Cleaning Your Coolant System

Now that the weather is turning warmer, it’s time to start thinking about cleaning your coolant systems to prepare them for next season. Dow’s NORKOOL™ Cleaner and Degreaser, when used in combination, are designed to remove all rust and scale from internal piping and equipment with ferrous and soft metal surfaces. System examples include but are not limited to cooling water systems on compressor engines, boiler systems, dehydration systems and line heaters.  

The nonhazardous formulations of the NORKOOL™ Cleaner and Degreaser will not cause damage or fatigue to piping or metal surfaces. Additionally, NORKOOL™ Cleaner and NORKOOL™ Degreaser will not harm most gasket materials. Unlike strong acids such as hydrochloric acid (HCl), the NORKOOL™ Cleaner and Degreaser removes unwanted deposits of scale and built-up corrosion products without jeopardizing the integrity of the metal. This prevents system cracking and consequent leaks, which can occur when the system is placed back in service. Additionally, most systems can be operated as normal during the cleaning cycle, thereby minimizing costly downtime.  

Whereas acids must be used in relatively high concentrations, NORKOOL™ Cleaner and NORKOOL™ Degreaser are added in small ratios with the balance of the fluid being only water; 10% NORKOOL™ Cleaner and 1% NORKOOL™ Degreaser per cleaning cycle is recommended. For example, a 1000-gallon system would only require 100 gallons of cleaner and 10 gallons of degreaser. Compared to acid cleanings, the cost of cleaning is much less and much safer. In addition, the spent product can be disposed of as nonhazardous waste, barring any hazardous residual contaminants. Most systems do not contain any hazardous products.  

NORKOOL™ Inhibitor 244 is used following the cleaning to ensure the system does not flash rust after cleaning. Fresh metal surfaces, when exposed to oxygen, can form a layer of rust. By adding 3% of the NORKOOL™ Inhibitor 244 in the final rinse the system is protected from forming a new layer of rust as the new coolant is added. This step is particularly critical to very large systems that can suffer delayed exposure to oxygen merely from the time necessary to refill the system.  While cleaning using NORKOOL™ products, system size and specific contaminations, such as oil leaks, can vary. For more information or recommendations for cleaning your system, please contact your Dow Representative for assistance.

Formulated Coolant solutions with patented anti-scaling technology combined with reliable additives help provide non-purified water tolerance that extend the service life of a system. Propylene glycol (PG) based NORKOOL™ coolants that are more environmentally friendly are also available. All Dow heat transfer fluids or coolants, are made using only new virgin glycols, made in our facilities, and are 99.99% pure. Recycled glycols are never used.