PEAK Commercial & Industrial clarifies coolant technology: The company notes that extended life coolants (ELC) or organic acid coolants (OAT) provide up to 8% better heat transfer versus conventional coolants. Conventional coolants or inorganic additive technology (IAT) coolants protect metal by creating a thick layer of insoluble metal inhibitor salts. OAT coolants specifically target corrosive sites,versus thickly coating, providing better heat transfer.
OAT inhibitors also deplete much slower than conventional (IAT) inhibitors. Generally, conventional coolants will require supplementation with the use of coolant additives.
SCAs every 25,000-miles/250 operating hours to ensure proper corrosion/cavitation protection.
ELCs are designed to last for at least 300,000 miles without any chemical supplementation, provided they are not diluted with additional water/conventional coolants beyond the manufacturer recommendation. The difference between suppliers is the formulas and how robust the formulas are. Some suppliers require supplementation at 300,000 miles with the use of extenders while one can last for 1,000,000-miles/20,000 hrs./eight years with no supplementation. Some can only handle 10% dilution, while one can handle up to 25%. PEAK said it recently unveiled OAT coolant test strips that will test organic levels providing fleets the ability to test their organic content periodically.
The on-highway standard coolant fill with most OEMs has been a NOAT, but due to global universal acceptance and environmental reasons, most OEMs are headed in the direction of OAT-nitrite free coolants. These technologies are the more robust and some are compatible with their NOAT counterparts, the company added.
