Beyond: Undergraduate Research

Journal

Volume 1 Article 2

January 2016

Determination of Surfactant Solution Viscosities with a Rotational

Viscometer
Remelisa Esteves
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, estevesr@my.erau.edu

Nonso Onukwuba
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, onukwubc@my.erau.edu

Birce Dikici Ph.D

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, dikicib@erau.edu

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Recommended Citation
Esteves, Remelisa; Onukwuba, Nonso; and Dikici, Birce Ph.D (2016) "Determination of Surfactant Solution
Viscosities with a Rotational Viscometer," Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 1 , Article 2.
Available at: https://commons.erau.edu/beyond/vol1/iss1/2

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 Determination of Surfactant Solution Viscosities
with a Rotational Viscometer
Remelisa Esteves, Nonso Onukwuba, and Birce Dikici

Abstract
Aqueous surfactant solutions are used in engineering systems for improving boiling heat transfer. The purpose of this research is to
determine the viscosities of surfactant solutions and to investigate the effect of composition on viscosity. The results obtained can possibly
be used as reference for further study in the effects of surfactant solution viscosities on nucleate boiling. A rotational viscometer was used
to determine the viscosities of three surfactant solutions – SLS, EH-14, and SA-9 – of various compositions at room temperature. It was
discovered that the viscosities of SLS, EH-14, and SA-9 had a nearly consistent pattern as their compositions increased. The approximate
maximum viscosity measured was 1.39 mPa∙s for SLS, 1.52 mPa∙s for EH-14, and 3.17 mPa∙s for SA-9. Based on the results, it was inferred
that as the composition of these surfactant increases, so does the viscosity of the solution.

are experimentally determined constants. For water, us-

Introduction ing the values a = 2.414 x 10-5 N∙s/m2, b = 247.8 K, and
The nucleate boiling of water is important in engineer- c = 140 K results in less than 2.5 percent error in viscos-
ing systems such as cooling equipment for electronics. ity in the temperature range of 0°C to 370°C [4]. For
Engineering systems can malfunction when overheated; instance, the viscosity of water is 1.002 mPa∙s at room
thus it is important to keep their temperatures low. To temperature (20℃), 0.8903 mPa∙s at 25℃, and 1.138
prolong the service life of engineering systems, water mPa∙s at 15℃ [5]. It can be seen from the variance in
can be used to cool the equipment for electronics within viscosity that viscosity decreases as temperature increases
those systems. Adding surfactants in boiling water for most liquids. It is important that the temperatures of
increases the number of nucleation sites and reduces the surfactant solutions are kept constant to ensure con-
wall temperature [1,2]. To understand the effectiveness sistency of results when testing the viscosity of solutions.
of surfactants on nucleate boiling of water, it is imper- The objective of this research is to determine the
ative to investigate their fluid properties when mixed viscosity of several surfactant solutions and to investi-
with water. For this study, viscosity, a fluid property, was gate the relationship between composition and viscosity.
investigated. While the scope of this research is limited to deter-
Viscosity is defined as fluid’s resistance to flow [3]. In mining the viscosity of surfactant solutions, the results
one-dimensional shear flow of Newtonian fluids, shear obtained from this study can be referenced for further
stress can be expressed by the linear relationship: where study in the effects of surfactant solution viscosities on
nucleate boiling.
du
τ =µ (1)
dy Methodology
The three surfactants are used in the experiments:
the constant of proportionality μ is called the coefficient Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), ECOSURFTM EH-14, and
of viscosity or the dynamic (or absolute) viscosity of the ECOSURFTM SA-9. SLS is an anionic surfactant used in
fluid, whose unit is kg/m∙s, or equivalently, N∙s/m2 (or many cleaning and hygiene products. EH-14 surfactant
Pa∙s). Rate of deformation of a fluid element is equiv- is biodegradable, nonionic surfactant with low aquatic
alent to du/dy [4]. For liquids, the viscosity is approxi- toxicity. SA-9, known as a seed oil surfactant, is also a
mated as biodegradable nonionic surfactant that composed of
alcohols, C6-C12, ethoxylated, and propoxylated 55-
µ = a10b/(T −c ) (2)
80 percent. SLS is the only solid surfactant among the
other surfactants. EH-14 can be described as a clear and
where, again, T is absolute temperature and a, b, and c slippery liquid that is soluble in water, which means it
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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities
dissolves in water. The surfactant SA-9 is described as a by the rotor on the fluid is dependent on the radius of
pale yellow liquid and is water dispersible. Water dis- the rotor. The rotational viscometer senses the torque
persible means that the chemical breaks down into very required to rotate the rotor at a constant speed while
minute particles in water. immersed in a fluid [7, 8]. By measuring the torque, the
EH-14 and SA-9 were chosen because they are bio- fluid shear stress at any point of the rotor can be found,
degradable and environmentally friendly alternatives to thus viscosity can be determined.
SLS. Additionally, they are new surfactants, so informa- The #0 rotor is a rotor that is used to measure liquids
tion on them cannot be found in literature. This research
aims to study their viscosities at various concentrations.
SLS, on the other hand, is a commonly used surfactant.
Therefore, the results of the eco-friendly surfactants were
compared to those of SLS.
The measurements are performed using a Digital Dis-
play Rotary Viscometer NDJ-5S (Figure 1). A rotational
viscometer is specifically chosen for the experiment
because it has the advantage of operating continuously
at a given shear rate [6]. Because of this advantage, a
rotational viscometer is generally used when absolute
viscosity needs to be measured. This device measures vis-
cosity from a rotating cylindrical rotor, which comes in
different sizes depending on the fluid. The torque created

