Effect of Temperature on the Viscosity of Petroleum Products

Viscosity is the resistance of different substances to flow freely at room temperature. This tendency is always common in liquids such as water and other syrups. The resistance of these substances depends on the degree of temperature in which they are exposed to. There are certain substances like water which always have very low viscosity since their molecules are distant apart and therefore flow easily under normal room temperature.

The resistance of different fluids such as petroleum products flow is measured by an instrument called viscometer. For the experiment to be successful the temperature of the substance under the study is controlled at very close range temperatures to increase the accuracy of the experiment. The result of the experiment depended on the forces of attraction which exists between the particles. The molecules of mineral oils, diesel, and standard mud move freely when the temperature is varied from room temperature to high temperatures hence their viscosity decreases with the increase in temperature.

The result of the experiment indicated that the slight increase in the temperature lowers the viscosity of the fluids which was being used for the study. The increase in temperature of the fluid makes its cohesive molecules to increase above the attractive forces of the molecules of the substances used and hence decreasing their viscosity. The bombardment of the particles of the substances also increases as the temperature is increased at a constant rate. When there is a continuous increase in temperature, the liquids such as diesel starts to vaporize into gases which escape into the atmosphere. The constant increase in temperature reduces the viscosity of different fluids at a different rate where diesel, mineral oils decrease their viscosity at almost the same rate but those of drilling mud, polymer, and crude oil requires more temperature to be less viscous.

Conclusion

The increase in temperature lowers the viscosity of fluids because the intermolecular particles increase their movement and hence viscosity goes down. The forces which hold the particles close to each other also increases hence weakening the ability of the particles to stay close to each other and therefore its viscosity reduces with the increase in temperature.