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PC Water Coolant Chemistry - Part I

BY ADMIN ON MARCH 29, 2004

Detailed look at which water to use for watercooling – RoboTech (Lee Garbutt)

Author’s note: I would like to dedicate this article to Brian Smith (Brians256 at ProCooling.com) and his wife Heather
and their four small children. If you nd this article useful and have the means to make a donation to help Brian’s
family with medical expenses, please do so. You can nd updated information regarding Heather’s condition HERE.
Brian’s PayPal address is: Brian_Smith@cmicro.com

Here is a brief outline of the topics discussed in this two-part article.

PC Water Coolant Chemistry – Part I

Physical, Thermal and Chemical Properties of Water

Types of Water (tap, bottled, distilled, DI, etc.)

I’ll discuss Part II in a few weeks:

PC Water Coolant Chemistry – Part II

General and Galvanic Corrosion

Water Additives (surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, antifreeze, biocides, etc.)

Maintenance

Basic Coolant Mixtures

Summary

Water is unique. Over two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and life as we know it could not exist without it.
Depending on its temperature, water can exist as a solid, liquid or gas. Water has unique physical, thermal and chemical
properties that also make it an excellent coolant for use in PC water-cooling systems. No other substance can provide all of
the advantages and bene ts o ered by plain old water.

By far, the majority of PC cooling applications rely on air-cooling. But water is much better at transferring and transporting
heat than air is. This means a relatively small amount of water can transport a large amount of heat.

Advantages of using water as a coolant:

Plentiful and inexpensive

 Liquid at room temperature

Low viscosity

Non-toxic and odder less

Good thermal conductivity (for a liquid)

Unusually high speci c heat (for any material)

The main components used in a basic PC water-cooling system include a pump, waterblock and radiator. Various lengths of
tubing and ttings connect these components together and one or more fans may be used to blow air thru the radiator.
Water is the uid medium used to transport heat from one location to another and is the most commonly used coolant.

The pump circulates water thru the system and in the process moves heat from one location to another. The waterblock’s
job is to transfer heat out of the processor and into the water while the radiator transfers heat out of the water and into the
air. Water is particularly well suited for the task of transporting heat. Additional bene ts of a water-cooling system include
the large heat transfer surface area provided by the radiator and the potential for more e ective cooling with less noise than
a comparable air-cooled system.

The following picture illustrates a basic PC water-cooling system (compliments of SCompRacer).

CONTINUED page 2…

Physical, Thermal and Chemical Properties of Water

Many of water’s common attributes we take for granted, like availability and user friendliness. However, it is water’s low
viscosity and unique thermal abilities to conduct and absorb heat that makes it such a good heat transfer uid for use in PC
water-cooling systems. In addition, the pH and conductivity of water are also important. Let’s take a closer look at these
properties and compare them with other common materials used in cooling.

Viscosity

Viscosity is a physical property that de nes a uids resistance to ow. Fluids with high viscosity have a high resistance to
ow – like honey or mineral oil. Water has a relatively low viscosity so it ows easily, even when cold. This means the pump
in a PC water-cooling system will have a much easier time pumping low viscosity water than a thicker, viscous uid, which
translates to higher ow rates and potentially better cooling. Coolant viscosity also a ects convective heat transfer
(boundary layer thickness and ow velocity) in the waterblock and radiator.

Viscosity is inversely proportional to temperature. This means as the temperature of most materials goes down, the viscosity
will go up (become thicker). Adding a very small amount of surfactant (soap or detergent) to the water can also decrease
viscosity. This happens because surfactants lower the surface tension of water, which slightly weakens the intermolecular
bonding between water molecules.

The following table lists the dynamic viscosity of several common uids (measured in Centipoise) used in PC cooling systems.
Automotive antifreeze (ethylene glycol) is a lot more viscous than water. While there may be reasons to add a small amount
of antifreeze to a PC water-cooling system, one disadvantage is that it will increase the coolant’s viscosity, resulting in lower
overall system ow rates.

Adding Methanol on the other hand will actually decrease the water based coolant’s viscosity. Methanol is sometimes used
in systems employing active cooling to keep the water from freezing when temperatures fall below 0 C (32 F).

