interesting coolant stuff

[amalventano@sc.rr.com (Allyn)]

> So, that means your COOLANT is running 10-15 degrees cooler.  Which tells
me your
> COOLANT is not absorbing as much heat as it was before, which tells me
your engine is
> actually hotter.  Make sense?

erm, contrair...

q = mc (delta) t

q = heat input
m = flow of coolant
c = heat capacity of coolant
(delta) t = difference in coolant temp (between inlet and outlet)

if the engine makes the same heat rate (q constant)...
and the flow rate remains the same (m constant)...
and your outlet temp drops ((delta) t goes down)
therefore: c must go up, meaning the water wetter is slightly raising the
effective heat capacity of the coolant.

also of note is that since water wetter drops surface tension and bubble
size in the head, flow rate will actually go up as well (also reducing
(delta) t).

even simpler, it is well known (now, by me) that adding 50% glycol to a
scirocco results in a big rise in outlet temp. this is because 'c' drops
from 1.00 to ~0.75, resulting in the rise in (delta) t.

so to put it straight, lower outlet temp means more effective cooling is
taking place.

p.s. this same exact principle applies to reactors, which i operate for a
living.
Al

Allyn Malventano, ETC(SS), USN
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