Cambridge Viscosity Blog

There are many different viscometer technologies and all have their merits, depending on the application. 

Before you go and talk to any manufacturers, it is important that you know your application specifications and you need to know what to ask so you don’t end up with an expensive paperweight. This guide will help you gather your information upfront so when you do reach out, we can assist you quickly and effectively.

Recently, a few of our team members created a video to help a customer with a minor issue they were having. We thought that if one customer might have the issue, another might, also, so we uploaded the video, How to Remove a Cambridge Viscosity 500 Series Viscometer Piston, in case it could help other customers. 

In mature, oil-producing reservoirs, conditions like natural fissions in the reservoir rock or resistance from heavier or more viscous oils require enhanced oil recovery (EOR) injection techniques.  Polymer flooding is one EOR technique that is widely used because it can significantly improve oil recovery over conventional flooding. It uses polymer solutions in an aqueous medium to increase oil recovery by reducing the water-to-oil mobility ratio. Managing the viscosity of the EOR polymers at the well head supports efficient oil production, while helping to reduce the amount of EOR polymer needed. 

• Annual inspection
• Cleaning
• Verification of settings
• Reviewing historical data and error logs
• Calibration verification

Managing lubricant viscosity is essential to maintaining the health of a compressor in a process plant, because a single compressor failure can cost $10,000 a day or more in lost revenue. Considering it’s another $10,000 to rebuild a compressor, or more than $100,000 to replace a compressor, maintaining the health and performance of compressors is important.

There is always some level of uncertainty in comparing on-line viscosity measurements with laboratory measurements. When it comes to viscosity analysis, a major reason for that uncertainty – and inconsistent measurements – is because the fluids are, in fact, under different conditions.

Almost two months ago, while those of us in the United States were enjoying our Thanksgiving holiday, our associates in Italy were holding a webinar on viscosity measurement in pressroom converters. This event inspired a series of material discussing the coating application, including last week’s blog highlighting factors that influence viscosity measurement in the pressroom converter application. 

Spring and wire products are a substantial market – estimated to reach $468B by the end of 2020. Wire is widely used in manufactured goods, including electronics, automobiles, motors, transformers, and a wide array of other products. The coating on the wire is possibly the single most important variable in wire quality, and viscosity plays an important role in ensuring quality.

In shipping vessels, “bunker” refers to the fuel and lube oils that are stored on the ship and used for machinery operation. When the fuel or oil is intended for transfer to another ship for use in its machinery, the operation to transport the oil is called “bunkering.”

Cambridge Viscosity process viscometers are known for robust operation and reliability in viscosity measurements. Performing scheduled Preventative Maintenance (PM) on your Cambridge Viscosity viscometer is vital to system operation, longevity, and verification.  Cambridge Viscosity recommends performing PM on your viscometer on an annual basis as defined in our Operational Manual.  PM can be performed at more frequent intervals if deemed necessary due to internal QA or other departmental policies. 

Comparing on-line viscosity measurements to the lab is challenging. Process conditions can change, laboratory samples can off-gas, fluids may be non-Newtonian and measure

Each new Cambridge Viscosity viscometer ships with a certified hydrocarbon-based viscosity reference standard which is used to confirm proper system operation and accuracy.  A data sheet with viscosity versus temperature is included to provide precise viscosity values in increments of 0.1C.

Using the oscillating piston method to produce rheometric data by providing viscosity values at known shear rates with non-Newtonian fluids.