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Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity is a measure of how well a certain material can conduct heat. The conduction of heat occurs inside a
material when kinetic energy is transferred from one molecule to another by numerous collisions. Metals are especially
good conductors of heat due to an abundance of free electrons (these same free electrons are also responsible for
conducting electric currents).

Thermal conductivity is important in a PC water-cooling system because it de nes the various heat conducting material’s
(copper, aluminum, water, air) ability to transfer heat from one adjacent area to another. Conduction requires direct physical
contact between molecules. As heat ows thru the various materials a slight di erential temperature will always exist from
one side (heat in) to the other (heat out). The higher the thermal conductivity is for a particular material, the lower the
di erential temperature will be across that material as heat ows thru it. Minimizing these di erential temperatures related
to thermal conductivity will help maximize cooling.

As we can see in the following table, water may not be as good at conducting heat as are metals, but it is better than most
liquids and more than 22 times better at conducting heat than air.

Some day in the not too distant future, I expect to see two-dimensional silicon based semiconductors give way to three-
dimensional diamond hybrid semiconductors, due to diamonds high thermal conductivity and optical properties… 🙂

Speci c Heat

The speci c heat (or heat capacity) of a material describes that materials ability to absorb heat. Heat capacity de nes the
amount of heat required to raise a certain mass of material one degree in temperature. Water has one of the highest heat
capacities of any known material. A kilogram of water can hold 4 times more heat than an equivalent mass of air and almost
11 times more heat than an equivalent mass of copper!

Because water has such a high speci c heat value, a relatively small amount of water can transport a large amount of heat.
This helps keep the overall size of a water-cooling system small and allows for relatively low ow rates.
 pH

The term pH comes from Pourvoir Hydrogene, which is French for “power of hydrogen”.

pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline (basic) a solution is. The common pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 (0 being extremely
acidic, 7 being neutral, and 14 being extremely alkaline). The pH value is based on measuring the relative hydrogen ion
concentration (actually the hydrogen ion activity) in a solution. The greater the concentration/activity of hydrogen ions (H+)
the more acidic the solution and the lower the pH will be.

pH = -log Hydrogen Ion Activity (commonly expressed as pH = -log [H+] )

Higher concentrations of hydrogen ions (acidic solutions) promote oxidation (corrosion). In a PC water-cooling system we
generally want the pH to be on the alkaline side to help minimize corrosion. pH values between 8 and 10 are typically
desirable. If aluminum components are being used then a pH not exceeding 8.5 should ideally be maintained to preserve
the very thin protective oxide layer that naturally forms on aluminum surfaces.

Maintaining a mildly alkaline pH will also help retard the growth of biological organisms, as most bacteria, algae, and fungi
prefer slightly acidic growing environments.

Scale
High quality automotive antifreeze and corrosion inhibitors contain pH bu ers, which will help maintain an alkaline pH and
prevent the coolant from becoming acidic. Over time, these bu ers may be used up resulting in the coolant water pH
becoming acidic.

The pH value of a solution can be measured in several ways. In the lab, a pH meter can obtain very accurate readings. For
our purposes though, simple pH indicator strips will provide useful readings at a minimal cost.

{mospagebreak}
pH indicator strips are available at many pharmacies and stores selling swimming pool supplies. To measure the pH of the
coolant in your PC water-cooling system, just dip a pH indicator strip into the reservoir or drain a few drops of water from
the system to wet the strip. Specially treated blocks on the strip will change color according to the pH measured.

Here are a few real-world examples of the pH values for common water and additive combinations used in PC water-cooling
systems. (Beckman F340 pH meter)

*Antifreeze – Prestone (Ethylene Glycol)

**Clorox liquid bleach – 2 Teaspoons bleach (6% Sodium Hypochlorite) in 1 quart water

Notice that distilled water is slightly acidic. This is because distilled water dissolves carbon dioxide from the air forming a
weak carbonic acid solution.

Over time, the water in a typical water-cooled PC will slowly become acidic. The pH bu ers in water additives (antifreeze,
Water Wetter, etc.) will become depleted and periodically need to be replaced. We’ll talk about ushing and re lling later on
in the Maintenance section.

