This report booklet contains the detailed procedures and results of the experiment on the determination of the density of kerosene (dpk), petrol (pms), crude oil and soap solution using a pycometer and balance

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FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOOGY,

A REPORT ON

AN EXPERIMENT ON

THE DETERMINATION OF THE DENSITY OF PMS AND DPK

CARRIED OUT IN:

THE CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING,

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY.


Abstract

  This report booklet contains the detailed procedures and results of the experiment on the determination of the density of kerosene (dpk), petrol (pms), crude oil and soap solution using a pycometer and balance that I carried out on the 20th of March 2012 between 1200hrs and 1400hrs at the chemical engineering laboratory of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

   The experiment was carried out using samples of dpk, pms, crude oil, pko and a soap solution .Using the pycometer method; the empty pycometer, suspended by a thread tied to the neck was allowed to submerge in a measuring cylinder containing water, the change in water level was checked and recorded, the same thing was done again but this time the pycometer was filled with the sample to be experimented on. At the end of the experiment using the pycometer, the density of dpk, pms, crude oil , pko, and soap solution were found to be 0.8g/cm3, 0.7g/cm3, 0.84g/cm3,0.9g/cm3 and 0.94g/cm3 respectively. Also, using the weighing balance method the density of dpk, pms, crude oil,pko and soap solution were found to be 0.743g/cm3, 0.753g/cm3,0.780g/cm3,0.85g/cm3 and 0.9g/cm3.

    The report contains a total of four chapters; the first chapter introduces density and gives a physical explanation about the concept, it ends with mathematical definitions of density and real life applications in chemical engineering industries. The last three parts shows the observations,procedures and results from the experiment. It is capped by the appendix which contains calculations related to the experiment and relevant diagrams and charts. These chapters, in general gives an insight on the analysis and results learned during the experiment.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Abstract........................................................................................i

Table of Content...........................................................................ii

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction.................................................................................1

CHAPTER TWO

Theory...........................................................................................4

CHAPTER THREE                               

Experiment....................................................................................12                                

Procedure......................................................................................12                                                              

Results...........................................................................................13

Discussion .....................................................................................13

CHAPTER FOUR

Conclusion .....................................................................................15

Recommendation..........................................................................16

Reference.......................................................................................17

Appendices.....................................................................................18

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CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Density determination by pycnometer is a very precise method. It uses a working liquid with well-known density, such as water. For the purpose of this experiment, distilled water was used. The pycnometer is a glass flask with a close-fitting ground glass stopper with a capillary hole through it. This fine hole releases a spare liquid after closing a top-filled pycnometer and allows for obtaining a given volume of measured and/or working liquid with a high accuracy.

The mass density or density of a material is defined as its  per unit . The symbol most often used for density is ρ (the lower case Greek letter rho). In some cases (for instance, in the United States oil and gas industry), density is also defined as its  per unit ; although, this quantity is more properly called . Different materials usually have different densities, so density is an important concept regarding , purity and .  and  are the densest known metal elements at  but not the densest materials.

Less dense fluids float on more dense fluids if they do not mix. This concept can be extended, with some care, to less dense solids floating on more dense fluids. If the average density (including any air below the waterline) of an object is less than water (1000 kg/m3) it will float in water and if it is more than water's it will sink in water.

In some cases density is expressed as the  quantities  (SG) or  (RD), in which case it is expressed in multiples of the density of some other standard material, usually water or air/gas. (For example, a specific gravity less than one means that the substance floats in water.)

The mass density of a material varies with temperature and pressure. (The variance is typically small for solids and liquids and much greater for gasses.) Increasing the pressure on an object decreases the volume of the object and therefore increase its density. Increasing the temperature of a substance (with some exceptions) decreases its density by increasing the volume of that substance. In most materials, heating the bottom of a fluid results in  of the heat from bottom to top of the fluid due to the decrease of the density of the heated fluid. This causes it to rise relative to more dense unheated material.

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The reciprocal of the density of a substance is called its , a representation commonly used in . Density is an  in that increasing the amount of a substance does not increase its density; rather it increases its mass.

Changes of density

In general, density can be changed by changing either the pressure or the temperature. Increasing the pressure always increases the density of a material. Increasing the temperature generally decreases the density, but there are notable exceptions to this generalization. For example, the density of water increases between its melting point at 0 °C and 4 °C; similar behavior ...

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