Plain salt (NaCl) brine is the dominant liquid used for road deicing and anti-icing due to its relatively low cost; and in many instances, it can be used without further modification. However, salt brine is also often blended with a variety of additives to enhance its performance at lower temperatures and in other ways. The commonly used additives include magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, organic-based performance enhancers, colorants, thickeners, and corrosion inhibitors. An understanding of the basic “chemistry” that occurs when different brines and additives are blended together can be a valuable complement to “real world” field experience and help guide, inform, and understand their production, application, and performance. To this end, this presentation will give an overview of what has been learned about brine blends under controlled conditions in the laboratory to shed light on topics including which brines are incompatible with each other, the cause of precipitate formation and how to avoid it, and how blending affects ice melting performance, “residual effect,” corrosiveness, cost effectiveness, and application rate at different temperatures.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be better able to:
• Determine when brine blends will be beneficial.
• Prepare stable brine blends and avoid precipitation problems.
• Calculate the ice melt cost effectiveness of brine blends.

Contributor/Source

Dr. Scott Koefod

Claim CEUs

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