In cold climates, there
is always a danger that the water in the cooling system may get frozen. This may
result in damage to the entire system including in extreme cases the
bursting of the radiator core and the cylinder jackets.
To avoid this some
additives are used, which when with water in suitable proportions, lower the
freezing point of water. Such an additive is called antifreeze and the solution
thus formed becomes an antifreeze solution. Even for hot climates the use of
antifreeze has the incidental advantage that the boiling point of the cooling water
is also raised.
The requirement of the
anti-freeze may be enumerated as;
They should be
thoroughly miscible with water.
They should not have any
corrosive action on system components.
Their boiling point
should be high so that there is minimum loss due to evaporation.
The anti-freezes most
commonly used are wood alcohol (methyl alcohol), denatured alcohol (ethyl
alcohol), glycerin, ethylene glycerol etc. Each of these has its own advantages
and disadvantages. Alcohol is quite effective, but it is very volatile and
due to this reason evaporation losses are high. The glycerin is less volatile,
but it is comparatively costly and also it attacks rubber hose pipes.
Tags
technology