VISCOSITIES OF VEGETABLE-OILS AND FATTY-ACIDS

Data for viscosity as a function of temperature from 24 to 110-degrees-C (75 to 230-degrees-F) have been measured for a number of vegetable oils (crambe, rapeseed, corn, soybean, milk-weed, coconut, lesquerella) and eight fatty acids in the range from C-9 to C22. The viscosity measurements were performed according to ASTM test methods D 445 and D 446. Several correlations were fitted to the experimental data. Correlation constants for the best fit are presented. The range of temperature in which the correlations are valid is from 24-degrees-C (75-degrees-F), or the melting point of the substance, to 110-degrees-C (230-degrees-F). The correlation constants are valuable for designing or evaluating such chemical process equipment as heat exchangers, reactors, distillation columns, mixing vessels and process piping.