Heat transfer fluid is like the blood of industrial manufacturing and plays the important role in heat transfer system. Different industrial manufacturer has its unique product processing with diverse system operation temperature and devices. Hence, how to choose the proper heat transfer fluid product is very critical in industrial production.

There are two types of heat transfer fluid products generally, which are traditional mineral oil and synthetic fluid. Compared with the traditional mineral oil, the synthetic fluid has better thermal stability, higher operation temperature and longer service life, which provides stable operation in system in long term.

The traditional mineral oil is the appropriate cut fractions of distilled and refined petroleum. And the synthetic heat transfer fluid is made through chemical synthesis process and has certain chemical structure and compositions.

There are many heat transfer fluid products on the market today with different brand, manufacturer scale, prices and technical support. Some traders and manufacturers may sell the shoddy products to cheat customers. Experts from Zhongneng Technology suggest client to choose proper products based on the following aspects:

Manufacturer Scale & Customer Feedback

Cooperated with the good quality management system, manufacturer scale is the guarantee of stable product quality. Plus, customer feedback of product quality and technical support is another crucial reference when choosing products.

Authority Test Certificate

Different country has the diverse authority test certificate of heat transfer fluid. For example, the industrial standard Heat Transfer Fluid GB 23971 in China stipulates the type, demand, test method and test regulation of fresh heat transfer fluid. According to the standard, newly developed, technical changed or with over 4-year production period product should pass the authority type test. And product quality test certificate, physical properties and safety service life provided by manufacturer should also be considered. 

Heat Transfer Fluid Types

On the Temperature Aspect: The allowable maximum temperature of heat transfer fluid should be at least 10˚C higher than the practical system operation temperature. It is suggested to use the biphenyl/diphenyl oxide fluid when the operation temperature is around 350℃~400℃ and use hydrogenated terphenyl, isopropyl biphenyl and diarylalkyl fluid when the operation temperature is among 300℃~350℃. If the operation temperature is under 300℃, the best choice is alkylbenzene and alkyl biphenyl fluid.

On the Operation Condition Aspect: The boiling point of fluid should be higher than its maximum operation temperature to satisfy the low demand of facility pressure resistance in liquid phase usage. It is suggested to use fluid with vapor pressure less than 300kPa such as biphenyl/diphenyl oxide fluid in gas phase usage. Besides, food grade fluid is the best choice for food manufacture and pharmaceutical production due to the non-toxic and odor free demands.

On the Operation Condition Aspect: It is better to use fluid with lower pour point and great low temperature fluidity if the system is located in cold areas. For locations where there are strict requirements for dangerous goods, non-flammable products should be selected.

Comprehensive consideration of fluid every property is essential when choosing heat transfer fluid. Fluid thermal stability means the ability of fluid thermal resistance. The contents of sulphur and chlorine represent fluid resistance to corrosion. Appearance, acid value and carbon residue of fluid means the depth of fluid refining. 

Instead of focusing on product prices, experts from Zhongneng Technology suggest clients to have the overall consideration when choosing heat transfer fluids. Hope the above suggestions may help you choose the proper fluid in system.