velocity turbulent flow ensues. Turbulent flow means that flow layers are not well defined and parallel as in the case of the left hand side of figure 1 but are disordered with eddy currents as shown on the right of figure 1. Turbulent flow leads to a phenomenon called eddy viscosity an additional viscous force that increases the apparent viscosity of a substance.

Figure 1: Diagram showing laminar flow around a cylinder rotating slowly (left) and flow around a cylinder rotating above the turbulent threshold, note the non-laminar flow lines with eddy currents and vortices.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

This means throughout the experiment laminar flow must be preserved fortunately there are two easily calculable dimensionless numbers that dictate whether a flow is in the laminar or turbulent regime. The first is the Taylor number, which gives a comparison of the relative importance of the viscous and centrifugal forces in a rotating fluid. It is defined by: (2) Where is the fluid density; b is the radius of the rotating inner cylinder [see section 4.2]; a is the stationary outer radius of the viscometer; T is the time period of rotation and is the dynamic viscosity [10]. Above a Taylor number of ~1700 turbulent flow arises. Secondly there is the Reynolds number it gives a similar comparison to the Taylor number in that it expresses the relative importance of the viscous forces in a fluid to the rotational, inertial forces. It is given by: (3) Where is the density of the fluid; v is the velocity at which the fluid is moving over the surface; l is the length of surface in contact with the fluid and as before, is the dynamic viscosity [9]. Reynolds numbers over ~10000 correspond to the onset on turbulent flow.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

4. Experimental Method 4.1. Apparatus Set-up Thread Drum Top Bearing Optical Sensor Ball-bearing Pulley Thermometer

Length Scale

Inner Cylinder

5 4 3 2 1

Support

Mass Trays Oil Lower Bearing Hollow-Jacketed Outer Cylinder Water Pipes Heater

Figure 2: Diagram showing the set-up of the viscometer.

The viscometer (shown in figure 2) simply consists of two concentric cylinders the outer cylinder is fixed, while the inner cylinder is free to rotate around a firmly (but not excessively) tightened screw at the top and another bearing at the bottom. The cylinder is rotated by weights placed on two trays pulling thread off of a drum via two ball-bearing pulleys. Each of these conditions focusses on minimising the resistance to the cylinders rotation from friction. The period of rotation of the cylinder was measured by a slotted optical sensor that registered every time a strut attached to the thread drum passed through it.

The inner cylinder had a length scale engraved on it, which could be read through a Perspex panel in the outer cylinder. The scale showed how much of the inner cylinder was immersed in oil, which was a variable that could be changed throughout the experiment.

Another variable that could be changed was the temperature of the oil. This was controlled by heated or cooled water pumped from a thermostatically controlled heating unit through the hollow jacket of the outer cylinder. The temperature of the water was measured by a thermometer in the heater, while the oil was measured with an electric thermometer inserted into the top of the viscometer.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

4.2. Viscometer Attributes Figure 3 shows the three dimensions of the viscometer necessary in the calculation of viscosity. D is the diameter of the thread drum; b is the radius of the rotating inner cylinder and a is the inner radius of the outer cylinder. It was important to take the inner radius as the hollow jacket of the outer cylinder means there was a significant difference between its outer and inner radii. Each was measured using callipers for maximum precision.
Figure 3: Diagram showing the important dimensions of the viscometer.

b a

The masses of the two weight trays were also

measured with a precision balance, as they had a not-insignificant mass. The thread that connected the mass trays to the drum was assumed to have negligible mass. 4.3. Length Correction As previously mentioned, a correction needed to be carried out to take into account the finite length of the viscometer. The fact that the inner cylinder had a bottom plate meant there was a higher surface area for the oil to drag on than could be accounted for by the length of the cylinder alone, effectively making the cylinder longer. Exactly how much longer was found by placing a constant arbitrary mass of 20 grams on the weight trays. The period of rotation of the inner cylinder was measured; this was repeated for several immersion lengths of the cylinder. 4.4. Measuring Viscosity There were several possible independent variables to work with to find viscosity but in this case the length of the immersed cylinder was kept constant, while the applied couple (mass) was changed. The period of rotation was measured for each applied mass with the range of mass applied being from 10-110g, as above 110g the strut passed through the optical sensor too fast for it to register.

