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Urea-Water-Solution Properties: Density, Viscosity, and Surface Tension in an Under-Saturated Solution

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Abstract

A temperature-concentration dependent surface fit for the relative viscosity of a urea-water-solution (UWS) is calculated based on experimental and literature data. For the surface fit, a 2D Lorentzian function was used, where the x-axis was assigned to a urea mass fraction and the y-axis to the solution temperature and the rest of the Lorentzian function parameters were optimized based on the experimental and literature data. The surface model describes the relative viscosity of under-saturated urea-water-solution. The experimental data for the kinematic viscosity was measured with an Ubbelohde capillary viscometer whose temperature was controlled with a thermostat. The temperature and concentration range was from 293.15 to 353.15 K in 10-K increments and for urea mass fractions from 0.325 to 0.7. The kinematic viscosity values from the experiment were converted to relative viscosity by calculating the density of the UWS. An exponential fit was calculated to describe the specific gravity of the UWS based on literature data. Additionally, the surface tension of the UWS was measured at room temperature (293.15 K) in a mass fraction range from 0.302 to 0.596. As a result, simple models describing UWS properties were obtained and these models can be implemented into computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

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Abbreviations

A :

Surface fit parameter

D :

Capillary diameter

E :

Kinetic energy correction factor

k :

Capillary constant

L :

Capillary length

T :

Temperature

t :

Flow time

v :

Velocity

V :

Effective flux volume

w 1 :

Surface fit parameter

w 2 :

Surface fit parameter

y c :

Surface fit parameter

x :

Distance

x c :

Surface fit parameter

z 0 :

Surface fit parameter

γ :

Mass fraction

η:

Dynamic viscosity

ν :

Kinematic viscosity

ρ :

Density

σ :

Surface tension

τ :

Shear rate

water :

Variable describes water

uws :

Urea-water-solution

rel :

Relative value

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Acknowledgments

This work was made possible by the Proventia Emission Control Oy located in Oulunsalo, Finland. We would like to thank Mr. Arno Amberla and Mr. Jari Lotvonen. We would also like to thank Mr. Joni Kosamo from Oulu University of Applied Sciences for making the viscosity measurements possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Sauli Halonen & Mauri Haataja

  2. Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Teija Kangas

  3. Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, Unit of Applied Chemistry, University of Jyvaskyla, Talonpojankatu 2B, FI-67100, Kokkola, Finland

    Ulla Lassi

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  1. Sauli Halonen
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  2. Teija Kangas
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Correspondence to Sauli Halonen.

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Halonen, S., Kangas, T., Haataja, M. et al. Urea-Water-Solution Properties: Density, Viscosity, and Surface Tension in an Under-Saturated Solution. Emiss. Control Sci. Technol. 3, 161–170 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40825-016-0051-1

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