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Kinematic Viscosity of Vegetable Oils at Different Temperatures

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Kinematic viscosity vs. temperature for each oil: dots are the reported values, curves are MacCoull–Walther fits to them Also available as a PDF graph.
Kinematic viscosity (mm²/s, cSt) of vegetable oils at temperatures from 0 to 110 °C.
OilVariety or Processing0 (°C)4 (°C)10 (°C)20 (°C)23.9 (°C)25 (°C)27 (°C)30 (°C)38 (°C)40 (°C)45 (°C)48.9 (°C)50 (°C)60 (°C)65 (°C)70 (°C)75 (°C)80 (°C)82.2 (°C)90 (°C)99 (°C)100 (°C)110 (°C)Source
Rapeseed764834241613119Acagorula, 2001
CanolaRefined, bleached, deodorized178.9128.86337Lang, 1992
CanolaRefined, bleached, winterized172.3131.56550Lang, 1992
Soybean184.9107.55532Magne, 1945
Peanut1547341Magne, 1945
Cottonseed212.9121.460352919Magne, 1945
Palm8938208del Almeida, 2002
Rapeseed75169Acagorula, 2001
Corn4611Altin, 2001
Cottonseed5016Altin, 2001
Palm38208del Almeida, 2002
Poppy 5613Altin, 2001
Rapeseed4011Altin, 2001
Rapeseed3820Labeckas, 2006
Soybean659Altin, 2001
Sunflower5815Altin, 2001
Cottonseed Crude76358Ryan, 1983
CottonseedRefined70338Ryan, 1983
CottonseedRefined, bleached, and deodorized75348Ryan, 1983
PeanutCrude80368Ryan, 1983
PeanutRefined82378Ryan, 1983
PeanutRefined, bleached, and deodorized83378Ryan, 1983
SoybeanCrude66328Ryan, 1983
SoybeanDegummed66318Ryan, 1983
SoybeanRefined64317Ryan, 1983
SoybeanHydrogenated388Ryan, 1983
SunflowerCrude66318Ryan, 1983
SunflowerRefined65318Ryan, 1983
SunflowerDewaxed65318Ryan, 1983
SunflowerRefined, bleached, and deodorized67328Ryan, 1983
Crambe9655372615119Noureddini, 1988
Rapeseed875034241498Noureddini, 1988
Corn573426181087Noureddini, 1988
Soybean593526181187Noureddini, 1988
Milkweed613627181187Noureddini, 1988
Coconut312215965Noureddini, 1988
Lesquerella2931307648221511Noureddini, 1988
Almond439Rescorla, 1936
Olive479Rescorla, 1936
Rapeseed5110Rescorla, 1936
Rapeseed5110Rescorla, 1936
Mustard459Rescorla, 1936
Cottonseed398Rescorla, 1936
Soybean288Rescorla, 1936
HempseedRaw297Rescorla, 1936
Linseed307Rescorla, 1936
PerillaRaw257Rescorla, 1936
PerillaRefined267Rescorla, 1936
Sunflower338Rescorla, 1936
China wood11515Rescorla, 1936
Castor29320Rescorla, 1936
Castor30220Rescorla, 1936
Coconut306Rescorla, 1936
Coconut296Rescorla, 1936
Palm kernel317Rescorla, 1936
Lard449Rescorla, 1936
Lard327Rescorla, 1936
Neat's-foot439Rescorla, 1936
Sardine287Rescorla, 1936
Sardine287Rescorla, 1936
SardineCold-pressed277Rescorla, 1936
Cod liver338Rescorla, 1936
Menhaden297Rescorla, 1936

The sources for the data above are given in the far right hand column of the table, and the full citations are at the bottom of the page.

CSV Spreadsheet (CSV)

The smooth curves in the chart above are fits of the MacCoull–Walther viscosity–temperature equation to each oil’s reported values. This equation is described in ASTM D-341.

  1. Ryan, T.W., L.G. Dodge, and T.J. Callahan. 1984. The effects of vegetable oil properties on injection and combustion in two different diesel engines. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society 61, no. 10 (October 5): 1610-1619. doi:10.1007/BF02541645
  2. Acaroglu, M., H. Oguz, and H. Ogut. 2001a. An investigation of the use of rapeseed oil in agricultural tractors as engine oil. Energy Sources 23, no. 9: 823-830. doi:10.1080/009083101316931898
  3. Lang, W., S. Sokhansanj, and F. W. Sosulski. 1992. Modelling the Temperature Dependence of Kinematic Viscosity for Refined Canola Oil. Journal of the American Oil Chemist’s Society 69, no. 10: 1054.
  4. de Almeida, Silvio C. A. De, Carlos Rodrigues Belchior, Marcos V. G. Nascimento, Leonardo dos S. R. Vieira, and Guilherme Fleury. 2002a. Performance of a diesel generator fuelled with palm oil. Fuel 81, no. 16: 2097-2102. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(02)00155-2
  5. Pugazhvadivu, M., and K. Jeyachandran. 2005. Investigations on the performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using preheated waste frying oil as fuel. Renewable Energy 30, no. 14: 2189-2202. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.02.001
  6. Karaosmanoglu, F., M. Tuter, E. Gollu, S. Yanmaz, and E. Altintig. 1999. Fuel Properties of Cottonseed Oil. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects 21, no. 9 (September): 821-828. doi:10.1080/00908319950014371
  7. Altin, R., S. Cetinkaya, and H. S. Yucesu. 2001. The potential of using vegetable oil fuels as fuel for diesel engines. Energy Conversion and Management 42, no. 5 (March): 529-538. doi:10.1016/S0196-8904(00)00080-7
  8. Labeckas, G., and S. Slavinskas. 2006. Performance of direct-injection off-road diesel engine on rapeseed oil. Renewable Energy 31, no. 6: 849-863. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.05.009
  9. Pugazhvadivu, M., and K. Jeyachandran. 2004. Effect of fuel injection pressure and preheating on the performance and emissions of a vegetable oil fuelled diesel engine. Proceedings of the Fall Technical Conference of the ASME International Combustion Engine Division, Oct 24-27 2004: 479-486.
  10. Noureddini, H., B. Teoh, and L. Davis Clements. 1992. Viscosities of vegetable oils and fatty acids. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society 69, no. 12 (December 1): 1189-1191. doi:10.1007/BF02637678. (Reports dynamic viscosity values; kinematic viscosity calculated with density/temperature values found in accompanying paper.)

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