BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

PROJECT FINAL REPORT

GROUP NUMBER: T3

PROJECT NUMBER: 1-P3

TITLE: Accuracy of Brookfield and Capillary Viscometers for the Determination of

Newtonian Viscosity

DATE SUBMITTED: October 10, 2002

ROLE ASSIGNMENTS

ROLE GROUP MEMBER

FACILITATOR Chalothorn Vashirakovit

TIME & TASK KEEPER Daniel-Joseph Leung

SCRIBE Grant Foy

PRESENTER Jeffrey Katrencik

BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

OBJECTIVES & SPECIFIC AIMS

To quantitatively compare the Brookfield and Capillary Viscometers through the

properties of sucrose solutions by:
 Determining the accuracy, precisions, and limits of both methods in finding the
viscosity
 Running experiments under different temperature and concentration conditions

BACKGROUND

The response of a liquid material to shear forces can be quantified through an analysis of
viscosity of the material. Fluid materials are unable to resist shear stresses so the sucrose
solution will continue to deform as long as the stress is applied. True solutions behave in
a Newtonian fashion, with viscosity independent of either stress rate and solely on the
variations of temperature. An understanding of viscosity of pure solutions can be applied
to either healthy dilute blood or plasma in biological applications.

The two machines provided for analysis in the lab calculate viscosity through the use of
two different shear forces. The Brookfield Viscometer applies Hook’s law to the attached
spring to calculate the torque produced by the liquid between the concentric cylinders.

As either the concentration or temperature of the solution change, the torque produced on
the machine changes and a different viscosity is measured. For the Capillary
Viscometers, the gravitational pull on the sucrose solution combined with the density of
the solution lead to the calculation of the viscosity. As the density of the sucrose solution
changes, through a change in either the temperature or the concentration, the viscosity
also changes. Since neither of these calculations is exponential, the change in viscosity
will be directly correlated and are Newtonian in effect.

THEORY AND METHODS OF CALCULATION

All Newtonian fluids demonstrate constant viscosity independent of applied shear rates,
and can be calculated by the following formula (keeping a constant temperature)

   (T ) '

Sucrose solutions are expected to follow the Newtonian model. When either temperature
or concentration is varied the Newtonian model dictates that the solution will vary
directly. For the purpose of the Brookfield viscometer, the calculations are done
internally. Further research has not revealed the formula of computation. For the
capillary viscometers, the viscosity is dependant upon the density, gravitational pull
(definable by time) and the capillary viscometer constant depending on size. This
calculation is defined as:

Density * CV constant * Time (sec) = Viscosity (Centipoise)

BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

MATERIALS, APPARATUS, METHODS

 Bioengineering Laboratory III, Mitchell Litt, BE 309 Bioengineering Laboratory

III Manual: "Transport Processes and Properties: Rheology," Fall 2002.
 Additional Materials:
o Pipette aid
o Plastic Volume tubes

RESULTS

Brookfield Viscometer

At a constant temperature of 20 °C, sucrose solutions of various concentrations were run

under the Brookfield viscometer to determine their cP values and percentage maximum
torque at varying shear rate. From Table 4 (refer to Appendix), it shows that the
Brookfield viscometer was not able to read the viscosity of any sucrose solutions with
less than 0.17 g of sucrose per 1 g of water. Below the above-mentioned concentrations,
the viscometer could not reach the point whereby the cP values become constant at
varying shear rate. At the sucrose concentration of 0.17 g, 0.20 g, 0.30 g, 0.40 g, 0.50 g
and 0.60 g of sucrose per 1 g of water, the average cP values are 1.62, 1.82, 2.43, 3.28,
3.82 and 4.80, respectively. Comparing the experimentally obtained cP values to the
reference viscosity of sucrose solution at 20 °C (1.57, 1.71, 2.27, 3.01, 3.99 and 5.28), the
percentage errors of the values obtained were calculated. For the sucrose solution of
0.17g, 0.20g, 0.30g, 0.40g, 0.50g and 0.60g of sucrose per 1g of water, the percentage
errors of the cP values obtained are calculated to be 3.185%, 6.433%, 7.048%, 8.970%,
-4.261% and –9.091%, respectively.

