Thermal Conductivity or Specific Heat???

Hey guys. I was thinking about using a different kind of fluid to use in my up and coming WC build. Instead of using plain ol' distilled water with biocide, could I possibly use pure liquid ammonia? The specific heat of water is 4.179 J/g ˚C, while pure liquid ammonia has a specific heat of 4.75 J/g ˚C at 27˚C. However, the thermal conductivity for water is 0.58 while pure liquid ammonia is 0.521 at 20˚C. So which one would you guys still use?

Anything but water is a bad idea. Ammonia cannot be good for a pump, seals, tubing, etc.

The smell alone would be enough to throw almost anyone off of it, much less its lesser thermal capabilities. As previously stated, the unknown of what it would do to the seals and pump add to the stay away from it factor. If there was a universally better liquid to use other than water, don't you think that every Mhz chaser here would be plugging it. Water with a kill coil is a go to recommendation for everyone here for a reason. Why? Because it works. You will not find a better more practical liquid to use in any loop. If you want extreme cooling, move to extreme cooling. If you want custom loop cooling, move to custom loop cooling. If you want AIO cooling, stick to AIO's. Custom loops are nothing new, and have been experimented on since day one. Glean the knowledge of the others that have gone before you, and stick to what is proven. The time for innovation is long past.

I looked into this a few years ago, that is, I spec'd it out. Other members of OCF with industrial use of ammonia in their background said that it was simply too hazardous. Even small amounts are unhealthy which is a correct bit of advice. BUT, in a well sealed system made entirely of stainless steel materials the initial cost would exceed $1200 US. Not including shipping. And it would work well. And require constant maintenance and replacement parts.

The math is there for a more robust cooling solution using ammonia. That's why industries use it. I'd say stick with distilled water and silver wire, and call it a night.

Thanks. I was just curious because my chemist friend recommended it as an alternative to water. Lol.

Stay away. This stuff could be fatal. Distilled water and silver killcoil gets my vote.

I wouldn't trust your friends advice on mediums for watercooling again... yikes.

Haha...I know. I told him and we are now coming up with an idea to have a liquid nitrogen cooled rig. Lol. We're figuring out how to pump liquid nitrogen through a closed system and such.