Viscosity measurements of some castor oil based mixtures under high-pressure conditions†

†Presented at the 42nd EHPRG Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 1–4, 2004.

Abstract

The measurements of the viscosity of castor oil and its methyl alcohol mixtures have shown abnormal rise of viscosity due to the high-pressure phase transition. The dependence of viscosity on pressure has been compared with the pressure dependence of dielectric constant. This comparison has been done for both directions of the phase transition showing some similarity of these dependencies. Because of the very high viscosity at the pressure range, corresponding to the phase transition PVT region, the capillary viscometer, based on the Hagen–Poiseuille’s method, has been designed, built and applied. The new high-pressure phase of castor oil has structural viscosity (is strongly non-Newtonian liquid).

†Presented at the 42nd EHPRG Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 1–4, 2004.

Keywords:

• Castor oil
• Viscosity
• Permittivity
• Phase transition

Notes

†Presented at the 42nd EHPRG Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 1–4, 2004.