FLASH POINT

It is the minimum temperature at which an oil/petrofuel

FIRE POINT
It is the lowest temperature at which vapors given off by oil
ignites and continues to burn for at least 5 seconds. In most
cases, fire point is 5-40°C higher than flash point and is
determined in the same apparatus as for flash point
determination. It gives an idea of fire hazards during the
storage and use of oil.
Cloud Point
When an oil is cooled at a specified rate, the temperature at
which it becomes cloudy or hazy is called the cloud point of
oil. This haziness is due to the separation of crystals of wax or
increase of viscosity at low temperature.
Cloud point is important for fuel oils which have to pass
through unheated filters of fine mesh e.g. a jet plane may be
exposed to -60°C and if solid wax separates from fuel oil, the
carburettor may be blocked up.

Pour Point
The temperature at which the oil just ceases to flow (or pour)
is called the pour point.
To determine the pour point, the oil is cooled in the test jar
and with every 3°C fall in temperature tilted to observe the
flow of oil. The temperature at which it does not flow even
when kept horizontal for 5 seconds is taken as the pour
point. Naphthenes and aromatics have lower pour point than
paraffins but they are undesirable in fuel oils and diesel fuels.
Cloud point and pour-point indicate the suitability of
lubricants in cold conditions. Lubricants used in a machine
working at low temperatures should possess low pour-points;
otherwise solidification of lubricants will cause jamming of
the machine.

Smoke point
This is the maximum height of flame in mm without smoke
formation when the kerosene is burned in a standard lamp
under closely controlled conditions. Smoking of kerosene is
due mainly to the presence of aromatic hydrocarbons.
To determine, smoke point, kerosene sample is burned in a
standard lamp with a specified wick for five minutes and the
height of flame is read when it leaves no smoky tail. A good
quality kerosene used for domestic use should have high
smoke point (about 25 mm).
Paraffins are desirable in Kerosene as it has got the highest
smoke point whereas aromatics are undesirable as it has got
the lowest smoke point. Standard smoke point for Kerosene
is 20-30 mm. Aromatics are, hence removed from Kerosene
to improve smoke point.

ANILINE POINT
It is the lowest temperature at which an oil is completely
miscible with an equal volume of aniline. It is the measure of
the aromatic content of the oil, hence is a characteristic
property of diesel.
Aniline point of an oil also gives an indication of the possible
deterioration of rubber sealing, packing etc. in contact with
the oil. The aromatics have a tendency to dissolve natural
rubber and certain types of synthetic rubber. Therefore in
such cases, a low aromatic content in the lubricant (i.e. with
high aniline point) is desirable.

OCTANE NUMBER
This is a property of gasoline which is used in a spark ignition
engine and expresses its knocking characteristics.
When a gasoline engine is made to operate at high load and
low speed, a sort of rattling noise may develop from the
combustion chamber resulting from unsteady and
uncontrolled combustion. This noise is called knocking or
detonation. Knocking is harmful to engine as its parts are set
to vibration there by reducing the life of engine. Knocking
depends upon the quality of fuel also.
It has been found that n-heptane knocks very badly so its
anti-knock property has been arbitrarily taken as zero and iso
octane (2, 2, 4 trimethyl pentane) gives very little knocking so
its anti-knock value tras been taken as 100. Octane number
of the fuel is defined as "the percentage by volume of iso-
octane in a mixture of n-heptane and iso-octane with the
same Knocking tendency as fuel". This if a sample of gasoline
gives as much knocking as a mixture of 80 parts of iso-octane
and 20 parts of n-heptane, its octane number is 80.

CETANE NUMBER
It is a characteristic property of diesel and is used to indicate
its quality and performance in compression ignition engine,
In case of diesel engine, the fuel should ignite as soon as it is
injected into the cylinder. If it does not ignite
instantaneously, (the time lag between fuel injection and fuel
ignition is called Ignition delay period) abnormal combustion
takes place resulting in shock waves, due to fluctuating
pressure rise in the cylinder. With diesel of long ignition delay
period, much of the charge is injected into the cylinder
before ignition is initiated, causing violent combustion,
sudden increase in pressure and rough and bumpy running.
This is called diesel knock
Cetane (C16H34) has a very small ignition delay period hence it
is given a cetane number rating of 100. a-methyl
naphthalene has a very high ignition delay period, hence it is
given a rating of zero, Cetane number of diesel oil is the
percentage by volume of cetane in a cetane/a methyl
naphthalene mixture that has the same ignition delay period
and performance in a standard compression ignition engine
as that of the fuel.

VISCOSITY
Viscosity is determined by three makes of commercial
viscometers. The Redwood viscometer (used in
commonwealth countries), Saybolt viscometer (used in
U.S.A.) and Engler viscometer allowed to flow through a
standard capillary tube and the time of flow is noted.
Kinematic viscosity measured by this method is expressed in
stokes or centistokes.
Kinematic viscosity of liquid fuels is given by
n = AT - B/T
Where, T = Time of flow of a fixed amount of oil (at a fixed
temperature) through the viscometer. A and B are
viscometer constants and depend upon the dimensions of
the viscometer capillary through which oil flows.

VISCOSITY INDEX
The viscosity of a liquid decreases with increase in
temperature. The change in viscosity with change in
temperature is expressed by viscosity index. It is an emperical
number indicating the rate of change of viscosity of an oil
from 100°F to 210°F. Low viscosity index means a large
change in viscosity with change in temperature. A high
viscosity index shows relatively small change in viscosity with
temperature.
Paraffinic oil has very high viscosity index = 100 while
naphthenic oil has very low viscosity index = 0
Viscosity index of an oil is determined by measuring its
viscosity at two temperatures and comparing the results with
those for a standard oil of V.I. = 100, and for a standard oil of
V.I. = 0.

Viscosity index = (L–U)/(L-H) X 100

Where,
U = Viscosity of oil sample at 100°F
L = Viscosity of a standard oil of V.I. = 0, at 210°F
H = Viscosity of a standard oil of V.I. = 100 at 210° F