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Subject:Re: About coolant
From:Jim Arnott
Date:Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:20:09 -0800

Short answer: yes. Water transfer heat better than glycol.

Longer answer: When I worked in aerospace about a century ago, one of
my first assignments was process control for the heat treat area.  We
solution heat treated a bunch of aluminum.  (Solution heat treat: <http://www.azom.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=2540
 > This was done to soften the material for forming.  To reduce
residual stress, we used a quenchant of 20% polyalkalene glycol.  This
provided a slower quench than water.  Quenching in water would have
resulted in much more residual stress and distortion. Slower quench =
slower heat transfer.

Numbers here:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethylene-glycol-d_146.html
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/overall-heat-transfer-coefficients-d_284.html

Water is about 14% more efficient at 220 deg F.

Jim