At a given concentration of sucrose solution, the temperatures of the solution were varied
from 40-60 °C (specifically 40, 44, 48, 52, 56 and 60 °C) in order to observe how the
viscosity of the sucrose solution changes with varying temperatures (refer to Table 5). At
the sucrose concentration of 0.3 g of sucrose per 1g of water, the Brookfield viscometer
was not able to read the viscosity of the solution. At the concentration of 0.4 g of sucrose
per 1g of water, the Brookfield viscometer can only read the viscosity of the solution at
only the temperature of 39.7 and 43.9 °C, and the cP values obtained were 1.71 and 1.59,
respectively. Compared to the reference CP values of 1.75 and 1.59, the percentage
errors were calculated to be –2.286% and 0%, respectively. The viscometer was not able
to obtain the viscosity of the sucrose solution at the temperature of 48 °C and above.

At the concentration of 0.5 g of sucrose per 1 g of water, the Brookfield viscometer can
only read the viscosity of the solution at only the temperature of 39.7, 43.9 and 47.6 °C,
and the cP values obtained were 2.44, 1.93 and 1.71, respectively. Compared to the
reference cP values of 2.23, 2.01 and 1.85, the percentage errors were calculated to be
9.417%, -3.980% and –7.568%, respectively. The viscometer was not able to obtain the
viscosity of the sucrose solution at the temperature of 52 °C and above.
BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

At the concentration of 0.55 g of sucrose per 1g of water, the Brookfield viscometer was
able to read the viscosity of the solution at the temperature of 39.7, 43.9, 47.6, 51.6 and
59.6 °C and the cP values obtained were 2.56, 2.32, 2.11, 2.04, 1.69 and 1.54,
respectively. Compared to the reference cP values of 2.51, 2.26, 2.07, 1.89, 1.72 and
1.60, the percentage errors were calculated to be 1.992%, 2.655%, 1.932%, 7.937%,
-1.744% and 3.750%, respectively.

At the concentration of 0.6 g of sucrose per 1 g of water, the Brookfield viscometer was
able to read the viscosity of the solution at the temperature of 39.7, 43.9, 47.6, 51.6 and
59.6 °C, and the cP values obtained were 2.93, 2.61, 2.39, 2.08, 1.99 and 1.87,
respectively. Compared to the reference cP values of 2.82, 2.53, 2.31, 2.11, 1.92 and
1.77, the percentage errors were calculated to be 3.901%, 2.162%, 2.463%, -1.422%,
3.646% and 5.650%, respectively.

Plotting the viscosity of the sucrose solution at 20 °C against its concentration (g of

sucrose per g of water), the trend of sucrose viscosity with respect to its concentration
was obtained (refer to Figure 1). The graph obtained has an R-squared value of 0.9061,
and it has the slope of 6.193.

Plotting the viscosity of the sucrose solution of the concentration 0.55 g of sucrose per 1
g of water against the solution temperature (in °C), the behavior of the viscosity of the
solution with respect to the solution temperature was obtained (refer to the blue line in
Figure 2). The graph has an R –squared value of 0.9833, and it has the slope of -0.0507.

Plotting the viscosity of the sucrose solution of the concentration 0.60 g of sucrose per 1
g of water against the solution temperature (in °C), the behavior of the viscosity of the
solution with respect to the solution temperature was obtained (refer to the blue line in
Figure 2). The graph has an R–squared value of 0.9602, and it has the slope of -0.0535.

