- Author
- Brown, P. W. | Rossiter, W. J., Jr. | Galuk, K. G.
- Title
- Mass Spectrometric Investigation of the Thermal Oxidative Reactivity of Ethylene Glycol.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Solar Energy Materials, Vol. 13, 197-202, 1986
- Keywords
- ethylene glycol | mass spectrometric | thermal oxidation | temperature | tubes | copper | metals | oxygen | carbon dioxide | heating | degradation | oxygen consumption | free radicals
- Identifiers
- ethylene glycol based heat transfer liquids
- Abstract
- The thermal oxidative stability of ethylene glycol was investigated over the temperature range of 100-126°C. Aqueous ethylene glycol solutions were heated in sealed tubes in the presence of metalIic copper and without metal. Mass spectrometric analysis was used to determine the rates of O2 consumption and CO2 evolution during heating. Copper had a catalytic effect of the glycol degradation. It was found that the rate limiting step in the thermal oxidative process was not related to oxygen consumption, suggesting that the rate limiting step involved the formation of a free radical which subsequently reacts with 02. The evolution of CO2 continued to occur after total consumption of the 02. This suggested that the CO2 is evolved from one of the thermal oxidation products of ethylene glycol.