Some materials known as anti-freeze get added to the water in order to reduce freezing point and increase boiling point. Antifreeze solution is used in cold weather in order to reduce the freezing point. They also use it for increasing the boiling point in order to boost the cooling system temperature without boiling. Freezing point, boiling point and melting point all depend on the amount and purity of the solution materials.
Chemical antifreeze products include calcium chloride, methanol, ethanol, and mono ethylene glycol ( MEG ).
In industry, they use antifreeze products in a broad range of mechanical equipment. They use it in order to prevent heat transfer fluids from freezing. Generally, anti-freeze is used to call liquids that cool the engine automatically. They are also used in cooling systems, air-conditioners, solar power plants, and many other sectors.
What is Coolant? What is the Difference between Anti-freeze and Coolant?
Coolant is a liquid which controls extreme increase of temperature inside the engine (system). It moves the heat to another device. In other words, coolant is a liquid which helps the engine to work in a proper temperature, and also move the heat from the engine to the radiator.
Anti-freeze is a mixture of monoethylene glycol, water (usually with the equal ratio of 50 to 50), and some chemical additives.
A good quality coolant should be heat-resistant, chemically neutral with low viscosity.
Function of cars’ cooling system:
The role of cooling system is control of engine temperature in any weather situation. The coolant should be pure liquid that resists in low temperatures minus 0 degrees of centigrade. It should also not get boiled in high temperature above 100 degrees of centigrade. The coolant should also have anti-corrosive feature to protect coating parts of the engine.
Are Coolant and Antifreeze the Same?
The product labelled Coolant is a ready mixture for antifreeze and water solution that can be added directly to the cooling system. But, the product labelled Antifreeze is a thick liquid that should be diluted with water and other chemicals before being added to the cooling system.
Coolants and antifreezes have almost same specifications. But antifreeze should be more resistant against cold and freezing. The base of antifreeze products is mono ethylene glycol ( MEG ) and some anti-corrosive products such as sodium bi-chromate.
About 60% of breakdowns and problems of the engines can be related to the cooling system. Antifreeze products are vital for proper function of the engines.
Antifreeze and coolant should have these features;
- Anti-freezing
- Anti-sedimentation
- Compatible with hard water
- Compatible with the plastic and elastomer used in the engine
- Producing less foam
The most common coolant is water. Water has high heat-resistance, cost-effective, and suitable for heat transfer. They always use water with other chemical additives. One of the most popular chemical antifreeze is mono ethylene glycol. Water is the best heat transfer fluid, and MEG is also used for anti-freezing.
Propylene glycol is also known as a less poisonous replacement for MEG. But, as it is much more expensive with lower function, manufacturers prefer to use mono ethylene glycol.
Mixture of water and mono ethylene glycol ( with the ratio of 50 to 50) prevents from freezing in the temperatures up to minus 36 degrees of centigrade. But, the mixture of water and propylene glycol prevents from freezing up to minus 32.2 degrees of centigrade.
Antifreeze solutions depending on their materials are available in green, blue and neutral colors. The most common and popular one is green antifreeze which include phosphates / bichromates / nitrites mixed with main materials.
Green antifreeze should be changed on regular basis of once every 2 years or car use of 50,000 KMs.