Capillary Viscometer

The capillary viscometer experiment was broken into two distinct sections of results. The first set of data
holds temperature constant at 24.2 degrees Celsius and varies the concentration of the sucrose solution
from 0 to 1 (gram sucrose / 1 gram water). The second set of data compared the same sucrose solutions 0 to
1 (gram sucrose / 1 gram water) over the variations of 40 and 50 degrees Celsius.
25 Degrees
Celcius
Reference % Error, 100 %
Solution (g/g) 50 CV 100 CV 200 CV Value % Error, 50 CV CV C
0 0.943083 0.923063 1.081792 0.857854815 9.935073831 7.601272204
0.11 1.345614 1.2753 1.42065 1.1897 13.10285885 7.194253377
0.25 1.962658 1.932584 2.04646 1.7482 12.26925812 10.54897946
0.43 4.1157 3.766997 3.701211 2.8528 44.27027919 32.04589011
0.67 N/A 4.988378 5.153507 5.2698 N/A -5.339667567
1 N/A 13.58454 14.05067 13.6514 N/A -0.489818494
Table 1 CV Viscosity at 20 °C
BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

There are several key points to make about Table 1. For low concentrations the 200 CV
has the high error. Since the given range for the 200 CV does not include viscosities
below 2 centipoise, this error is expected. Conversely, using the 50 CV at high
concentrations would be inappropriate, both for time and accuracy. This is evident in our
.43 solution, where the percent error is almost one-half of the viscosity. The time
required to run trials of .67 or greater in the 50 CV would have required nearly an hour,
returning an inaccurate viscosity reading. Another important note is the very small
percent error recorded for the .67 and 1 g/g solutions. These two solutions were run in
week four after our skills were honed, by which time most of our procedural error had
been eliminated.

40 Degrees
Celcius
Solution (g/g) 50 CV 100 CV Reference % Error, 50 % Error, 100
Value CV CV
0.1 0.851665 0.897038 0.8222 3.580967729 9.0994
0.2 0.981023 1.008496 1.0594 -7.39402303 -4.8006
0.3 1.176791 1.214899 1.3586 -13.38215137 -10.5772
0.4 1.616217 1.653329 1.7355 -6.871614246 -4.7332
0.5 2.203562 2.26565 2.2089 -0.240288018 2.5705
0.666666667 3.792185 3.373384 3.2774 15.70711893 2.9287
1 7.363406 6.273766 7.0346 4.674128869 -10.8156

50 Degrees
Celcius
Solution (g/g) 50 CV 100 CV Reference % Error, 50 % Error, 100
Value CV CV
0.1 0.713551 0.755507 0.6902 3.388354364 9.4674
0.2 0.811941 0.851476 0.8782 -7.543095493 -3.0413
0.3 1.047017 1.100397 1.1105 -5.7205917 -0.9139
0.4 1.318624 1.410368 1.3973 -5.632633234 0.9330
0.5 1.727114 1.774145 1.7504 -1.331330276 1.3555
0.666666667 2.615769 2.466816 2.5258 3.56199766 -2.3353
1 5.077439 4.768275 5.1101 -0.63914503 -6.6892
Table 2, 3 CV Viscosity at 40 and 50 °C, Respectively

Table 2 and 3 show that the accuracy of the CV’s are not temperature dependent from
the range of 40 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius. We were limited to testing
solutions below 50 degrees because concerns about the heat resistance of the water
container were raised.

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Brookfield Viscometer

In Figure 1, the equation is determined to be:

BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

Viscosity = 7.2429 (Concentration by grams) + 0.3421

with an R-squared value of 0.994 as determined with the Brookfield Viscometer. That is,
99.4% of data fit accordingly (within the bounds of one standard deviation) from the line.
There is a strong relationship between the viscosity and the concentration (g of sucrose /
1 gram of water). If the concentration was “zero,” the hypothetical viscosity based on
this concentration would be 0.34 cP. Conversely, a “zero” cP would be given by a
concentration of -0.047 g of sucrose / g of water. Ideally, the cP and concentration
should be “zero.” The 95% confidence interval (0.037, 0.65) shows that the “zero” point
is included in the experimental relationship (at zero concentration, 0.34 cP) determined
(Table 6). However, the standard error of 0.11 does not put the 0.34 cP within the range
of acceptability, that is, 0.34 cP cannot be said to be equal to 0 cP at 0 g of sucrose / g of
water. This illustrates that the sucrose solution is not behaving ideally, with further
possible error associated with the dilutions.