Figure 2: Diagram of #0 rotor assembly [9]

Figure 1: Digital Display Rotary Viscometer NDJ-5S

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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities
with viscosities less than 15 mPa∙s. This rotor also came wall of the test tube. To avoid skewed results, the rotor
with a fixed sleeve, a fixed screw for test tube, a test tube should not touch the inner wall of the tube. If the rotor
with a bottom, and a test tube without a bottom. Figure deflected on a certain side, then adjustments were made
2 shows how #0 rotor and its components are assembled to move the rotor away from the inner wall of the test
onto the housing of the viscometer. tube to avoid skewed results. Once the rotor was cen-
To allow the rotor to make contact with the liquid, tered, water at room temperature was tested to ensure
the test tube without a bottom was used. The test tube that the viscometer would measure accurately. It was
ensured that the viscometer obtained accurate measure- found that the resulting viscosity value from the viscom-
eter matched the expected value (1.002 mPa∙s at 20°C).
It was noted that, during the process of measuring a liq-
uid, it is normal for the rotor to swing slightly within the
test tube. However, if the rotor touches the inner wall of
the tube while testing a liquid, the rotor would need to
be readjusted.
The next step that was taken in carrying out the
research was to determine the viscosity of the surfac-
tants. A calibrated scoop aided in obtaining the correct
amount of surfactant. This amount was measured out to
the appropriate weight. PPM is a unit of measurement,
which means parts per million.
m (3)
ppm = 1, 000, 000 surf
msol
In Equation 3, msurf is surfactant mass and msol is surfac-
tant solution mass. For each trial, water was tested first
before surfactant solutions. This procedure was followed
to ensure accurate and consistent data. The mass of water
that was used to mix all surfactants was a constant 400
g throughout the experiment. The uncertainty of the
rotational viscometer is ±5 percent for Newtonian liq-
uids. Since water is a Newtonian liquid, it was expected
that the experimental viscosity of water would measure
as 1.002 ± 0.05 mPa∙s. Tools of measurement ensured
consistent measurements of water and surfactants. A hot
plate and magnetic stirrer allowed thorough mixing of
the surfactant solutions. After mixing, the viscosities of
the surfactant solutions were measured with the viscom-
eter. This procedure was repeated in order to verify and
compare results between two trials. After each trial, the
rotor and its casings were detached and washed out. The
Figure 3: Diagram of #0 rotor deflection check [9] beakers and other equipment were also washed out and
dried to avoid skewed data. This process was carried out
ment. A small mirror allowed clear viewing of the rotor for the remainder of the experiments.
within the bottomless tube to see whether the rotor
deflected on a certain side. Figure 3 shows an example of Results
this deflection (top) and the correct position of the rotor Figure 4 shows the viscosity measurements of the SLS solu-
(bottom). tion with the corresponding compositions from trials 1 and 2.
If the rotor deflects on a certain side, then adjustments Figure 5 shows the viscosity measurements of the EH-14
need to be made to move the rotor away from the inner solution with the corresponding compositions from trials 1
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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities

