What kind of thermal fluid should you use for your reactor jacket?

With regard to choosing heating and cooling fluids, here are some best practices that you can follow to help offset corrosion:

• Water should be treated to remove impurities and should contain a corrosive inhibitor.
• Brine may be used for cooling, but must be kept at a neutral pH (the recommended brine concentrations should have a specific gravity of 1.2 and a pH of 8.0 – 8.5). Sodium dichromate in the amount of 1 lb/100 gal should be added.
• Never use brine alternately with steam or hot water. This can result in a highly corrosive condition.
• Ammonia, glycerol, ethylene glycol, etc., may be used as alternate coolants or heat transfer fluids
• Never use ammonia alternatively with steam or hot water
• Some coolants may decompose to acid component when exposed to heat/steam, leading to corrosion of both the vessel and jacket steel. This type of attack could potentially cause a glass lining failure due to nascent hydrogen dispersion.