As a Newtonian fluid, the viscosity depends on temperature (at the given concentration).
The temperature dependence is clearly shown in Figure 2, displaying two solutions
(0.552 and 0.6 g of sucrose / g of water) with R-squared values of 0.98 and 0.96,
respectively. This is an indication that there is a strong correlation between temperature
and viscosity. The equations for the relationships are:

Viscosity = -0.0507 (Temperature) + 4.5624 for 0.552 g of sucrose/ g of water

Viscosity = -0.0535 (Temperature) + 4.9726 for 0.6 g of sucrose / g of water

This shows that if the temperature was at 0 °C, then the viscosity theoretically would be
4.56 cP and 4.97 cP, respectively. (The solution would not be frozen at 0 °C due to the
freezing point depression exhibited by the introduction of a solute, the sucrose.)
Furthermore, the temperatures at which viscosity would be “zero” are 91.8 °C and 92.9
°C. However, this cannot hold true as 0 cP is the viscosity of that of a pure, ideal water
solution.

The highest rotational speed is 200 rpm and thus limits the maximum shear rate for the
experiment at any concentration and temperature. The experimental cP values were
obtained by averaging the cP values at different speeds, and thus different shear rates
when the % maximum torque exceeds 10%. More consistent cP values were acquired at
generally higher rotational speeds (around 120-150rpm). If a higher rotation speed is
available, more data can be obtained, and this increases the precision of the average cP
values calculated.

Any cP values measured less than 1.5 were disregarded (as suggested in the Brookfield
Viscometer Manual).1 As seen in Table 4, solutions below 0.17 g of sucrose / g of water
have discounted cP values at 20 °C. Similarly, raising a temperature of a solution to the
point where the cP is below 1.5 cP is recorded as “Not Applicable” (e.g., 0.4 g /g at 47.6

1
However, no further explanation was provided by the Brookfield Viscometer Manual as to the percent
error range of having anything below 1.5 cP.
BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

°C has an disregarded cP, Table 5). This is a limiting factor of the Brookfield
Viscometer.

Capillary Viscometer

Analysis of the viscosity curves with the CV in regards to temperature and concentration
showed promising results for a Newtonian material. While the comparison to the known
viscosities in Table 1, 2 and 3 all hovered about the +10 percent region, the high
variance among both the CV’s at constant temperature and concentrations and amid the
changing concentrations can lead to only the conclusion that poor consistency is
expected when using the outdated Capillary viscometers. Additionally, the limitations on
the ranges of the Capillary viscometers justify the use of a more versatile machine. As
evident in the tables above, each CV is only applicable to a small subset range of
viscosities.

It becomes essential to note both the times where use of the Capillary viscometer is
beneficial and detrimental. When a lab requires a relative comparative analysis between
two concentrations, a small subset of trials, or trials at easily achieved temperatures, a
lab technician might look towards utilizing his capillary viscometers as a viable option.
Since better machinery exists, anything outside of these situations or requiring
temperature either below room temperature or above 60 degrees Celsius, the investment
into a better device, such as the Brookfield, becomes worthwhile.

Finally, during these trials it is suggested to alter the procedure in these three steps:
1) Use an electronic pipette aid to draw solutions through the CV.
2) Create an environment of smaller water baths to reduce time between
temperature changes
3) Place solutions in some sort of water-proof container to place in water bath to
ensure sucrose solution has warmed to the displayed temperature.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Comparing the accuracy of the two machines, the Brookfield Viscometer is found
to be more accurate (% error ranges from -9.091 to 9.417%) than that of the
Capillary Viscometer (% error ranges from -10.816 to 32.046%).

