Ethylene glycol Supplier Manufacturer Kolkata India

Ethylene glycol (IUPAC name: ethane-1,2-diol) is an organic compound with the formula (CH2OH)2. It is mainly used for two purposes, as a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fibers and for antifreeze formulations. It is an odorless, colorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. Ethylene glycol is toxic. Household pets are especially susceptible to ethylene glycol poisoning from vehicle antifreeze leaks.

Uses

Ethylene glycol is primarily used in antifreeze formulations (50%) and as a raw material in the manufacture of polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) .

Coolant and heat-transfer agent

The major use of ethylene glycol is as a medium for convective heat transfer in, for example, automobiles and liquid-cooled computers. Ethylene glycol is also commonly used in chilled-water air-conditioning systems that place either the chiller or air handlers outside, or systems that must cool below the freezing temperature of water. In geothermal heating/cooling systems, ethylene glycol is the fluid that transports heat through the use of a geothermal heat pump. The ethylene glycol either gains energy from the source (lake, ocean, water well) or dissipates heat to the sink, depending on whether the system is being used for heating or cooling.

Antifreeze

Pure ethylene glycol freezes at about −12 °C (10.4 °F) but, when mixed with water, the mixture freezes at a lower temperature. For example, a mixture of 60% ethylene glycol and 40% water freezes at −45 °C (−49 °F). Diethylene glycol behaves similarly. The freezing point depression of some mixtures can be explained as a colligative property of solutions but, in highly-concentrated mixtures such as the example, deviations from ideal solution behavior are expected due to the influence of intermolecular forces.

There is a difference in the mixing ratio, depending on whether it is ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. For ethylene glycol, the mixing ratios are typically 30/70 and 35/65, whereas the propylene glycol mixing ratios are typically 35/65 and 40/60. It is important that the mixture is frost-proof at the lowest operating temperature.

ehydrating agent
Ethylene glycol is used in the natural gas industry to remove water vapor from natural gas before further processing, in much the same manner as triethylene glycol (TEG).

Niche applications

Minor uses of ethylene glycol include the manufacture of capacitors, as a chemical intermediate in the manufacture of 1,4-dioxane, as an additive to prevent corrosion in liquid cooling systems for personal computers, and inside the lens devices of cathode-ray tube type of rear projection televisions. Ethylene glycol is also used in the manufacture of some vaccines, but it is not itself present in these injections. It is used as a minor (1–2%) ingredient in shoe polish and also in some inks and dyes. Ethylene glycol has seen some use as a rot and fungal treatment for wood, both as a preventative and a treatment after the fact.