What is viscosity why is it an important property

Different considerations are required when measuring each of these fluid types. Viscosity measurements are used in the food industry to maximize production efficiency and cost effectiveness. It affects the rate at which a product travels through a pipe, how long it takes to set or dry, and the time it takes to dispense the fluid into packaging.

The production process has to be designed with the viscosity of the product in mind, making sure that pipes are angled to optimize flow, or that dispensers provide the right amount of force to induce flow, but not so much that the packaging will overfill.

Viscosity is also a characteristic of the texture of food. To choose the right viscosity for an adhesive, consider how the adhesive must flow, or not flow, on a part after the adhesive is applied. Low-viscosity adhesives will flow more readily than high-viscosity ones, so if you want an adhesive to stay exactly where you put it after dispensing — rather than spread out — a high-viscosity adhesive is ideal.

Petroleum: Viscosity measurements project the effectiveness of lubricating oil and determines design elements of pipelines. Concrete: Viscosity determines the self-leveling and pumping behavior of a mix. Cosmetics: Viscosity should be considered when designing the feel and flow of cosmetic products. Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. How Can I Measure Viscosity? If there is one thing we love in Germany, it is beer.

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This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. What is Viscosity? Figure 1: One example of the flow of a viscous fluid right and a less viscous fluid left.

Highly viscous fluids have lesser fluidity. Join SimScale Today! Figure 2: The boundary layer of an airfoil in contact with a fluid flowing past it. Figure 3: Velocity profile of a fluid between two plates. Sign Up. Figure 4: Velocity profile of a fluid flowing inside a long pipe. Figure 5: Velocity field of air flowing around an airfoil showing zero velocity blue region at the leading edge. References Calero, J. Did this article solve your issue?

How can we do better? We appreciate and value your feedback. Send Your Feedback. Cookie Policy SimScale uses cookies to improve your user experience. Newtonian fluids have the same viscosity irrespective of changes in temperature or shear stress; the most common example of this is water. Non-Newtonian fluids which are further divided into five categories have viscosities which fluctuate depending on the shear rate applied. As viscosity is a key part of the texture of food and drink, processing operations should not have an adverse effect on it.

Factors such as pumping, heating, cooling and passing through pipework all have the potential to affect viscosity, with the exact effects depending both on the liquid itself and the way it is handled.

Whatever foodstuff you are looking to heat or cool, understanding its viscosity properties is the first step to specifying a system which will not result in adverse effects on the quality of your product.