One huge advantage of our EMS-1000S viscometer is that it can precisely measure samples of very low viscosity (down to 0.1mPa･s) through to those with high viscosity (up to 1,000,000 mPa･s), all without the need to clean and swap out parts like rotors and spindles. Whether you want to measure samples such as water, beverages, solvents, ink, blood and proteins (low viscosity) or polymers, resins, bitumen, heavy oils etc. (high viscosity), our viscometer has you covered! Our system employs small metallic probes that are placed along with your sample into sample tubes. We have 4 types of probes available, from which you select the most appropriate for your sample considering its properties such as expected viscosity, corrosivity etc.
In this article we would like to briefly discuss 2 differences between probes that significantly influence their application and hence suitability for any given sample.
4 types of probes
Our 4 types of probes each excel in measuring within differing viscosity ranges
1. Probe size affects its ability to generate torque
As the size of your probe increases, so does the amount of torque it can generate. For
example, the Al φ4.7mm (4.7mm diameter aluminium) probe can generate approximately 4 times the torque that the Al φ2.0mm probe can, resulting in at least a 4 times faster
measurement time in practice. When it comes to measuring a high-density sample such as asphalt, the Al φ2.0mm probe cannot be made to generate enough torque to spin through it and thus cannot be used to measure its viscosity. So, for samples with higher viscosity such as asphalt, please choose the Al φ4.7mm probe!
2. The probe’s material composition affects it conductivity
Some of our probes differ in material composition and this affects their electrical conductivity, and in turn, the torque they generate. The higher the conductivity, the higher the torque it will produce, and as we learned above, the higher the torque, the shorter the measurement time required. Another difference brought about by a probe's composition is its resistance to corrosion. If for example, our standard aluminium probe is placed in a highly alkaline sample such as sodium hydroxide, there is a risk that its surface will corrode. That is why we provide the titanium probe, as it has high resistance to corrosive samples.
Make sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming blogs, where we will be going into further detail about our titanium and low-viscosity probes!
We conducted an experiment to compare the measurement times of the Al φ2.0mm and Al φ4.7mm probes using the same viscosity standard liquid.
Measurement Results
For a single measurement, it took the Al φ2.0mm probe 30 seconds, whereas only 5 seconds were required with the Al φ4.7mm. The EMS-1000S was set to perform 10 consecutive measurements resulting in a total measurement time of 5 minutes and 1 minute for the Al φ2.0mm and Al φ4.7mm probe respectively.
This shows the importance of choosing the most appropriate probe for your sample! The probes are sold as consumables so please contact your local KEM distributor or KEM directly to find out more.
We hope that you enjoyed the article! If you would like to know more about the EMS-1000S Viscometer, please feel free to contact us by clicking the yellow “contact” button at the top of the page! Thank you for reading.