Figure 4: SLS solution viscosities with increasing composition

Figure 5: EH-14 viscosities with increasing composition

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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities

Figure 6: SA-9 viscosities with increasing composition

and 2.
Figure 6 shows the viscosity measurements of the SA-9 solu- µt 1 − µt 2
tion with the corresponding compositions from trials 1 and 2. %diff . = *100% (4)
µt 1 + µt 2
Discussion and Error Analysis 2
In Equation 4, μt1 is the viscosity of a surfactant solution
It was observed that the viscosity slightly increased as from trial 1 and μt2 is the viscosity of a surfactant solu-
the composition of SLS increased. Figure 4 showed a tion from trial 2. Table 1, 2 and 3 (Appendix) shows all
steady increase in viscosity as the composition of EH-14 of the percentage differences for the SLS, EH-14 and
increased. For SA-9, it was observed that both trials fol- SA-9 solutions. The percentage differences fell within 5
low a very similar pattern to each other. Figure 6 shows percent for SLS, within 7 percent for EH-14, and within
a significant increase in viscosity between 200 PPM and 3 percent for SA-9, which indicates that the viscosities
300 PPM and between 500 PPM and 600 PPM. The from each trial were nearly consistent. Next, the percent-
SA-9 solution showed the most significant increase in age errors of the viscosities of each solution at 0 PPM
viscosity out of all of the solutions. were calculated because they slightly deviated from the
Surfactant solution’s Newtonian or Non-Newtonian theoretical viscosity of water at room temperature. Equa-
behavior also affects when the viscosity values measured tion 5 was used to perform this calculation.
at increased concentrations. If the solution viscosity
does not change significantly at higher concentrations, µexp − µtheory
%error = *100% (5)
that means the solution reveals the Newtonian fluidic µtheory
behavior [10]. Viscosity of Non-Newtonian surfactant
solutions is increased with the surfactant concentrations μexp is the measured viscosity of water, and μtheory is the
[10]. theoretical viscosity of water (1.002 mPa∙s at 20°C).
To verify the consistency in the measurements, the Percentage errors of water viscosity measurements
percentage differences were determined. from each trial of each surfactant test show that the error
varied from 0.2 percent to 10.7 percent. This is because
water viscosity at 20°C is 1.002 mPa∙s and reduces 23

