Science: NS Fluid

One advantage of the hot water heating system over steam and hot air systems is that hot water retains its heat longer than do steam or air. Hot liquids in general are better storers of heat than are vapors or gases. But it is difficult to raise the temperatures of liquids to very high, useful heats. Chemical engineers obtain controlled temperatures of about 900° F. with an organic substance, diphenyl. Highest degree to which water can go and remain water is 698° F. Its pressure against pipes is then almost 2,900 lb. per sq. in. This difficulty gives value to a new fluid which Dr. Arthur Dehon Little, Boston chemist, discovered in Germany and reported last week. “NS fluid” is the cryptic name of the substance. Basically it is a mixture of metallic chlorides—sodium chloride (table salt), anhydrous aluminum chloride and ferric chloride. The mixture turns to liquid at 302° F. and flows as freely as water. At 1,500° F. it is still liquid. Apart from its high heat capacity, “NS fluid” does not corrode iron or other ordinary metals and does not decompose while in a closed heating system. Its expansion is limited. It can be melted and resolidified in glass tubes without breaking them. One Ernst Sander owns the German patent on “NS fluid.” The stuff can be made and sold cheaply. Dr. Little thinks that “NS fluid” or materials like it “offer interesting possibilities for new types of domestic heating.”