In every city they pay close attention to the fight against ice. Modern anti-icing materials are means that successfully cope with icy growths and make the surface smooth, clean and safe for cars and pedestrians. The peculiarity of these materials is that they do not adversely affect the road surface.
How do they work?
The principle of action of modern anti-icing products is to absorb moisture from ice. When backfilling various reagents, they fall into ice crystals and melt them. As a result, 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 application on the roads:
- They are safe for both road surfaces and people, plants and animals.
- They do not emit harmful substances that can accumulate in tissues, soil, air.
- The remedies are effective, that is, a low concentration of these substances is enough for them to immediately penetrate the ice layer.
- They are easy to use: in most cases, deicing materials are scattered or sprayed on the surface.
Main characteristics
Most of the reagents that are used in the fight against icing, consist of various salts - chlorides, chlorates, hydrochlorides. Such mixtures are especially active at extreme temperatures, and therefore act quickly. Progressive materials are supplemented with anti-corrosion additives, biophilic components that improve soil quality, special accelerating additives and leavening agents. It is noteworthy, but some reagents, when completely dissolved, also contribute to the enrichment of the soil with useful substances.
Popular materials
Modern manufacturers offer a wide selection of materials that have a single working principle. Deicing reagents are widely used in both municipal and private households. Among the popular materials include such as:
- Sand-salt mixture. It is the most popular material in winter, which is widely used in most settlements of Russia. The composition of the mixture is river or quarry sand, which is mixed with technical salt. This combination contributes to the rapid melting of ice. In some cases, corrosion inhibitors are added to this mixture , so that the salt does not affect asphalt or metal surfaces.
- Calcium chloride. This anti-icing product is characterized by good hygroscopic properties: once in the snow, it immediately reacts with it and releases a lot of heat. The use of this material contributes not only to the melting of ice, but also to improving the condition of the soil. The composition quickly and deeply penetrates the layer of ice, melts it, leaving no traces on the asphalt surface.
- Magnesium chloride. This reagent is considered a natural means to combat ice, as it is mined in the environment.
Whatever deicing materials are chosen for cleaning the streets from snow and ice, they must meet several requirements:
- be environmentally friendly;
- be spent in small quantities;
- impact ice at high speed;
- to be effective.
What companies offer to purchase high-quality reagents?
Zirax
The international company Zirax offers modern anti-icing materials that can easily cope with ice. The company is manufacturing solid and liquid reagents that are effective and easy to use. Among the solid reagents, the following products deserve attention:
- "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.
- Aismelt. These are multicomponent deicing reagents in which anticorrosive components are added. It is characterized by a long action, high melting ability, efficiency, low consumption rates and uniform particle size distribution.
Liquid reagents from Zirax
The company also offers Premelt liquid reagent, which can be used in the wetting mode to ensure maximum anti-icing effect and reduce material losses. The essence of its application is as follows: the solution is evenly wetted with a dry reagent, which will already get on the road. Thanks to the wetting of this material are provided:
- uniform distribution of wetted salt on the surface;
- good grip;
- quick processing effect;
- reduction of material costs up to 40%.
UZPM
A wide selection of reagents is offered by the Ural Plant of Deicing Materials. Production is carried out with the participation of environmentalists, so the product meets 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 plant offers to purchase several types of products:
- The Bionord is universal, in which friction components in the form of marble chips are added, which improves grip on the road surface. This composition does not violate the soil.
- Bionord Bridges. This composition can be used for processing 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 is completely dissolved and does not accumulate in drains.
Tests of deicing materials by this plant are carried out constantly, which guarantees their compliance with existing standards and requirements.
Green ride
The new generation of eco-friendly anti-icing compounds is offered by Green Ride. Production is based on Bischofite. 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 in contact with the treated surface. Today many factories of anti-icing materials offer their products, which are based on Bishofit. We offer an overview of affordable formulations from Green Ride:
- RockMelt Salt is a mixture that effectively copes with ice and snow. It can be used including in farms where there are animals. When applying, you need to clean the surface, and then apply a reagent to it. It is absorbed for a certain time, then you can destroy the ice with a shovel and easily remove it.
- RockMelt Mix is a granular compound that can be used to treat pedestrian areas, courtyards, sidewalks, tile floors and stairs.
- GreenRide This reagent is completely ready for use, it has no additives and harmful impurities. With uniform distribution over the surface, quickly and efficiently cleans it. You can use this composition in any climatic conditions.
Compliance
To ensure that materials produced for the fight against ice meet the standards and requirements, the Rosavtodor of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation created ONE anti-icing materials - industry road standards. This document determines what materials and in what quantity can be used for processing roads in the fight against winter ice. It lists the most popular materials that are effective in road processing, their application standards are indicated. The same document reflected 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 ONE.
An important role is played by tests of road reagents. They are carried out on the basis of various methods and are aimed at identifying such indicators of materials as grain composition, humidity, bulk density, crystallization temperature, melting ability and many other parameters. The test method for solid and liquid substances is different, which should be considered by manufacturers.
Instead of reagents - pads
Modern road surfaces very often can not cope with the load that they have to withstand. It is possible to improve the quality of the coating, especially in winter, when roads are treated with various compounds, using anti-icing linings. They are coating aggregates that hold reagents for a long time and automatically release them if there is a risk of icing. Thanks to such overlays, snow and ice will not stick to the road surface, therefore, the throughput will be better, and the level of safety is higher.