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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities
percent in only 10°C temperature difference. Table 4 three surfactants. Another observation was the range of
shows the percentage errors for each surfactant test. values in which the viscosity increase occupies. Both the
The test with the lowest average percentage error was SLS and EH-14 surfactants occupied viscosity ranges
the SLS test, which indicated that the measurement of of between 0.9 mPa∙s and 1.6 mPa∙s. SA-9, however,
the viscosity of water was very close to accurate. On the occupied a range of 1.10 mPa∙s and 3.2 mPa∙s. It could
other hand, the EH-14 test had the highest average per- be because of surfactants’ critical micelle concentration
centage error. In general, the percentage errors in Table 4 (CMC). If CMC is exceeded, the viscosity is increased
show that there were fluctuations in the measurements. more rapidly. Also, SA-9 is water dispersible. The sus-
In this study, there were several sources of errors that pended particles in the solution could be the reason for
could have led to skewed and inaccurate data. One its higher viscosity, as the solution is not a uniform and
source of error for this experiment was the fact that homogenous one. This might be the reason of the higher
mass scale that was used in measuring the masses of the viscosity values for SA-9 at higher concentrations.
surfactant and the water had a maximum mass rating of The findings of this research provide a better under-
300 g. As the water had to be a constant 400 g, a mass of standing of the viscous behavior of surfactant solutions.
250 g was always obtained first and then another mass of In the future, the relationship of surface tension with
150 g of water had to be added to it. In transferring the surfactant concentration will be investigated for various
water masses between beakers, some droplets were left surfactants. Research will be conducted to study how
behind which could have led to incorrect readings. In fluid properties affect boiling heat transfer. If some bio-
transferring the weighed surfactant masses into the bea- degradable surfactants show favorable results in compar-
kers of water, it was always difficult in successfully trans- ison to SLS, then they can possibly be used as alternative
ferring all the surfactant into the beaker. It was especially sources for improving boiling heat transfer.
difficult working with SA-9 due to its property of being
water dispersible. This made it difficult to rinse out the References
surfactant from the small measurement cups into the [1] Elghanam, R.I., Fawal, M.M.E.L, Aziz, R.A., Skr, M.H., Khal-
beaker. When measuring water, it was observed that the ifa, A.H. (2011). Experimental Study of Nucleate Boiling Heat
experimental viscosity values slightly deviated from the Transfer Enhancement by Using Surfactant. Ains Shams Engi-
theoretical value of 1.002 mPa∙s at room temperature. neering Journal, 2(3-4), 195-209. Retrieved from http://www.
As mentioned in the methodology section, the uncer- sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447911000438.
tainty of the rotational viscometer is a contributor to this [2] Dikici, B., Edidiong Eno, and Marc Compere. Pool Boiling En-
error. Tables 2 and 3 in the appendix section show that hancement with Environmentally Friendly Surfactant Additives.
the recorded values for water went slightly higher than Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, February 2014,
expected uncertainty range. Temperature was the likely DOI 10.1007/s10973-013-3634-x.
contributor to this error, along with the uncertainty of
[3] Elert, G. (2015). Viscosity. Retrieved from physics.info/viscosity.
the viscometer, since viscosity is sensitive to temperature
changes. The percentage error had to be approximately [4] Cengel, T.A., Cimbala J.M. Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and
10 percent or less to consider the experimental viscosity Applications. 3rd Edition, McGrawHill, 2014, Print.
as reasonable. On the other hand, for Non-Newtonian
fluids, a rheometer might be a more convenient instru- [5] Kestin, J., Sokolov, M., and Wakeham, W.A. (1978). Viscosity of
Liquid Water in the Range -8℃ to 150℃. Retrieved from http://
ment to measure the fluid flow in response to applied www.nist.gov/data/PDFfiles/jpcrd121.pdf.
forces. It is not known if the higher concentration
solutions of SLS, EH-14, and SA-9 present Newtonian [6] Secco, R.A., deBruyn, J.R., and Kostic, M. (n.d.). Fluid Viscosity
