Testing the Viscosity of Different Oils Compared to Diesel Fuel

Catherine Dellinger, Lacey Anderson, and Garrett Moore

Animas High School

ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this lab was to investigate the viscosity of different oils
compared to diesel fuel at certain temperatures. In this lab the viscosity of
vegetable oil, corn oil, and diesel were all tested at 22 (room temperature), 45,
70, and 95 degrees Celsius. This was done by dropping a marble through a 900
ml graduated cylinder of oil and timing how long it takes the marble to get from
one point to another. The oil was then heated on a hot plate to the specific
temperature and the preceding steps were repeated. It can be concluded that
the vegetable oil, when heated to 95 degrees Celsius has approximately the
same viscosity as the diesel fuel at room temperature, 45, and 70 degrees
Celsius. When the graph is extrapolated, it shows that the viscosity of vegetable
oil matches with the viscosity of diesel at approximately 114.6 degrees Celsius.
These results show that vegetable oil could possibly be used as an efficient fuel
when heated appropriately. Corn oil showed to be too viscous compared to
diesel, which means it would not be an efficient alternative to diesel because of
how heated the engine would have to be.
INTRODUCTION:
Diesel engines have been
around since the late 1800s and
have been known to run on a variety
of different fuels. Like a gasoline
engine, a diesel engine is a type of
internal combustion engine.
Combustion is another word for
burning, and internal means inside,
so an internal combustion engine is
simply one where the fuel is burned
inside the main part of the engine
(inside the cylinders) where power is
produced. In a diesel engine, the
fuel burns inside the cylinders
themselves.
The use of vegetable oil as a
source of fuel has been known for a
long time since the very first
creation of the Diesel engine.
Vegetable oils are biodegradable and
nontoxic, have low emission profiles,
are made from renewable resources
and so are environmentally

beneficial. Diesel engines can be

known to run on vegetable oil with
no modifications.
In the lab the experiment will
be conducted to test which oils are
similar in viscosity to diesel fuel, and
at what temperatures the viscosities
are approximately the same. The
definition of viscosity is the
resistance of a liquid to flow. When
engines are heated the liquid
temperature increases which
reduces viscosity. When engines cool
the liquid temperature decreases
and the viscosity increases. An
example of a viscous liquid is
breakfast syrup, and a less viscous
liquid is water. This lab is very
important because it compares the
viscosity of different oils to diesel
fuel. With diesel fuel being a nonrenewable resource, over time there
will be less of it to access, so it is
essential to find out what will be

similar to diesel to potentially use in

a fuel tank. The lab shows two
different oils viscosity compared to
diesel fuel, all measured at the same
temperatures.
MATERIALS:

1000 ml graduated cylinder

1000 ml sample of one of the
following: diesel, corn oil, and
vegetable oil
Thermometer
1000 ml Erlenmeyer flask
Steel wool
Marble
Stopwatch
Stirring rod

METHODS AND PROCEDURE:

Fill the graduated cylinder with your
liquid sample to the 900 ml mark.
Draw two lines on the column with
the wax pencil, one near the top of
the oil and one near the bottom.
Measure the distance between the
two lines in meters and record the
length. (100 centimeters in one
meter.) Take the temperature of the
liquid at room temperature (in
Celsius) and record it. Use a
stopwatch to time the marble as it
drops through the oil. Drop the
marble into the oil and measure the
time it takes the ball to travel from
the top line to the bottom line. Try to
drop the marble as close to the
liquids surface as you can. Conduct
2 or 3 times and record the times in
your table. Pour the oil from the
graduated cylinder into the
Erlenmeyer flask until you have
emptied most of the fluid. Before the
marble drops, place a sample of
steel wool into a funnel to catch the

marble. Heat the same oil in the

Erlenmeyer flask on the hot plate to
45C. You can use a stirring rod to mix
it. Pour the heated oil from the flask
into the graduated cylinder up to
900 ml mark (oil might have
expanded, if so take new height
measurement). Drop a marble into
the oil in the cylinder. Using a
stopwatch, measure the time it takes
the ball to travel from the top line to
the bottom line. Conduct about 2 or
3 trials and record the time in
seconds in your table. Heat the oil to
70C on the hot plate. You can use a
stirring rod to mix it. Repeat steps 89. Record the time in seconds in your
data table. Heat the oil to 95C on the
hot plate. Repeat steps 8-9 and
record the time in seconds in your
data.
HAZARDS:
Diesel contains chemicals that
are dangerous to inhale and swallow.
It is also flammable so while doing
this lab it is crucial to keep the diesel
away from an open flame. While
heating each oil, it is important to
wear heat resistant gloves and
safety goggles because the
Erlenmeyer flask gets very hot to the
touch. It is important to also be
cautious when pouring the hot oil
into the graduated cylinder, so using
a funnel and pouring it slowly is
essential for safety. If hot oil or diesel
gets on your skin make sure to wash
it off with cold water and soap as
well as treating the burn if present.
RESULTS:
All of the results collected
show that diesel had the lowest
viscosity, vegetable oil had the
second lowest, and corn oil had the