Conductivity

Conductivity is the ability of a material (in our case water) to conduct an electric current. It is the inverse of resistivity.
Conductivity is generally the most important criteria used to determine water quality or purity. It determines the total ionic
concentration (dissolved solids) of a solution.

Ultra pure water is actually a poor electrical conductor. It’s all the substances (or salts) that are dissolved in water which
determine how conductive the solution will be. Therefore, conductivity can be an excellent indicator of water quality. In
general, the more impurities and contaminants dissolved in the water, the higher the conductivity.

The conductivity of a solution can be found by placing two electrodes of known size into a liquid and measuring the current
ow with an applied voltage. Conductivity meters are routinely used to accurately measure the conductivity of solutions.
The basic unit of conductivity is the Siemens (S), previously called the mho, and is generally expressed in micro Siemens per
centimeter (uS/cm). The resistance of pure water (the inverse of conductivity) is measured in Megohm-centimeter (MO.cm @
25ºC). Very pure water will have a relatively low conductivity and a high resistivity. Conductivity meter probes or cells, are
standardized (using a cell constant) to compensate for variations in electrode dimensions.

We will use conductivity as a basic measure of water quality at the end of the next section when we compare the various
types of water available and evaluate their suitability for use in PC water-cooling systems.

Types of Water

There are many di erent types of naturally occurring water (sea water, rain water, ground water) and also many di erent
types of processed water (drinking water, bottled water, de-ionized water, etc). In this section we will take a look at several
di erent types of water and evaluate each for use in a PC water-cooling system.

Tap water

Distilled water

Bottled water

De-Ionized water

Other weird stu

Tap Water (drinking water, potable water)

Plain old tap water (also referred to as drinking water or potable water) is an obvious choice for lling a PC water-cooling
system. It’s readily accessible (most likely to anyone with a computer) and essentially free. The down side of using tap water
is that it may contain signi cant quantities of dissolved minerals, microorganisms and other impurities.
Geographical location, source and water treatment processes all play a big role in determining how pure your local tap water
will be. Many areas are known to have hard water, which just means there is a higher than normal concentration of
dissolved minerals (particularly calcium, magnesium and iron). Most tap water contains small quantities of microorganisms
(algae, fungi and bacteria).

In the short term (days ~ weeks) using tap water will probably not cause any adverse a ects on the components in your
water-cooling system. But in the long term (weeks ~ months) you may see problems develop that will result in decreased
cooling and in extreme cases, total cooling system failure.

Dissolved minerals may precipitate out of solution and/or combine with other materials in the system to coat wetted heat
transfer surfaces. The pH of tap water is typically acidic and will accelerate corrosion processes. Trace quantities of various
biological organisms may ourish inside the cooling system, eventually growing enough to foul internal surfaces and reduce
heat transfer. In extreme cases, severe corrosion or massive microorganism growth can completely block o ow and cause
a total water-cooling system failure.

Recommendation: In general, I do not recommend using tap water to ll a PC water-cooling system.

{mospagebreak}

Distilled Water

Distilled water is water that has been heated to the boiling point in an apparatus called a still to produce water vapor, which
is then condensed back into liquid water. Most of the impurities will remain in the boiling pot. The distillation process
removes waterborne biological contaminants, organic and inorganic chemicals, heavy metals, volatile gases and other
contaminants. Some volatile contaminants may be carried over if they have a similar boiling point as water.

Distilled water is one of the purest forms of water. Distillation is frequently used in the nal stages of producing ultra pure
water for use by semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries.

One of the best sources for obtaining distilled water is the grocery store. Check out the bottled water isle and look for water
that is speci cally labeled Distilled Water (steam distilled). Several other water treatment processes may be used to treat the
water before and after distillation. These may include softening, pre- ltering, Reverse Osmosis (RO) ltration, activated
carbon ltration and exposure to uV light or ozone gas. Read the ne print on the container label – in general, the more
water treatment processes listed, the better.
Distilled water is inexpensive, normally selling for less than $1.00 US for a gallon.

Recommendation: I highly recommend using steam-distilled water as the primary coolant.

Bottled Water

There are many di erent types of bottled water available. Bottled water that has gone thru several di erent stages of water
treatment and is essentially pure water is generally good for use in PC water-cooling systems. Some bottled waters have
minerals and/or avorings added and these are not well suited for use as a coolant.