or Non-Newtonian behavior. Measurement. Retrieved from http://www.kostic.niu.edu/
K12208_C046-Viscosity-PR.pdf.
Conculsion [7] Pavement Interactive (2011). Rotational Viscometer. Retrieved
From the data presented, it was observed that the from www.pavementinteractive.org/article/rotational-viscome-
viscosities of each surfactant solution increased with an ter/.
increase in its composition. Although this was an expect- [8] Great Wall Instrument (n.d.). Operational Manual for NDJ-5S
ed result, the plots show different patterns. The SA-9 Digital Rotary Viscometer. Retrieved from http://www.joyfay.
surfactant in particular, had the steepest slope out of the com/media/import/tester/NDJ-5S-Manual.pdf.
17 commons.erau.edu/beyond
Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities
[9] Produstrial (2015). Operation Manual for NO. 0 Rotor. Retrieved analytical approaches to model energy propagation.
from http://www.produstrial.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/prod- Dr. Dikici is also ASME student section advisor at
ucts/0%20rotor%20manual.pdf.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She encourages
[10] Cheng, L., Mewes D., Luke, A., ‘Boiling phenomena with
mechanical engineering students to become involved in
surfactants and polymeric additives: A state-of-the-art review’, their ASME student section by arranging activities.
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 50 (2007)
2744–2771
Appendix
Authors Table 1: Summary of SLS solution tests
Viscosity Viscosity
Composition Percentage
Remelisa Esteves (PPM)
Trial 1 Trial 2
Difference
(mPa∙s) (mPa∙s)
Remelisa Esteves is an undergraduate student of
0 (Tap water) 1.05 1.00 4.88%
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) who is
50 0.95 0.97 2.08%
currently a senior in aerospace engineering with a spe-
100 1.06 1.04 1.90%
cialization in aeronautics and a minor in applied mathe-
matics. She is involved in school clubs, including Sigma 200 1.05 1.00 4.88%
Gamma Tau (SGT) and Kappa Mu Epsilon (KME). She 300 1.21 1.18 2.51%
worked on campus as a teaching assistant for Calculus 400 1.24 1.24 0.00%
and Analytical Geometry I for Engineers and a mathe- 500 1.40 1.37 2.17%
matics tutor. Although Remelisa studies aerospace engi-
neering, she takes interest in Fluid Mechanics. Currently,
she is studying the fluid properties of surfactant solu-
tions. Through research, she investigates the application Table 2: Summary of EH-14 solution tests
of surfactant solutions to engineering systems. Composition
Viscosity Viscosity
Percentage
Trial 1 Trial 2
(PPM) Difference
Nonso Onukwuba (mPa∙s) (mPa∙s)
Nonso Onukwuba is a senior at Embry-Riddle Aero- 0 (Tap water) 1.11 1.11 0.00%
nautical University, scheduled to graduate in the spring 200 1.13 1.14 0.881%
semester of 2016. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of 400 1.10 1.15 4.44%
Science degree in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on 800 1.13 1.11 1.79%
the Aeronautics track. He is a member of AIAA, Cath- 1600 1.18 1.21 2.51%
olic Students Association as well as the African Students 2400 1.22 1.25 2.43%
Association, where he served dutifully as the financial 3200 1.57 1.47 6.58%
secretary.In addition to Aerospace Engineering, Nonso
is very much involved in the Mechanical Engineering
Department, where his interests in Fluid mechanics can
be observed through the research projects he is an active Table 3: Summary of SA-9 solution tests
participant in. Viscosity Viscosity
Composition Percentage
Trial 1 Trial 2
(PPM) Difference
Dr. Birce Dikici (mPa∙s) (mPa∙s)
Dr. Dikici is an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle 0 (Tap water) 1.10 1.10 0.00%
Aeronautical University. She obtained both her MSME 200 1.20 1.17 2.53%
and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University upon receiving 300 2.04 2.10 2.90%
her BSME from Gazi University, Turkey. Dr. Dikici has 400 2.35 2.38 1.27%
numerous journal and conference proceedings on en- 500 2.40 2.43 1.24%
ergy generation, boiling, and clean energy systems. She 600 3.20 3.14 1.89%
designed various experimental systems and developed
several diagnostic methods for characterization of Alu-
minum nanoparticle burning and brought a number of
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Beyond Vol. 1 Surfactant Solution Viscosities
Table 4: Percentage errors of water viscosity
measurements from each trial of each surfactant test
Percentage Error Percentage Error
Surfactant
Trial 1 Trial 2
SLS 4.79% 0.200%
EH-14 10.7% 10.7%
SA-9 9.78% 9.78%

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