2. The time required to run a trial using the Brookfield viscometer is much shorter
than by using the Capillary Viscometer (approximately 90 seconds by BV
compared to 600 seconds by CV). However, the cost of the Brookfield
viscometer is much higher than the cost of the Capillary viscometer (costs
approximately $1000 for BV and $10 for CV).
 BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

3. Comparing both the wages of individuals required to run trials on the Brookfield
and the Capillary Viscometers with the essential nature of accurate viscosities, the
Brookfield machine should be the choice on any lab.

REFERENCES

 Brookfield Viscometer Manual

 John Morris Scientific Pty. (2002) CANNON-Fenske Routine Viscometer
Retrieved September 20, 2002 from:
http://203.147.186.54/html/Cannon/JMSprod_fenskeroutineviscometer.htm
 Gilli, Roberto. 1997 Association Andrew Van Hook: “A Memento to Sugar.”
Retrieved September 9. 2002 from: http://www.univ-
reims.fr/Externes/AVH/MementoSugar/001.htm

APPENDIX

g of sucrose / 1g of water Average cP at 20C % Max Torque at 20 °C Reference cP at 20 °C

0 NA NA NA
0.05 NA NA NA
0.10 NA NA NA
0.15 NA NA NA
0.16 NA NA NA
0.17 1.62 6.5 1.57
0.20 1.82 8.4 1.71
0.30 2.43 17.8` 2.27
0.40 3.28 16.5 3.01
0.50 3.82 19.2 3.99
0.60 4.80 22.4 5.28
Table 4 Brookfield data collected at the solution temperature of 200C

g of sucrose / 1 g of
water Temperature (°C) Average cP % Max Torque Reference cP % error
0.3 39.7 NA NA NA NA
  43.9 NA NA NA NA
0.4 39.7 1.71 11.4 1.75 -2.286
  43.9 1.59 10.6 1.59 0.000
  47.6 NA NA NA NA
0.5 39.7 2.44 14.3 2.23 9.417
  43.9 1.93 12.9 2.01 -3.980
  47.6 1.71 11.4 1.85 -7.568
  51.6 NA NA NA NA
0.55 39.7 2.56 10.9 2.51 1.992
  43.9 2.32 11.1 2.26 2.655
  47.6 2.11 11.5 2.07 1.932
  51.6 2.04 11.9 1.89 7.937
  55.9 1.69 11.3 1.72 -1.744
  59.6 1.54 10.3 1.60 -3.750
0.6 39.7 2.93 12.1 2.82 3.901
 BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

  43.9 2.61 11.9 2.53 3.162

  47.6 2.39 12.5 2.31 3.463
  51.6 2.08 12.2 2.11 -1.422
  55.9 1.99 11.6 1.92 3.646
  59.6 1.87 12.5 1.77 5.650
Table 5 Broofield data for different sucrose solution at varying temperature

Viscosity of sucrose solution at 20C

6.00

5.00
Viscosity (mPa*s)

4.00

3.00
y = 7.2429x + 0.3421
R2 = 0.9941
2.00

1.00

0.00
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70
g of sucrose / g of water

Figure 1 Graph of Viscosity of sucrose solution at 20 °C

Coefficient Standard Lower Upper

  s Error t Stat P-value 95% 95%
Intercept 0.342146 0.110065 3.10857 0.035922 0.036555 0.647737
X
Variable 1 7.242915 0.279732 25.89237 1.32E-05 6.466254 8.019576
Table 6 Statistics of Figure 1
BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

Viscosity vs. Temperature of the sucrose solution

3.5

3 y = -0.0535x + 4.9726
R2 = 0.9602
Viscosity (mPa*s)

2.5

1.5 y = -0.0507x + 4.5624

R2 = 0.9833
1

0.5

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Temperature (C)

solution of 0.552 g of sucrose / g of water Solution of 0.6 g of sucrose / g of water

