Heat Transfer Characteristics for Some Coolant Additives Used for Water Cooled Engines

Engine coolants contain certain additives to prevent engine overheating or coolant freezing in cold environments. Coolants, also, contain corrosion and rust inhibitors, among other additives. As most engines are using engine cooling solutions; it is of interest to evaluate the effect of engine coolants on the boiling heat transfer coefficient. This has its direct impact on radiator size and environment. This paper describes the apparatus and the measurement techniques. Also, it presents the obtained boiling heat transfer results at different parameters. Three types of engine coolants and their mixtures in distilled water are evaluated, under sub-cooled and saturated boiling conditions. A profound effect of the presence of additives in the coolant, on heat transfer, was clear since changes of heat transfer for different coolants were likely to occur. The results showed that up to 180% improvement of boiling heat transfer coefficient is experienced with some types of coolants. However, at certain concentrations other coolants provide deterioration or no enhancement in the boiling heat transfer characteristics. This investigation proved that there are limitations, which are to be taken into consideration, for the composition of engine coolants in different environments. In warm climates, ethylene glycol should be kept at the minimum concentration required for desolving other components, whereas borax is beneficial to the enhancement of the heat transfer characteristics.