Mitsubishi Diesel Engine Technical Information: Coolant Additives

ITEM NO.
T54-0061-E (1/3)
MITSUBISHI DIESEL ENGINE
TECHNICAL INFORMATION DATE December, 1998
Coolant additives
In order to ensure that the engine cooling system be free from fouling trouble throughout the engine service
life, use of a non-amine type containing a rust inhibitor and high in stability and durability is recommended.
1. RECOMMENDED BRANDS OF ADDITIVE

(1) For the coolant to be used in MITSUBISHI diesel engines, these brands of non-amine type additives
are recommended:
1) DIAMOND DIESEL COOLANT
Distributed by MITSUBISHI PETROLEUM
2) FUSO DIESEL LONG LIFE COOLANT
Distributed by MITSUBISHI MOTORS
3) D-LLC No. 2000
Distributed by SANKO OIL
(2) Features of the recommended brands:

1) None of amines (methyl amines, ethyl amines n-propyl amines, etc., all being derivatives of
ammonia, NH3) are contained.
2) Silicate and borate too are not contained.
3) Close to neutral on the pH scale, and hence slightly basic (alkaline)
4) Balanced additive ingredients, some being substitute for amines.
5) Long life. (The coolant with 30% additive concentration, for typical example, retains its efficacy
for long, not less than 2 years.)
2. HOW TO USE THE NON-AMINE ADDITIVE

(1) The engine coolant with any of the recommended brands of Long Life Coolant (LLC) additives
should be changed at intervals of 2 years. Every 6 months during each interval, the coolant should
be analyzed to check the attrition loss of its LLC additive.
(2) The water to be used in the cooling system needs to be of good quality, meeting the T54-0040-E
Specifications.
First Edition : Dec.1998 Engine Engineering Department

Large Engine Design Section
Revision
Approved by Checked by Drawn by
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.

GENERAL MACHINERY & SPECIAL VEHICLE HEADQUATERS
ITEM NO. T54-0061-E (2/3)
(3) The recommended LLC additives are good for all seasons of the year, summer and winter inclusive.
• How much of the LLC additive to be given the water depends, primarily, on the lowest climatic
temperature expected. Aim at a level lower by 5°C than the expected lowest temperature. (if the
expected lowest temperature is -10°C, you should target -15°C and determine the per-cent
concentration of the LLC additive in the engine coolant.)
• The proper concentration is form 30% to 60% volume throughout the year. Remember, a con-
centration of less than 30% appreciably reduces the anti-rust and anti-corrosive-erosion power of
the LLC additive.
• A concentration in excess of 60% robs the coolant of its anti-freeze property and causes the
engine to easily overheat. Too much LLC additive is just as bad as too little LLC additive in the
coolant.
• During the normal service of the engine, you may have to fill in a makeup water. In such a case,
prepare a makeup coolant, whose LLC-additive concentration is equal to that of the coolant in the
circuit, and add this makeup coolant instead of the plain makeup water.
Additive concentration chart

Lowest expected -10°C -20°C -30°C -45°C
temperature (°C)
Concentration of LLC 30 40 50 60
additive (%)
3. WHY ADDITIVE?
(1) Basis of the need to give additives to cooling water
Drive for higher engine performance in the recent decades has brought about many changes toward
smaller and more lightweight engines, greater power output, lower fuel consumption and reduced
exhaust emissions. Engine application too has expanded, introducing engines into the areas of utility
power generation, as distinguished from standby service, co-generation and the like: in all these
areas, the engine coolant is compelled to withstand harsh service conditions, namely, continuous
high-power operation with higher coolant temperature and higher speed of recalculation in the
cooling circuit. Many materials involved in the circuit (such as steel, aluminum, copper, solder and
rubber) too are subjected to service. These materials notably differ in ionizing tendency and this
difference promotes corrosion, erosion and deterioration through the medium of engine coolant. The
job of breaking the link between cause and effect to preserve the circuit is undertaken by the
additives.
(2) How common additives work
The additive contains several chemical ingredients in such proportions as to produce the chemical
reactions that suppress corrosion of engine parts in contact with the coolant. “Corrosion” is but
another name of the result of an electrochemical phenomenon called atomic and molecular
“ionization.”
The power of the additive to defeat the ionizing reaction is generally subject to wear and, in the
engine coolant, becomes increasingly weak in time.

ITEM NO. T54-0061-E (3/3)
Moreover, if its ingredients are not well proportioned to match the circuit metals which they are
meant to protect, they become rapidly used up due to aging and allow some metals to precipitate
into the coolant or to form new commands which turn to rusty surface deposits. Some ingredients,
calculated to inhibit this “molecular eating-away or ionic reaction,” might accelerate, not retard, the
reaction of those metals that have already begun reacting.
For worse, the process of ionic reaction or corrosion will go on faster than when the coolant is
straight water having no additives, if there is no good match between the ingredient proportions and
the circuit metals. Here resides the major pitfall in the use of an additive in cooling water.
(3) Typical reported cases of circuit trouble for which the additive is blamed
Case 1: Amines are generally effective in suppressing the rusting of ferrous metals but are said to
be problematic for copper and cupric metals because of copper involvement in pittings
reported on Fe metals. The mechanism of Fe-surface pitting may be explained as that of
galvanic or local-cell action. Suppose a cluster of copper molecules precipitates out and
deposit itself on an surface of Fe, a base metal relative to copper; the copper deposit
introduces a localized galvanic cell which, by its ionic action, rapidly eats into the Fe
surface to result in a pit.
Example: Prechambers, cylinder liners (which are liable to develop pits also by “cavita-
tion” or molecular hammering), underside surface of cylinder head.
Case 2: A silicate (there are several types of silicate) is highly effective in protecting aluminum
against rusting. This compound of silicone is unstable in a solution whose pH is 9 or under:
it is prone to turn to gel and settle down in the solution. For this reason, the pH is usually
specified to be 10 or so. This means that the silicate has to be used in high-alkalinity
coolant. When the silicate is used up, the high alkalinity starts attacking aluminum.
Example: The mechanical seal of the water pump may rapidly wear down as the secondary
effect of silicate gel in the above context.
Case 3: As the additive as a whole deteriorates or when its concentration in the coolant is too low,
its anti-corrosion performance falls and consequently the circuit metals begin to corrode
than when the additive was active. Of those metals badly affected in such a condition, brass
and solder, the material used in the cores of heat exchangers, become particularly
victimized. The cause coolant leakage from and clogging of the coolant circuit in the
exchangers are usually traceable to such a malcondition of the coolant.
Example: Heat exchangers fitting the above description are radiators, air coolers, oil
coolers and the like.


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ITEM NO.

1. RECOMMENDED BRANDS OF ADDITIVE

(2) Features of the recommended brands:

2. HOW TO USE THE NON-AMINE ADDITIVE

First Edition : Dec.1998 Engine Engineering Department

Approved by Checked by Drawn by

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.

Additive concentration chart

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.

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