DETERMINATION OF KINEMATIC VISCOSITY OF SAMOTLOR CRUDE OIL AND CUTS FROM THIS CRUDE AT HIGH PRESSURES.

The rapid growth in energy production, chemical technology, and several other branches of industry is demanding a detailed investigation of the thermophysical properties of processed substances, over a wide range of temperature and pressure. One of the basic parameters needed in calculating and designing various processes, equipment items, and pipelines is the viscosity. The lack of any rigorous theory of the liquid state has led to a situation in which most equations for calculating viscosity are of an empirical or semiempirical nature. They have been obtained on the basis of experimental data for a certain group of substances and cannot be applied to other liquids without introducing considerable errors. Hence, the most reliable method for obtaining valid viscosity data is experimental determination. The authors present results from an experimental study of the viscosity of Samotlor crude oil and 21 process cuts from this crude, over a range of temperatures from minus 37. 9 to plus 263. 7 degree C and a range of pressures up to 490 bars. The cuts used in this work were obtained by distilling the crude oil in a vessel with a fractionating column equipped with an adiabatic jacket, and also by distillation in a Bogdanov apparatus. Extensive measuring data are tabulated and evaluated by means of mathematical techniques.