De-icing materials: production, characteristics, tests

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The fight against ice in every city is given close attention. Modern de-icing materials are products that successfully cope with ice build-up and make the surface smooth, clean and safe for cars and pedestrians. The peculiarity of these materials is that they do not have a negative impact on the road surface.

How do they work?

Modern de-icing products work by absorbing moisture from ice. When filling various reagents, they fall into ice crystals and melt them. As a consequence, the brine that forms is much more resistant to very low temperatures. And this serves as a guarantee that ice will not appear.

Types and features

Modern anti-icing materials meet a number of requirements, which ensures their use on the roads:

1. They are safe for both the road surface and people, plants and animals.
2. They do not emit harmful substances that can accumulate in tissues, soil, air.
3. The products are effective, that is, a low concentration of these substances is enough for them to begin to instantly penetrate into the layerice.
4. They are easy to use: in most cases, de-icing materials are scattered or sprayed on the surface.

Key Features

Most of the chemicals used in de-icing consist of various s alts - chlorides, chlorates, hydrochlorides. Such mixtures are especially active at extreme temperatures, so they act quickly. Progressive materials are supplemented with anti-corrosion additives, biophilic components that improve soil quality, special accelerating additives and disintegrants. It is noteworthy, but some reagents, when completely dissolved, also contribute to the enrichment of the soil with useful substances.

Popular content

Modern manufacturers offer a wide range of materials that have a single principle of operation. De-icing reagents are widely used both in municipal and private households. Popular materials include:

1. Sand-s alt mixture. It is the most demanded material in winter, which is widely used in most settlements of Russia. The mixture contains river or quarry sand, which is mixed with technical s alt. This combination contributes to the rapid melting of ice. In some cases, corrosion inhibitors are added to this mixture so that the s alt does not attack asph alt or metal surfaces.
2. Calcium chloride. It's deicingthe product has good hygroscopic properties: once on the snow, it instantly reacts with it and releases a lot of heat. The use of this material contributes not only to melting ice, but also to improving the condition of the soil. The composition quickly and deeply penetrates the ice layer, melts it, leaving no traces on the asph alt surface.
3. Magnesium chloride. This chemical is considered a natural ice-breaker as it is mined in the environment.

Whatever anti-icing materials are chosen for cleaning the streets from snow and ice, they must meet several requirements:

• be environmentally friendly;
• spent in small amounts;
• affect the ice at high speed;
• be efficient.

Which companies offer quality reagents?

Zirax

The international company Zirax offers modern anti-icing materials that can easily cope with ice. The company manufactures solid and liquid reagents that are effective and easy to use. Among the solid reagents, the following products deserve attention:

1. Premelt. This material attracts with high efficiency and the ability to use at temperatures up to -32 degrees. It is advisable to treat them with roads, streets, parking lots, intra-quarter driveways.
2. Icemelt. These are multicomponent anti-icing reagents to which anti-corrosion agents are added. Components. Features long lasting, high melting power, efficiency, low application rates and uniform particle size distribution.

Liquid reagents from Zirax

The company also offers a liquid Premelt reagent, which can be used in wetting mode to ensure maximum anti-icing effect and reduce material loss. The essence of its application is as follows: a dry reagent is evenly wetted with a solution, which will already fall on the road. Wetting of this material provides:

• even distribution of moistened s alt over the surface;
• good road grip;
• fast processing effect;
• reduce material costs by up to 40%.

UZPM

A wide range of reagents is offered by the Ural plant of de-icing materials. Production is carried out with the participation of environmentalists, so that the funds meet all the requirements. The products of this plant (called "Bionord") are designed for the processing of sidewalks, lifts, bridges. The production takes into account all modern requirements for anti-icing materials. The factory offers to purchase several types of products:

1. “Bionord” is universal, to which friction components in the form of marble chips are added, which improves grip with the road surface. This composition does not disturb the soil.
2. "Bionord Bridges". This composition can be used for the treatment of bridges, overpasses, tunnels and other artificial structures. A well-thought-out composition serves as a guarantee that there will be no negative impact on concrete structures. When used, the mixture dissolves completely and does not accumulate in drains.

Tests of anti-icing materials are constantly carried out by this plant, which guarantees their compliance with existing norms and requirements.

Green Ride

Green Ride offers a new generation of environmentally friendly anti-icing compounds. Production is carried out on the basis of Bishofit. The company focuses on the fact that all reagents are safe and do not harm the natural balance. Environmental safety protects not only nature, but also the wheels of cars that come into contact with the treated surface. Today, many factories of anti-icing materials offer their products, which are made on the basis of "Bishofit". We offer an overview of the affordable compositions from Green Ride:

1. RockMelt S alt is a mix that breaks ice and snow effectively. It can also be used in farms where there are animals. When applying, you need to clean the surface, and then apply the reagent to it. It is absorbed for a certain time, then you can destroy the frost with a shovel and easily remove it.
2. RockMelt Mix is a granular compound that can be used on walkways, yards, sidewalks, tiles and stairs.
3. GreenRide. This reagent is completely ready for use, it does not contain additives and harmful impurities. With uniformdistribution over the surface quickly and efficiently cleans it. You can use this composition in any climatic conditions.

Regulations

In order for the materials produced for the fight against ice to meet the standards and requirements, the Federal Road Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation created the ODN of anti-icing materials - industry road standards. This document defines what materials and in what quantity can be used for the treatment of roads in the fight against winter ice. It lists the most popular materials that are effective in road treatment, and indicates the standards for their use. The same document also reflects the safety requirements, according to which the reagents must be non-toxic, environmentally friendly, so as not to have a negative impact on the environment. All modern plants must produce reagents in accordance with the standards that are given in the ODN.

Tests of road reagents play an important role. They are carried out on the basis of various methods and are aimed at revealing such indicators of materials as grain composition, moisture content, bulk density, crystallization temperature, melting ability and many other parameters. Methods for testing solids and liquids are different, which should be taken into account by manufacturers.

Instead of reagents - overlays

Modern road surfaces very often cannot cope with the load they have to withstand. Improve the quality of coverage, especiallyin winter, when roads are treated with various compounds, it is possible using anti-icing pads. They are coating fillers that retain reagents for a long time and release them automatically if there is a risk of icing. These pads prevent snow and ice from sticking to the road surface, resulting in better throughput and greater safety.