It is remarkable how much the performance of rock-deicing salt can be enhanced simply by making it wet. The value of pre-wetting has been thoroughly established based on many years of field experience. Wet salt adheres to the pavement better than dry salt, significantly reducing salt waste from bounce and scatter and permitting lower application rates. It is also clear from field experience that wet salt melts ice faster than dry salt, and faster ice melting contributes to improved performance at colder temperatures. It is very difficult to determine precisely how much pre-wetting increases the ice-melting speed of rock salt based on qualitative field observations alone, but laboratory techniques to do this are now available. This presentation will go over what is being learned about pre-wetted salt performance in the laboratory with respect to questions including whether the choice of prewetting brine or the use of performance-enhancing additives in salt brine makes a difference (i.e., does it matter what we wet the salt with or will some liquids accelerate salt ice melting more than others?), whether there is an optimum pre-wetting liquid application rate and how this relates to the practice of “slurry” or “shake and bake” pre-wetting, and the effect of traffic action on salt pre-wetted with different brines. The presentation will also touch on other aspects of pre-wetted salt use, such as factors influencing the leaching tendency of pre-treated, pre-wetted salt and its use in brine makers.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be better able to:
• Directionally optimize pre-wetting liquid application rates.
• Determine when alternative pre-wetting brines or brine blends will be beneficial.
• Prepare stable pre-treated, pre-wetted salt that will remain free-flowing and resist leaching.

Contributor/Source

Dr. Scott Koefod

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