Aqueous Propylene Glycol Engine Coolant for Automotive and Light Duty Applications

Propylene Glycol has generated interest as a base material for coolant/antifreeze for internal combustion engines that would be superior to existing coolants in product safety. Previous studies have presented the merits for propylene glycol engine coolants developed for use in heavy duty engines.

The automotive or light duty market has different requirements and different concerns for the performance of a cooling fluid. Also, since this segment includes the vehicles owned and maintained by the general public, the safer nature of propylene glycol products resulting from their lower relative toxicity has increased importance.

Products have been developed for this market using inhibitor chemistry similar to that used historically for engine coolants. The results of testing of these products against standards of performance for engine coolants for light duty engines are discussed.