189k views
3 votes
How would you separate water from antifreeze?

User Khanmizan
by
8.2k points

1 Answer

7 votes
Not a chance, you could only remove sediment. The ethylene glycol is in solution.

For recycling antifreeze (at the higher concentrations normally used), the solution is first highly filtered & then partially fractionally distilled (ethylene glycol has a boiling point 196-198°C, so the excess water can be boiled off). This would take an enormous amount of energy in your case, however.

For trace amounts, a chemical or electrochemical oxidation oxidation method could be used to destroy the molecule all the way to H2O & CO2. You could consider ozone, electrocoagulation, etc., which will get rid of other impurities as well.

Probably, your most economical solution is ultrafiltration or RO.
User Grysik
by
8.0k points