Boiling Point of Engine Coolants

Description

A critical test to prevent antifreeze from boiling in the engine under high loads, ensuring stable heat dissipation without vapor locks.

Antifreeze boiling is a nightmare for any driver or engineer. When the fluid boils, a vapor lock forms, heat dissipation instantly stops, leading to catastrophic overheating, cylinder head deformation, and piston seizure. Determining the boiling point of coolants at the RENA laboratory is a severe endurance test for your heat transfer fluid. We accurately measure the equilibrium boiling point to ensure that the antifreeze can withstand the summer heat and the peak loads of heavy-duty trucks or industrial generators. The test is performed on a special laboratory setup with a reflux condenser according to ASTM D1120 or GOST 28084 standards. The test sample (usually 60 ml) is placed in a heat-resistant glass flask, the neck of which is hermetically connected to a water condenser. The liquid is intensely heated by an electric heater to the stage of active boiling. The reflux condenser instantly cools the evaporated liquid and returns it to the flask, creating a closed loop and a state of constant thermodynamic equilibrium between liquid and vapor. A precision calibrated thermometer immersed in the boiling liquid records the constant temperature. Additionally, the operator must measure the barometric air pressure in the laboratory during the test to mathematically correct the obtained result to standard conditions at sea level (101.3 kPa), since the boiling point is very sensitive to atmospheric pressure fluctuations.