The temperature of the oil was measured at each run, with the aim to complete each set of measurements fast enough that the temperature stays constant. The temperature of the oil was then changed using the thermostatic heater, or by adding

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

ice into the water supply that was pumped into the hollow jacket of the viscometer. A new set of readings were then taken at that oil temperature. 5. Results 5.1. Correction Factor The periods of rotation that were measured in part 4.3 were then multiplied by the applied mass. It is clear to see from equation 1 that if the length of cylinder were infinite then the x-intercept of a plot of MT against l would be 0. In reality this isnt the case and the intercept is actually offset by an amount equal to the correction factor needed for the length. The plot is shown in figure 4 below.

Figure 4: Plot of MT against length immersed used to calculate the length correction factor. -1 The gradient of the graph is (6.470.10) g s cm , with the y-intercept at (4.000.41) cm.

The equation of the graphs best fit line is therefore: (4) Setting MT to zero and rearranging to give the x-intercept gives a value for the correction factor (to be denoted k) of (-0.620.02) cm.

5.2. Dimensions of the Viscometer The proportions of the viscometer that needed to be known in order to carry out the experiment were as follows: the outer drum radius, a=(0.024860.0002)m; the inner cylinder radius, b=(0.018760.0002)m; the thread drum diameter, 8

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

D=(0.01920.001)m and the length immersed in oil, l was originally 0.04m but with the correction factor became: (5) Thus making l=(0.04620.0005)m. 5.3. The Viscosity of Energol Equation one was utilised in finding the viscosity of the oil it is clear to see that plotting 1/T, the dependent variable in the investigation, against M, the independent variable, yielded graphs with gradients of: (6) Rearranging the equation to make the subject and inserting all the relevant constants yielded a value for the dynamic viscosity. Plots of this variety were made for the full temperature range of the investigation and the corresponding viscosities found. A plot showing the how the viscosity changes with temperature is shown below.
10

Viscosity, (Pa s-1)

0.1 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Temperature (C)
Figure 5: Logarithmic plot showing how the viscosity of Energol 320 oil changes with temperature. The -0.059T black line represents the experimental data, with =7.48e ; the error on the exponent is 0.007, and -0.058T the intercept 1.13. The red line represents the manufacturers reference data with =4.35e .

5.4. Turbulent Flow It was also necessary to check any results wouldnt have been affected by turbulent flow this meant finding out the maximum Reynolds and Taylors number values that would have occurred during the experiment.

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

For the Taylor number this meant using the lowest viscosity measured and the smallest time period of rotation measured, as the rest of the factors in the equation 2 are constant. The maximal value Taylor number that would have occurred was 40.4, significantly lower than the critical value of ~1700. With the Reynolds number, the maximum would again occur at the smallest time period (giving a large velocity) and lowest viscosity. The calculated value was 37.1, again significantly lower than the critical value of ~10000. 6. Discussion The final result of the investigation (shown in figure 5) shows that viscosity changes exponentially with temperature, with fluids getting more viscous as temperature is lowered. This relationship doesnt necessarily hold for temperatures far outside this range, particularly once one takes into account phase changes, which cause sudden changes in viscosity. For example, the oil will most likely become a semi-solid, almost jelly like substance and then solidify at lower temperatures and will become gaseous at much higher temperatures.

The experimental data presented in figure 5 has a clear systematic difference from the reference data provided by the oils manufacturer. While the intercept may be erroneous, the gradient given by this experimental data is almost identical to that of the manufacturers data it may even be that the error in that case was overestimated.

The reasons for the disharmony between the two data sets need to be explored, starting with the correction factor. The results shown in figure 4 are as expected and the straight line fit has a high degree of certainty. The result is also consistent with Searles experiment of 1912, which uses very similar apparatus; in it he states that he expects the correction factor to be something like half a centimetre. [6] The correction factor is solely a product of the viscometer dimensions; it also becomes part of the length dimension of the cylinder, which was shown in equation 5 to be part of the gradient this would make any error in k fractional rather than systematic. Thus it seems that k was determined to a good degree of accuracy and isnt a major error source.

