Time flies! It’s already winter now and many customers recently called us about how to dilute the anti-freezer and what to do when the laser water chiller is not used for a long time in winter. But first, let’s get to know the basic knowledge about anti-freezer.
Purpose of anti-freezer
Anti-freezer, as its name suggests, can prevent the water in the circulation circuit from freezing so that the internal water pipeline will not expand and burst because of frozen water . There are many different kinds and different formulas of anti-freezers in the market, which is quite dazzling. Therefore, many customers don’t know what to choose or how to dilute the anti-freezers. Some customers even choose some anti-freezers that are not suitable for our industrial water chiller.
Performance requirement of anti-freezer in the chiller
Our water chiller has certain performance requirements on the anti-freezer used. Wrong type or inappropriate use of anti-freezer will lead to the damage of the internal water pipeline. The performance requirements for the anti-freezer are as follows:
1.Stable chemical performance;
2.Good anti-freeze performance;
3.Relatively low low-temperature viscosity;
4.Anti-corrosion and rust prevention;
5.No swelling or corrosion on the sealed rubber tube
At home and abroad, water based anti-freezers that contain ethylene glycol or propylene glycol are commonly used. These kinds of anti-freezers can be used after being diluted according to certain proportion.
As for the mother solution of the anti-freezer which is the concentrated type can not be used directly. It needs to be diluted with softened water to certain concentration based on the temperature requirement. Now we are going to introduce two of the commonly used anti-freezers.
Ethylene glycol concentration form
From the above form, we can see that the freezing point of ethylene glycol anti-freezer will change as its concentration changes. When the volume concentration is below 56%, the freezing point will become lower as the concentration increases. However, when the volume concentration is above 56%, the freezing point will become higher as the concentration increases. When the volume concentration reaches 100%, the freezing point reaches to -13 degree C. That is the reason why concentrated type anti-freezer can not be added into the chiller directly.
P.S. For certain kind of laser sources, they may have certain requirements for the anti-freezer. Therefore, it is suggested to consult the laser source manufacturer before adding.
Propylene glycol concentration form
As for the propylene glycol, the volume concentration - freezing point relation is similar to ethylene glycol.
3 principles of using anti-freezer
1.The lower the concentration the better
Most of the anti-freezer is corrosive. Anti-freezer with concentration of more than 30% containing ethylene glycol will lead to decreased performance of certain kinds of laser sources and posts potential risk to stainless steel water pump motor mechanical seal. Therefore, while meeting the anti-freezing performance requirement, the lower the concentration the better.
2.The shorter using time the better
After being used for a certain period of time, anti-freezer is likely to deteriorate. And the deteriorated anti-freezer is more corrosive with higher viscosity. Therefore, it is suggested to change out the anti-freezer periodically and the suggested changing frequency would be once a year. In summer, we use purified water. In winter, we change out the new anti-freezer.
3.Do not mix different types of anti-freezers
It is suggested to use the same type and same brand of the anti-freezer. That is because even different types of anti-freezer have the same ingredients, their additives might be different. Mixing of different types of anti-freezers may cause chemical reaction, leading to bubble or sendimentaion.
