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Category: Auto

How To Choose The Right Coolant?

2024
How To Choose The Right Coolant?
How To Choose The Right Coolant?
Anonim

What is coolant? Coolant, or Antifreeze (Eng.), Is the liquid that is in the vehicle’s cooling system, which provides heat removal from a warmer body, in our case the engine, through a radiator and other elements of the cooling system to a less heated atmosphere. This is the main function of the coolant. Cool! The composition of the coolant is usually 50 percent monoethylene glycol, a simple dihydric alcohol, 47 percent water and about 3 percent additives. The second function: do not freeze. Hence the second name - AntiFREZZE, or in the translation "non-freezing".

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But this was not always the case - initially the task of the coolant was only direct cooling, which is why earlier they used water for this. But water has a number of drawbacks, the first, as we said earlier, the water freezes and expands when it freezes, and the second drawback is corrosion in its various manifestations, such as oxidation and cavitation.

With the need for year-round use of vehicles, it was necessary to involve non-freezing components in the production of coolants.

At first there were formulations on glycerol, however, the density of such products was very high and the cooling efficiency was low, so they began to be diluted with alcohols to reduce the density. And the first of them was methyl alcohol as the simplest and cheapest monohydroxy alcohol in production. And that was until about the middle of the last century.

Unfortunately, in Russia at the moment, a huge number of manufacturers of falsified and low-quality coolants have remained at the same level of the middle of the last century. The cost of such products is much lower, but the mixture of methanol and water is destructive for the car. It boils quickly and has high corrosivity, while methanol is poison!

Let's look at the technology for the production of coolants.

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The first category, the oldest, is IAT (iorganic acid technology)

Technology for the production of coolants using inorganic additives. This category is the ancestor of all coolants in the modern sense. The principle of operation is that a package of inorganic salts is added to the water-glycol solution (in our case, monoethylene glycol).

Either phosphates, or nitrites, or silicates are mainly used. These salts react with each other and form a protective film on the entire surface of the cooling system. Accordingly, the additive package is gradually consumed, the film is becoming thicker. The efficiency of the cooling system is reduced.

Tosol also belongs to these types, which has become a proper name in Russia.

The word "antifreeze" is an abbreviation of the name of the department "Technology of Organic Synthesis" (abbreviated as TOS) of the Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, in which it was developed in 1971. The term “OL” indicates the product belongs to a group of alcohols.

For example, FELIX brand antifreezes manufactured by Tosol-Synthesis are created using traditional technology (IAT), ideal for use in classic passenger cars. They have a large number of official approvals.

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Second category - OAT

Organic Additive Technology, or Organic Acid Technology. This type is based on the use of the same monoethylene glycol, but using a distinctively different additive package - organic. Organic carboxylic acids are used as an inhibitor in these antifreezes.

Unlike the previous type of cooling liquids, carboxylate antifreezes do not create a film on the entire surface, but act on pockets of corrosion pointwise. The catalyst for the reaction is the temperature and the oxidation process itself. An example of such a coolant is the Tosol Synthesis Felix Carbox.

Pros: extended service life. Guaranteed period - 250, 000 km.

Better protection against corrosion and cavitation due to the use of an organic additive package, more stable during prolonged high temperature influences.

Cons: incompatibility with other liquids. Carboxylate coolants must not be mixed with other types.

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HOAT is a hybrid technology. It contains both organic and inorganic packages of corrosion inhibitors. The composition has incorporated the best aspects of the previous ones. In combination with the traditional additive package, carboxylate additives also work in this coolant. But when viewed in percentage terms, these fluids are more related to the first type of coolant. Organic additives only complement it. An example of such antifreeze is FELIX PROLONGER.

Pros and cons: a definite plus will be protection for all types of metals, better than traditional coolants.

The fourth category is LOWBRID. In the literal translation - "small hybrid." This type is designed for the new goals of car manufacturers: more power, more boost, less fuel consumption, less harmful emissions. An increase in boost pressure leads to an increase in the temperature regime; a reduction in harmful emissions is also often done with an increase in the operating temperature (at higher temperatures, less harmful emissions occur). The basis of these liquids is a carboxylate bag with the addition of a small amount of inorganic additives.

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