highest. All the tested oils viscosities

decreased when they were heated
which was as predicted. The
viscosities increased as their
temperatures decreased or cooled
which was also as predicted.
Vegetable oil had the fastest
decreasing viscosity when heated
and diesel had the slowest. Table 1
and 2 show that when the vegetable
oil is heated to 95 degrees Celsius it
almost matches the viscosity of the
diesel fuel at 22, 45, and 70 degrees
Celsius. The data was averaged in
Table 2, and an extrapolated graph
was made as shown in Figure 1 to
find the point of intersection where
the two oils had the same viscosity
as diesel at 95 degrees C. The r^2
equations that are shown in Figure 1
compare the line of best fit values at
any given point to your actual data.
When the r^2 equation equals
r^2=1 that means that the line of
best fit and data collected has no
deviation as represented by the
vegetable oil line in the figure. In
Table 3 the presented equations
represent the trend lines that
allowed us to find the intersection
where each oil had the same
viscosity as diesel at 95 degrees
Celsius. The intersection for
vegetable oil was 114.26 degrees
Celsius and for corn oil it was
160.77 degrees Celsius.

(Room
Temp.)
22
al 1

Tri
0.23

0.4

0.38

(Room
Temp.)
22

Trial 2

0.21

0.38

0.4

(Room
Temp.)
22

Trial 3

0.23

0.3

0.39

45

Trial 1

0.24

0.28

0.36

45

Trial 2

0.2

0.33

0.32

45

Trial 3

0.22

0.3

0.35

70

Trial 1

0.2

0.29

0.35

70

Trial 2

0.19

0.23

0.3

70

Trial 3

0.18

0.27

0.31

95

Trial 1

0.18

0.19

0.29

95

Trial 2

0.17

0.23

0.25

95

Trial 3

0.17

0.22

0.27

TABLE 2: Average temperatures and

time taken for marble to drop
through Diesel, Vegetable oil, and
Corn oil.
Time in
Time in
Average Second Time in Second
s
s
Seconds s

TABLE 1: Temperatures and time

taken for marble to drop through
Diesel, Vegetable oil, and Corn oil

Degree Trial
sC
number

Diesel
(time in
second
s)

Vegetabl
e Oil
(time in
seconds
)

Corn
Oil
(time in
second
s)

Viscosity of
Diesel at
Running
Temperatur
es (95
Degrees C)

Degree
sC
Diesel

Vegetabl Corn
e Oil
Oil

22

0.22

0.36

0.39

.17

45

0.22

0.31

0.34

.17

Corn Oil
70

0.19

0.26

0.32

.17

95

0.17

0.21

0.27

.17

FIGURE 1: Temperature of Corn oil,

Vegetable oil, and Diesel compared
to time taken for marble to drop

TABLE 3: Trend Lines and predicted

intersection temperatures of Corn
and Vegetable oil compared to
Diesel.
Predicted
Intersection
Temperature (c)
with Diesel

Trend line
Equations

Diesel

Y1=-7.41E4*X+0.0243

Vegetable
Oil

Y2=-2.048E3x+0.404

X=114.26

Y3=-1.555E3*x+0.42

X=160.77

DISCUSSION:
The results conducted show
how vegetable and corn oil at
specific temperatures compare to
diesel fuel. This allowed us to find at
which temperature each oil would
need to be heated to in order to run
in an engine at the same viscosity of
diesel. In an engine, diesel fuels
running temperature is
approximately 95 degrees Celsius.
The oils must match the viscosity of
diesel at running temperature in
order to be used in an engine or else
the oils could clog the tubing and
injectors or be too watery to be
properly used as fuel. The results
showed that each fuel became less
viscous as they were heated, which
was as predicted, and they became
more viscous when cooled which was
also as predicted. Table 1 and 2 show
that when the vegetable oil is heated
to 95 degrees Celsius it almost
matches the viscosity of the diesel
fuel at 22, 45, and 70 degrees
Celsius. This means that vegetable
oil can possibly be used as fuel in a
car efficiently, when heated
accordingly. Referring to the data,
corn oil is too viscous compared to
diesel and vegetable oil so if it were
to be used as fuel, it wouldnt be
able to flow through to the pistons
which leads to inefficient combustion
or would have to be heated to
intensely greater temperature then
the engine could handle. So, it can
be concluded that corn oil would not
be an efficient alternative to diesel.
An inaccuracy that could have
occurred during our experiment was

getting the right times for how fast

the marble went through the oil. Our
timer used their iPhone, which was
the first mistake. The marble fell
down the graduated cylinder very
quickly, making it difficult to get the
most accurate time on a phone. A
stopwatch would have made it much
more accurate because it is easier
and faster to push a button than to
touch a screen. If we chose a lighter
marble to drop this would have
increased the drop time giving us a
more accurate measurement and
more reaction time as well. The
results would have shifted if a lighter
marble was used, but the trend lines
would remain the same and give us
approximately the same
extrapolated points.

The r^2 equations that are shown in

Figure 1 compare the line of best fit
values at any given point to your
actual data. When the r^2 equation
equals r^2=1 that means that the
line of best fit and data collected has
no deviation as represented by the
vegetable oil line in the figure. After
averaging the data from all of the
results and graphing a line of best fit
in Figure 1 for each liquid, we were
able to do several calculations for
Table 3 to find the point of
intersection where the oils had the
same viscosity as diesel at 95
degrees Celsius. This intersection
for vegetable oil was 114.26
degrees Celsius and for corn oil it
was 160.77 degrees Celsius.