Linear (solution of 0.552 g of sucrose / g of water) Linear (Solution of 0.6 g of sucrose / g of water)

Figure 2 Graph of Viscosity vs. Temperature of the sucrose solutions

Date/ Trial Known Time Temp Centistrokes Total sec centistokes

size Density constant
1-Oct reference 0.8459
50 10% 1.031391 3.25.97 40 C 0.004 205.97 0.849742
50 10% 1.031391 3.28.38 40 C 0.004 208.38 0.859685
100 10% 1.031391 0.58.19 40 C 0.015 58.19 0.90025
100 10% 1.031391 0.58.19 40 C 0.015 58.19 0.90025

reference 1.2003
50 20% 1.0755 3.50.41 40 C 0.004 230.41 0.991224
50 20% 1.0755 3.52.72 40 C 0.004 232.72 1.001161
100 20% 1.0755 1.02.84 40 C 0.015 62.84 1.013766
100 20% 1.0755 1.04.12 40 C 0.015 64.12 1.034416

reference 1.86
50 30% 1.11879 4.30.84 40 C 0.004 270.13 1.208875
50 30% 1.11879 4.31.13 40 C 0.004 271.13 1.21335
100 30% 1.11879 1.14.60 40 C 0.015 74.6 1.251926
100 30% 1.11879 1.14.41 40 C 0.015 74.41 1.248737

reference 3.2774
50 40% 1.167521 6.02.75 40 C 0.004 362.75 1.694073
50 40% 1.167521 6.03.89 40 C 0.004 363.89 1.699396
100 40% 1.167521 1.39.22 40 C 0.015 99.22 1.737621
100 40% 1.167521 1.39.00 40 C 0.015 99 1.733768

reference 7.03
BE 309 Fall 2002 T3 1-P3

50 50% 1.219935 8.05.35 40 C 0.004 485.35 2.368382

50 50% 1.219935 8.05.69 40 C 0.004 485.69 2.370041
100 50% 1.219935 2.12.84 40 C 0.015 132.84 2.430842
100 50% 1.219935 2.13.40 40 C 0.015 133.4 2.44109

reference 0.709
50 10% 1.02696 2.54.53 50 C 0.004 174.53 0.716941
50 10% 1.02696 2.54.12 50 C 0.004 174.12 0.715257
100 10% 1.02696 0.49.35 50 C 0.015 49.35 0.760207
100 10% 1.02696 0.49.09 50 C 0.015 49.09 0.756202

reference 0.988
50 20% 1.068816 3.12.50 50 C 0.004 192.5 0.822988
50 20% 1.068816 3.12.48 50 C 0.004 192.48 0.822903
100 20% 1.068816 0.53.81 50 C 0.015 53.81 0.862695
100 20% 1.068816 0.53.85 50 C 0.015 53.85 0.863336

reference 1.491
50 30% 1.11385 4.01.56 50 C 0.004 241.56 1.076246
50 30% 1.11385 4.02.13 50 C 0.004 242.13 1.078786
100 30% 1.11385 1.07.72 50 C 0.015 67.72 1.131449
100 30% 1.11385 1.07.84 50 C 0.015 67.84 1.133454

reference 2.526
50 40% 1.16233 4.58.12 50 C 0.004 298.12 1.386055
50 40% 1.16233 4.57.35 50 C 0.004 297.35 1.382475
100 40% 1.16233 1.22.06 50 C 0.015 88.06 1.535322
100 40% 1.16233 1.21.78 50 C 0.015 81.78 1.42583

reference 5.11
50 50% 1.21451 6.22.06 50 C 0.004 382.06 1.856063
50 50% 1.21451 6.22.41 50 C 0.004 382.41 1.857763
100 50% 1.21451 1.45.19 50 C 0.015 105.19 1.916315
100 50% 1.21451 1.44.22 50 C 0.015 104.22 1.898643
Table 4 CV Raw Data