THE VISCOSITY OF COTTONSEED OIL, FRACTIONATION SOLVENTS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS

Cold fractionation of cottonseed oil is made difficult by the high viscosity of the oil. This study was aimed at demonstrating the effect of solvents on the viscosity of mixtures between 0-degrees-C and 25-degrees-C with a view to facilitating the fractionation of refined cottonseed oil. The solvents used were acetone, methylethylketone, methylisobutylketone, hexane and heptane. Measurements of viscosity were carried out by means of a capillary viscometer. The ratio of the viscosity of cottonseed oil to that of pure solvents is of the order of 300. The viscosities of solutions of various ratios of solvent to oil (1/3, 1/1, 3/1) are between those of cottonseed oil and the pure solvents. The effect of the solvent/oil ratio overrides that of solvent nature. The effect of solvent in reducing the viscosity of cottonseed oil is by descending order: acetone, hexane, methylethylketone, heptane, methylisobutylketone.