Ethylene glycol - a slightly oily viscous liquid, odorless.It is readily soluble in alcohols, water, acetone and turpentine.Ethylene is the basis for automotive antifreeze and household since it lowers the threshold for the freezing of water and aqueous solutions.An interesting fact is that even the frozen liquid is not cured, turning into ice, but just becomes loose.Furthermore, aqueous solutions of ethylene glycol does not expand and therefore do not damage the tubes and the radiator in the vehicle.
This material has a very high hygroscopic, ie absorbs water from the environment (air, various gases).The industrial production of ethylene glycol established in many chemical plants.It should be remembered that the substance is toxic, although it has a sweet taste.Therefore, the interaction with him to take precautions.Couples of the substance have not too much toxic and can pose a health risk only if they are inhaled duty.Ethylene glycol - a fuel connection.High concentrations of vapor in the air are explosive, but water-ethylene glycol mixture loses these properties.
Application
Ethylene glycol is used in various fields and industries: automotive, chemical, aviation, textile, electrical, oil and gas.One of the main applications of this material is the production of coolants and antifreeze.Due to the high demand for industrial production of ethylene has become enormous.This product can be used as a solvent for paints and varnishes.
Methods for producing ethylene glycol
procedure for the preparation of this material quite a lot, but for industrial production are not suitable for all of them.One of the most popular methods is preparation of ethylene glycol by means of oxidation with oxygen in the presence of the last of a silver catalyst, and then the subsequent hydration.However, demand is still another technique.Preparation of ethylene glycol by hydrolysis of ethylene.In both cases, the hydration reaction of ethylene oxide produced in the presence of catalysts and at elevated temperatures.In the literature, there is also a method in which the preparation of ethylene glycol is carried out by reacting water, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide.Glycolic acid obtained in the first step is subjected to esterification to give ester.Then, it is hydrogenated to ethylene glycol.This technique is used in the USA.
The resulting product is thoroughly clean, because even a small amount of external impurities adversely affect its properties.For example, in the presence of ethylene glycol in the composition of substances such as glycols and diethylene glycol, its thermal stability is significantly reduced.Therefore, the percentage of high quality products-party connections should be minimal.This is especially true of chlorine-containing compounds and aldehydes.Mass fraction of basic compound should be at least 99.5%.
