Using Thermal Gradient Measurements to Compare Bath Temperature and Agitation Effects on the Quenching Performance of Palm Oil, Canola Oil and a Conventional Petroleum Oil

A proprietary Liscic/Petrofer cylindrical Inconel 600 probe of 50-mm diameter and 200-mm length which was instrumented with three thermocouples on the same radius of the crosssection at the middle of the length was used to determine the differences in quenching performance of two vegetable oils, palm oil and canola oil, and they were compared to a locally produced conventional petroleum oil quenchant. The cooling curves and heat transfer performance of these oils were determined at different bath temperatures and agitation rates. The work was performed at the Quenching Research Centre located at the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The results of this comparative study are reported herein

Comparative Measurement and Evaluation of the Quenching Intensity of Palm Oil, Canola Oil and a Conventional Petroleum Oil Quenchant Based on Temperature Gradient Measurements

In contrast with small laboratory probes developed to evaluate the cooling properties of relatively small samples of a quenchant, the new Liscic/Petrofer probe is designed to measure and record the quenching intensity under real industrial conditions. The Liscic/Petrofer probe is a cylindrical Inconel 600 probe with a 50-mm diameter and a 200-mm length and is instrumented with three thermocouples on the same radius of the cross-section at the middle point of its length. The outer thermocouple measures the temperature 1 mm below the surface, the second one 4.5 mm below the surface, and the third one at the center of the probe. The working principle of the probe is the measurement of the dynamic of heat extraction, which is best represented by the change of temperature gradients. Comparative testing was recently performed with the Liscic/Petrofer probe in two different vegetable oils (canola oil and palm oil) and a commercially available conventional petroleum oil quenchant. The work was performed at the Quenching Research Centre (QRC) of the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The results of this work showed distinctive differences in the quenching behavior of these three quenchant media. The results of this comparative study are reported herein