Significance and Use
Many petroleum products and some non-petroleum products are used as lubricants in the equipment, and the correct operation of the equipment depends upon the appropriate viscosity of the lubricant being used. Additionally, the viscosity of many petroleum fuels is important for the estimation of optimum storage, handling, and operational conditions. Thus, the accurate determination of viscosity is essential to many product specifications.
The viscosity of used oils is a commonly determined parameter in the oil industry to assess the effect of engine wear on the lube oils used, as well as the degradation of the engine parts during operation.
The Houillon viscometer tube method offers automated determination of kinematic viscosity. Typically a sample volume of less than 1 mL is required for the analysis.
1. Scope
1.1 This test method covers the measurement of the kinematic viscosity of transparent and opaque liquids such as fresh and used lubricating oils using a Houillon viscometer in automated mode.
1.2 The range of kinematic viscosity capable of being measured by this test method is from 2 to 1500 mm2/s (see Fig. 1). The range is dependent on the tube constant utilized. The temperature range that the apparatus is capable of achieving is between 20°C and 150°C, inclusive; however, the precision has only been determined for the viscosity range 25 to 150 mm2/s at 40°C and 5 to 16 mm2/s at 100°C for the materials listed in the precision section.
1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. For specific warning statements, see Section 6.
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) 
The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
ASTM Standards
D445 Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids (and Calculation of Dynamic Viscosity)
D2162 Practice for Basic Calibration of Master Viscometers and Viscosity Oil Standards
D4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D4177 Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D6299 Practice for Applying Statistical Quality Assurance and Control Charting Techniques to Evaluate Analytical Measurement System Performance
D6708 Practice for Statistical Assessment and Improvement of Expected Agreement Between Two Test Methods that Purport to Measure the Same Property of a Material
D6792 Practice for Quality System in Petroleum Products and Lubricants Testing Laboratories
D7042 Test Method for Dynamic Viscosity and Density of Liquids by Stabinger Viscometer (and the Calculation of Kinematic Viscosity)
ISO Standards
ISO/EC17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories
NIST Standard
NISTTechnicalNote129 Guideline for Evaluating and Expressing the Uncertainty of NIST Measurement Results
Keywords
Houillon viscometer; kinematic viscosity; Stabinger viscometer; used oils; Kinematic viscosity; Liquids; Transparent liquids; Viscometers;
ICS Code
ICS Number Code 17.060 (Measurement of volume, mass, density, viscosity); 75.100 (Lubricants, industrial oils and related products)
DOI: 10.1520/D7279-08
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.
Citing ASTM Standards
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