The outcome of section 5.4 suggests that turbulent flow cannot be the reason for these inflated viscosity readings, as both of the calculations to determine turbulence show this system was below the critical turbulent threshold. Though on smaller scales this may not have been the case, the length engravings or any damage to the inner cylinder could have caused extra drag and eddy currents that made the viscosity appear higher. 10

Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

Though unlikely, a new investigation with a fresh, unmarked inner cylinder would conclusively resolve this.

Temperature was the independent variable over the experiment and the oil had to be kept at constant temperature to get reliable data. The main problem with this was that the oil wasnt heated homogeneously: it was heated by the water in the hollow jacketed outer cylinder, meaning there would have been a temperature gradient in the oil. While this hasnt been tested, it seems likely that the rotation of the inner cylinder would have had a stirring effect on the oil, homogenising the temperature and thus removing any problems from non-uniform temperature.

Its probable that the discrepancy was due to the condition of the oil. This could be partially due to small variation between batches but is more likely to be due to oil degradation. The oil used in the investigation is not kept in ideal conditions it is kept in the viscometer, which has an open top this allows particulate matter to get into the oil. It also means there is a ready supply of oxygen and moisture for oxidation of the oil, which is the leading cause of motor oil degradation oxidation makes heavier compounds, with higher intermolecular forces and so a higher viscosity [11]. The average compound mass in the oil will also get higher over time as lighter compounds are free to evaporate, having the same effect as oxidation. A test with fresh oil, in a clean container would clarify this.

The errors discussed above all have the effect of increasing the apparent viscosity of the oil if they are present this is precisely the effect that is observed in the experimental results. 7. Conclusion The investigation yielded mixed results regarding the relationship between temperature and the viscosity of Energol 320 the final result was that =7.48e-0.059T. This relationship was found to have significant systematic error when compared to the manufacturers data, which seems likely to have been caused by the differences between the reference sample and the sample used in this experiment. The exponent term of the relationship was found accurately though, which on the whole is more important in determining the functional range of the oil (provided the systematic error is small enough).

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Charles Hannigan: Finding the Viscosity of Energol 320 Oil and How it Varies with Temperature

Another facet of this investigation was the calibration of the viscometer to account for the non-infinite length of the inner cylinder; this was done to a satisfactory degree of accuracy and would be useful in any future investigations using the viscometer. 8. References
[1]

Viswanath. D.S, Viscosity of Liquids: Theory, Estimation, Experiment, and Data, 1st Edition, Springer, New York (2007), p. 7.

[2]

Heering. P, Constructing Scientific Understanding Through Contextual Teaching, 1st Edition, Frank & Timme GmbH, Berlin (2007), p.86.

[3]

Lilboutry. L, Quantitative Geophysics and Geology, Springer, New York (2000), p.190. Stewart, R.M, The Relationship Between Engine Oil Viscosity and Engine Performance, ASTM International (1977).

[4]

[5]

Viswanath. D.S, Viscosity of Liquids: Theory, Estimation, Experiment, and Data, 1st Edition, Springer, New York (2007), p. 17.

[6]

Searle. G.F, A simple viscometer for very simple liquids, Proc. Phys. Soc, London (1912), 27 119.

[7]

Tipler. P.A. and Mosca. G, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6th Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, p. 445. Kane. T.R. and Levinson. D.A, Dynamics, Theory and Applications, AIAA Journal, vol. 24, issue 8, p. 1407. Tipler. P.A. and Mosca. G, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6th Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, p. 446.

[8]

[9]

[10]

Taylor, G.I, "Stability of a Viscous Liquid contained between Two Rotating Cylinders". Phil. Trans. Royal Society (1923), A223: 289343. Stadtmiller. W.H, Aspects of Lubricant Oxidation, ASTM Special Technical Publication (1986), Issue 916.

[11]

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