Understand the Formulation of HFC Water-Glycol Fluids in 3 Minutes

What are HFC water glycol hydraulic fluids?

Non-flammable hydraulic fluid is a special hydraulic fluid medium that is non-flammable under high temperature or open flame environment, which is mainly used for industries with fire risks, such as metallurgy and die-casting.

The traditional mineral type hydraulic oil is easy to have fire risks once contacted with high-temperature surfaces or open flame, resulting in casualities and property damage.

 

Non-flammable hydraulic oil provide the key guarantee for industrial safety.

Among all the non-flammable hydraulic fluids, water-glycol non-flammable fluid has become the mainstream non-flammable hydraulic owing its excellent safety and economic prosperity and it's widely used in steel, coral, mechanical manufacturing.

What are the classifications of fire-resistant hydraulic fluids?

 

According to the ISO 12922 standard, fire-resistant hydraulic fluids can be mainly divided into two categories: water-containing fluids and synthetic fluids.

 

Water-containing fluids include oil-in-water emulsions (HFAE), chemical aqueous solutions (HFAS), water-in-oil emulsions (HFB), and polymer-containing aqueous solutions (HFC). Synthetic products primarily include phosphate ester types (HFDR) and fatty acid types (HFDU).

 

Why is HFC the mainstream hydraulic oil in metallurgy?

Water-glycol fire-resistant hydraulic fluids are water-containing, fire-resistant fluids. They offer superior lubrication compared to high-water-content fluids (HFA type) and better stability than emulsions (HFB type); they are less expensive than anhydrous synthetic fluids such as phosphate esters (HFD type) while providing better fire resistance than mineral oil-based hydraulic fluids.

 

HFDR type: Although phosphate ester synthetic fluids perform well, they tend to decompose at high temperatures, releasing toxic substances that are detrimental to health and the environment.

 

HFDU type: Synthetic ester products offer excellent overall performance and can serve as substitutes for other products, though they come at a higher cost.

 

The advantages of HFC hydraulic oil

 

Non-flammability:

Owing to the large amount of water (35%-50%), When exposed to high temperatures or flames, the water evaporates and absorbs a large amount of heat, forming a vapor layer that excludes oxygen; this effectively inhibits combustion, meeting safety requirements for high-risk fire environments.

 

Resistant to hydrolysis: polyakylene glycols (PAGs) possess a stable molecular structure and are resistant to hydrolysis; furthermore, as the water-based system itself is insensitive to moisture, it effectively avoids the issues of emulsification and degradation caused by water ingress in oil-based fluids.

 

High viscosity index: polyakylene glycols (PAGs) thickeners have a high viscosity index, making the HFC hydraulic oil has a small viscosity change with the temperature change, which can not only guarantee the lubricity under high temperatures but also keep suitable liquidity underlow temperatures.

 

Besides, HFC non-flammable hydraulic oil also has the advantages of long life span, low price, and high stability and low temperature liquidity.

 

What's the cost difference of HFC hydraulic oil under different formulations?

 

Water-glycol hydraulic oil is mainly composed of water, glycol (or their homologues), water soluble polymer and other functional additives such as anti-wear additives, rust preventive inhibitors, metal derivatives and anti-foam additives. The common water content is at 38-43%.

Owing to the price of water and glycol being relatively transparent, the core composition of HFC hydraulic oil, water soluble PAG thickener that influence the dosage, performance and cost.

 

Considering the additive package, it is essential to ensure it passes hydraulic pump bench tests. The high-end formulations typically utilize decanoic acid, dimethylethanolamine, or diethylethanolamine.

 

Although the low-end solutions are cost-effective, it's often difficult to guarantee the pass rate in these tests.

 

Chorus offers high-molecular-weight water-soluble PAGs that are suitable not only for HFC fire-resistant hydraulic fluids but also for metal quenching and metalworking applications. Thanks to their excellent lubricity and high viscosity, our water-soluble polyethers are widely used in metalworking and fire-resistant hydraulic fluids.

 

Chorus can also provide high-molecular-weight polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) in various viscosities, including 75W-18000, 75W-23000, 75W-55000, and 75W-75000.

 

Chorus is a professional lubricant additive manufacture in China, we can provide you with different viscosities HFC non-flammable hydraulic oil and HFDu esters type hydraulic oil and other functional additives.

 

Contact us and get the latest information and price.