[ECO]Common Antifreeze Types: Which One’s Green?

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Common Antifreeze Types: Which One’s Green?

Antifreeze is an additive used to help water tolerate temperatures, expanding its natural freezing and boiling points. It’s a vital ingredient in coolants and heat transfer fluids. This substance enables machines running on water-based fluids to function as intended and prevents ********** damage to modern equipment.

No single antifreeze suits every application. Chemists have developed various types primarily based on fossil fuels to meet the unique needs of different industries, begging the question — what antifreeze is environmentally friendly? To answer that, take a deep ***** into glycol.

What Is Glycol?

Glycol is

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with antifreeze. It has two varieties — ethylene and propylene. The former is organic, viscous, colorless, odorless and sweet-tasting, whereas the latter is synthetic, less viscous, colorless, almost odorless and minimally sweet.

Ethylene glycol conducts heat better than its propylene counterpart, making it perfect for applications where thermal performance is the top priority. However, propylene-based antifreeze is the better option when safety is a concern.

Until recently, you could only derive these glycols from fossil fuels. These additives contribute to climate change. However, industries consider them a net positive because of their invaluable roles in food processing, automotive, HVAC, energy and more. Glycol-based solutions also include corrosion inhibitors, defoamers and other additives to boost machine performance and energy efficiency.

For example, one of the benefits of glycol chillers is improved safety. These industrial refrigeration systems resist bacterial and algae buildup more and are

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than water-cooled and air-cooled units. As a natural coolant, glycol also helps machines do their jobs with less electricity.

What Antifreeze Is Environmentally Friendly? 3 Deciding Factors

Between ethylene and propylene glycols, the latter is greener. However, ethylene-based antifreeze may also become sustainable sooner than you think. Check out how these two stack up against each other in three areas.

1. Renewability

You can now derive glycols from biomass. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a novel catalytic process for converting plant-based raw materials — including vegan staples,

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— into propylene-based antifreeze. A multinational food processing company has licensed this tech to produce propylene glycol from canola and soybeans commercially.

The ******* States Department of Energy has also funded a tech company to convert renewable feedstocks, like plant dry matter, into low-cost ethylene and propylene glycols. If this investment pays dividends, sustainable ethylene-based antifreeze will be widely accessible in the U.S. and boost the nation’s green glycol production capacity.

Wide domestic availability of these commodity chemicals can reduce Uncle Sam’s need to import them. Local sourcing also helps

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, reducing the country’s carbon footprint.

2. Biodegradation

Glycols don’t stay in the environment for too long after disposal. Propylene-based antifreeze biodegrades faster than the ethylene kind. Decomposition occurs more rapidly in aerobic environments than under anaerobic conditions.

Still, tossed-away glycols can harm human populations and wildlife until they disappear entirely. When handled poorly, this toxic waste can pollute the soil and bodies of water, threatening ecosystems and food supplies. Glycols can also contaminate drinking water sources.

The authorities have rules to regulate how industries safely discard hazardous waste. Following such guidelines to the letter can minimize the adverse effects of antifreeze on the environment.

However, many companies purposely dump hazardous materials illegally to save money. If the costs of proper waste disposal exceed violation penalties, there’s less incentive for environmentally unsound corporations to throw away antifreeze accordingly.

Some companies have been

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into new plastic. Isolating and recycling this hazardous waste at source may keep it from wreaking havoc on the environment and people.

3. Toxicity

Ethylene glycol is notorious for being poisonous to humans and animals. When exposed and unaddressed immediately, this toxic substance can damage the central nervous system, heart, lungs and kidneys

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after ingestion.

Conversely, propylene glycol is significantly less toxic. Accidental ingestion may not lead to a lethal outcome, so it’s the antifreeze of choice in heating or

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at facilities producing items for human consumption.

Antifreeze Has a Green Future

Although propylene will always be more eco-friendly than ethylene, glycols are becoming more sustainable. Commodity chemical producers are bent to decarbonize. With the government’s help, tomorrow’s antifreeze won’t be antienvironment.

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