Viscosity is a key fluid property that defines resistance to flow and is critical in engineering calculations. The tables below provide typical viscosity values for common gases and liquids at various temperatures for reference and preliminary design.
Fluid viscosity is a measure of resistance to flow and varies significantly with temperature and pressure. It is commonly expressed in centipoise (cP) or Pascal-seconds (Pa·s).
Notes:
The values identified below are for dynamic viscosity as measured using centiPoise (cP) and SI units N.s m -2. = Pa. s
1 Centipoise = 1 mPa s (milliPascal Second)= 10 -3 Pa.s
1 Pa.s = 1000 centiPoise
The information has been obtained from reference texts and the internet. A number of values have been obtained using nonograms
provided in Perrys and by taking values from graphs of fluid properties. The values are therefore only to be used for initial estimates. Please use
quality information sources for detail design work.
It should be noted that the viscosity is not a nice convenient fixed property of a fluid but it is affected very much
by the ambient conditions of temperature and pressure and material parameters such and density, and chemical make-up.
1) A table of fluid (gas) viscosities using cP at room temperatures is provided and also a table of Pa.s values
at various temperatures is also provided.
2) A table of fluid (liquid viscosities using cP at room temperatures is provided and also a table of Pa.s values
at various temperatures is also provided.
| Fluid | Dynamic viscosity |
| cP(Centipoise) | |
| Acetylene | 0,00935 |
| Ammonia | 0,00918 |
| Argon | 0,021 |
| Carbon Dioxide | 0,014 |
| Carbon Monoxide | 0,0166 |
| Chlorine | 0,0129 |
| Cyanogen | 0,00928 |
| Ethylene | 0,0097 |
| Helium | 0,0186 |
| Hydrogen | 0,00835 |
| Hydrogen Chloride | 0,0138 |
| Hydrogen Sulphide | 0,0117 |
| Methane | 0,0103 |
| Nitric Oxide | 0,0178 |
| Nitrous Oxide | 0,0135 |
| Oxygen | 0,0192 |
| Sulphur Dioxide | 0,0117 |
Example value Air (0 deg C) dynamic viscosity = 17 X 10 -6 Pa.s = 0,017 cPoise
| Gas | Symbol | Temperature (Deg. C) | |||
| 0 | 100 | 250 | 500 | ||
| Viscosity Pa s ( Actual x 106 ) | |||||
| Oxygen | O2 | 19 | 24 | 30 | 39 |
| Helium | He | 18 | 22 | 28 | 37 |
| Air | - | 17 | 21 | 27 | 35 |
| Nitrogen | N2 | 16,5 | 21 | 265 | 35 |
| Carbon Monoxide | CO | 16,5 | 21 | 26 | 35 |
| Carbon Dioxide | CO2 | 13,7 | 18 | 24 | 34 |
| Sulphur Dioxide | SO2 | 11.8 | 15 | 20 | 28 |
| Ammonia | NH3 | 9,5 | 13 | 18 | 27 |
| Hydrogen | H2 | 85 | 10,5 | 12,5 | 16,5 |
| Ethane | C2H6 | 8,5 | 11,5 | 15,5 | 22,5 |
| Propane | C3H8 | 7,7 | 10 | 13,2 | 18 |
| Butane | C4H20 | 8 | 10,5 | 14,2 | 20 |
| Fluid | Dynamic viscosity |
| cP(Centipoise) | |
| Acetic Acid | 1,219 |
| Acetone | 0,324 |
| Benzene | 0,647 |
| Bromine | 0.993 |
| Carbon Disulphide | 0,375 |
| Carbon Tetrachloride | 0.972 |
| Chloroform | 0,569 |
| Glycerol | 1495 |
| Mercury Hg | 1,552 |
| Methyl Alcohol | 0,594 |
| Nitrobenzene | 2,03 |
| Olive Oil | 84000 |
| Lubricating Oil | 799,4 |
| Paraffin Oil | 1000 |
| Phenol | 12,74 |
| Toluene | 0,585 |
| Turpentine | 1,49 |
| Water | 1 |
Example value Water (20 deg C) dynamic viscosity = 0,001 Pa.s = 1 cPoise
| Liquid.......... | Chemical symbol |
Temperature (Deg. C) | |||||
| -25 | 0 | 20 | 50 | 100 | 200 | ||
| Viscosity centiPoise (cP) (val's x 10-3 = Pa.s ) | |||||||
| Water | H20 | - | 1,7918 | 1,0028 | 0,5471 | 0,2817 | 0,1346 |
| Light Machinery Oil | - | - | - | - | 28 | 4,9 | - |
| Spindle Oil | - | - | - | 13 | 5,49 | 2,0 | - |
| Ethanol | C2H5OH | 3,241 | 1,786 | 1,201 | 0,701 | 0,326 | - |
| Methanol | CH3OH | - | 0,817 | 0,584 | 0,396 | - | - |
| Benzene | C6H6 | - | - | 0,649 | 0,436 | 0,261 | 0,113 |
| Toluene | C7H8 | - | 0,773 | 0,586 | 0,419 | 0,269 | 0,133 |
| Sulphur Dioxide | SO2 | - | 0,368 | 0,304 | 0,234 | - | - |
| Ammonia | NH3 | 0,215 | 0,169 | 0,138 | 0,103 | - | - |
| Freon 113 | - | 1,4 | 0.92 | 0,75 | 0,5 | 0,29 | - |
| Fuel Oil (sg=0.94) | - | - | - | 1000 | 100 | 11 | 2,5 |
| Crude Oil (sg = 0,855) | - | - | 16 | 7,5 | 4 | 2,5 | 1,5 |
| Kerosene | - | - | 3,7 | 2,5 | 1,4 | 0,6 | - |
| Sulphuric Acid (100%) | 90 | 36 | 25 | 10,5 | 3,4 | - | |
| Sulphuric Acid (60%) | 16 | 9 | 6 | 3,5 | 1,5 | - | |
| Nitric Acid (95%) | 2,1 | 1,5 | 1,2 | 0,85 | 0,50 | - | |
| Nitric Acid (60%) | 6,0 | 3,5 | 2,5 | 1,4 | 0,7 | - | |
| Mercury | 2 | 1,60 | 1,55 | 1,5 | 1,45 | 1,1 | |
Viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow or deformation.
Common units are centipoise (cP) and Pascal-seconds (Pa·s).
Viscosity decreases with temperature for liquids and increases for gases.
It affects fluid flow, friction losses, lubrication and heat transfer performance.
They are approximate and suitable for initial estimates but not detailed design.