Spring water should generally be avoided because it may contain high concentrations of minerals. Carbonated waters
should also not be used as they contain carbonic acid and are therefore acidic.

One of the most popular brands of bottled water for use in PC water-cooling systems is Aqua na. As it turns out, Aqua na is
an excellent source of relatively pure water. Pepsi uses both reverse osmosis and carbon ltration to produce their Aqua na
brand of puri ed drinking water.

In general, most brands of puri ed drinking water will be OK to use in your PC water-cooling system. Just make sure it’s only
puri ed water without any minerals, carbonation or avorings added. Read the labels to be sure. Purchasing several bottles
of puri ed drinking water will typically be more expensive than just buying a gallon of distilled water.

Recommendation: OK to use puri ed drinking water as long as it does not contain minerals or other additives or
impurities.

{mospagebreak}

De-Ionized Water (Demineralized Water)

In the context of PC water-cooling we can consider de-ionized water and demineralized water to be essentially the same.
When minerals dissolve in water they produce ions – so removing ions removes minerals. De-ionized water (DI water) is
water that has had most of the dissolved solids and minerals removed. In general, the more of these ionized substances that
can be removed, the purer the water will be.

There are two principal processes used to de-ionize water: reverse osmosis and ion exchangers. They can be used
individually or combined depending on the volume and purity of the water being produced. Either of these two processes
may be followed by activated carbon ltration and exposure to high intensity uV light. In some cases, ozone may be used
instead of uV light.

Reverse osmosis (RO) – utilizes a membrane under pressure to separate relatively pure water from a less pure solution
 Ion exchanger – process that incorporates specially designed ion exchange resins to remove ionized substances and
some particulate matter from the water

Activated carbon ltration – used to remove dissolved organics

Ultra-Violet (uV) light – kill microorganisms and break down organic compounds

Reverse osmosis is a process that uses a special membrane (cellulose acetate) under pressure (50 to 1,000 PSI) to separate
the relatively pure water being produced from less pure feed water. The RO process operates at comparatively low
temperatures and is relatively energy e cient. The greater the charge and the larger the particles, the more likely the RO
membrane will lter them out. Reverse osmosis is the nest ltration process known, functioning down to the sub-molecular
level.

Normally when a semi permeable membrane separates two uids with di erent concentrations of dissolved solids, osmotic
pressure will cause uid to ow thru the membrane from the area of low concentration into the area of high concentration.
However, if pressure is applied to overcome the osmotic pressure, the uid ow can be reversed, causing ow to occur from
the area of high concentration into the area of low concentration – reverse osmosis! The RO membrane lters out dissolved
solids, organic materials, oils, and ne particulates including bacteria and viruses.

US Filter Reverse Osmosis (RO) Unit

Reverse osmosis can remove up to ~98% of the dissolved solids in water and is frequently used as a pre-treatment process
prior to ion exchange and/or steam distillation.

The ion exchange process incorporates di erent types of resin beads that selectively remove ionized impurities based on
their charge. Resins are formulated with either a positive (+) or negative (-) charge to capture the ionized impurities in water.
Some particulate matter may be ltered out in the resin bed but ion exchangers primarily utilize an electro-chemical process
rather than mechanical ltration to remove dissolved solids.

Many common, low volume ion exchangers use one or more columns of mixed resins, which must be replaced periodically
as the resin beads become saturated with impurities. These are typically used in bench top pure water systems along with
uV light and activated carbon lters. The water puri cation system shown in the following picture can produce analytical
grade, ultra pure water with a conductivity of 18.2 MO.cm.

Millipore Corp. Milli-Q Water Puri cation System

Ion exchangers used in high volume industrial applications generally use a process called continuous de-ionization (CDI),
which uses a high-voltage power supply to regenerate the resins to greatly extend their useful life.

Ion exchangers can remove >99% of the dissolved solids in water and are frequently used as a nal treatment process after
reverse osmosis in DI water systems.

Activated carbon lters utilize charcoal that has been activated to increase the exposed surface area of the charcoal
particles. Activated carbon is ideal for adsorbing organic, non-polar and halogenated substances that might not be ltered
out by RO or the ion exchange processes. Charcoal lters remove oils, aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorine and other
substances that often give water a bad taste or odor.

Ultra-violet light is used not only to kill stray microorganisms that might be oating around in the water, but it also helps
break down neutral organic compounds that can then be removed by de-ionization.

For all of the good things de-ionized and demineralized water have to o er, they have a couple drawbacks as well. Unless
you happen to have access to a chemistry lab, DI water may be harder to nd and is usually more expensive than distilled
water.

Another potential concern is that DI water is more corrosive to metal parts than plain old ionized water. It takes a lot of
e ort and energy to remove the majority of ions from water. Water desires these ions back and will aggressively take them
from any available source. Some people will tell you to never use DI water in a PC water-cooling system. Like most things in
life, moderation is the key! If you use DI water to occasionally ll your cooling system, the water will immediately strip ions
away from the surfaces of all wetted metals. But, no measurable damage will occur. You would have to continuously ll and
drain your system 24/7 for weeks before you might see your waterblock or radiator starting to dissolve. Truly pure, DI water
doesn’t stay de-ionized very long when exposed to air and poured thru various containers.

Recommendation: Using DI water is OK but it o ers no advantages over distilled water.

Other Weird Stu (Windshield wiper uid, Booze, etc.)

It’s amazing to me what some people will put into their PC water-cooling systems – if it’s a liquid, somebody, somewhere has
probably tried it. Beer, whiskey, windshield wiper uid, you name it! The saving grace for many of these uids is they usually
contain mostly water.

The down side is that they also contain other less desirable substances (sugars, proteins, dyes) that degrade water’s natural
ability to conduct and transport heat. In some cases they might even contain substances that can harm plastic components,
seals and tubing.

Most commercial windshield wiper uids are primarily water and methanol (33%). By itself this could be OK, especially if you
need freeze protection for a chill water system operating below the freezing point of water (but still not as good as straight
water). However windshield wiper uid also contains various solvents, surfactants and dyes that don’t help in the cooling
process and in fact may hamper it.

Recommendation: Don’t do it.

{mospagebreak}

Various Types of Water Compared

Ok, that was a lot of theory and tech talk about the various types of water that can be used in a PC water-cooling system.
Now, let’s take a practical look at how one type of water compares to another. As mentioned earlier, conductivity is the most
widely used measurement of water purity.
I used a VWR (Control Company) model 61161-362 bench conductivity meter and a Beckman F340 pH meter to take
measurements. The following table lists the conductivity (along with temperature and pH) for various water types.

As you can see, based solely on conductivity, plain old grocery store distilled water is an excellent source of pure water for
lling PC water-cooling systems. For less than $1.00/Gal US, the purity comes close to DI water and is far superior to tap
water and most bottled waters. Aqua na is one of the best bottled waters available – but still not quite as good as distilled
and it costs more.

Notice the large variation between conductivity readings of the ve bottled waters sampled. As you might expect, most
spring waters have a higher conductivity due their natural mineral content. Some bottled waters intentionally add minerals
for taste and/or health reasons.

Bottom line: Read the labels: look for water that has been RO ltered, steam distilled and ozone treated 🙂

This concludes the rst part of this two part article on PC water coolant chemistry. I hope you have found the information
presented here interesting and useful. Please watch for Part II where we will take a closer look at corrosion and the wide
variety of additives that are available to help minimize corrosion, retard microorganism growth, and promote more e cient
cooling. We’ll nish up with some thoughts and recommendations for maintaining your water-cooling system.

Author’s note: I would like to dedicate this article to Brian Smith (Brians256 at ProCooling.com) and his wife Heather
and their four small children. If you found this article useful and have the means to make a donation to help Brian’s
family with medical expenses, please do so. You can nd updated information regarding Heather’s condition HERE.
Brian’s PayPal address is: Brian_Smith@cmicro.com

Thank you,
 RoboTech – aka Lee Garbutt

Related Posts:
1. PC Water Coolant Chemistry - Part II

2. Multi-Hole Drilled Water Block - Part of the Continuing Saga of the 'Shade Tree' Machinist

3. Coolant/Fluid Roundup - Thermal Performance

4. Water Cooling Tips

5. The White Water by Little River Water Blocks

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