About

News
Articles
Directory
Advertise
More...
Contact
Newsletters
Search
Books

Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
 Become a Member
Search
Menu

Adding Wax into Roads Concrete Mix

Would Help Melt Off Snow in
Environmentally-Friendly Way
Download PDF Copy

Published on September 15, 2017 at 4:56 AM

Written by AZoBuildSep 14 2017
A discovery made by the researchers from Drexel University could create roads that melt
off snow and ice during winter storms. This is possible by incorporating a minimal quantity
of paraffin wax to the roads concrete mix.
Researchers from Drexel, Purdue and Oregon State have discovered that adding phase change
materials, such as paraffin oil, to concrete can give surfaces the ability to melt ice and snow. The
discovery means that roads could one day be deiced and snow free without the use of road salts
and deicing chemicals. (Credit: Drexel University)

The research team headed by Yaghoob Farnam, PhD, an assistant professor in Drexels College
of Engineering explains how substances such as paraffin oil referred to as phase change
materials in chemistry can be applied in concrete to store energy and discharge it as heat
when a road requires a melt-off. The details can be found in a paper recently published in journal
Cement and Concrete Composites.

Keeping roads open to travel is a persistent challenge during winter period, but efforts to make
them safely drivable including the continual use of deicing chemicals, snow plows, and road
salt tend to weaken the surface. The road salts and chemicals presently used to melt ice and
snow can also have a deleterious environmental effect when surface runoff transports them into
adjacent ecosystems which is quite possible considering Pennsylvania State alone dumps over
900,000 tons of it on roads every winter. Therefore, for some time researchers have been keen to
find a better winter option than salting and plowing.

Farnams team in partnership with researchers from Purdue University and Oregon State
University, is among the first to show that using phase change materials as an environmentally
friendly alternative can be just as effective as the conventional salting and scraping techniques.

Phase change materials can be incorporated into concrete using porous lightweight
aggregate or embedded pipes and when PCM transforms from liquid to solid during
cooling events, it can release thermal heat that can be used to melt ice and snow. By
inhibiting the formation of ice and snow on the pavement or bridge surface, the use of
PCM may reduce or eliminate the need for deicing chemicals/salts, snowplowing or both
thus saving money and positively influencing the environmental impact of such
operations.

Farnam

Paraffin oil, a common ingredient used in cosmetics, wax polishes, candles, and water-proofing
compounds, was their material of choice for this attempt as it is chemically stable, organic, easily
available, and relatively inexpensive. Like all phase change materials, it emits thermal energy
when it changes its physical state, which means as temperatures decreases and the oil starts to
solidify it emits energy through latent heat of fusion. This means paraffin oil can be customized
to embed deicing capabilities in a road surface so that it turns thermally active during snowy
weather or when deicing is required.

Related Stories

Guide to BS EN 206 1 & BS8500 ( The new Concrete Standards )

New Reinforced Snow Gutter System from MBMI Metal Buildings
Determining Critical Snow Build Up and Removal Before Roof Collapse and Damage

To analyze its snow and ice-melting ability, the team built a set of concrete slabs one
containing paraffin-filled pipes inside, one with porous lightweight aggregate that had been
infused with paraffin, and a third sample slab without paraffin. Each was sealed in an insulated
container and then covered with approximately five inches of lab-made snow.
With temperatures within the boxes held between 35-44 F, both of the paraffin-treated slabs
were able to totally melt the snow within the first 25 hours of analysis, while the snow on the
reference sample stayed frozen. The slab with the paraffin-filled tubes melted the snow
marginally faster than the one made up of paraffin-treated aggregate. Farnam proposes that this
is due to the paraffin inside the tubes is able to solidify more rapidly thereby emitting its
energy because of the standard diameter of the pipes, while the diameter of the pores of the
aggregate differ in size.

But in the teams second trial, in which the ambient air temperature in the box was reduced to
freezing before the snow was put, the paraffin-treated aggregate was more effective than the
embedded pipes. This is because the capillary pore pressure slowed down the freezing of the
paraffin, thus allowing it to discharge its heat energy over an extended longer period of time.

The gradual heat release due to the different pore sizes in porous light-weight aggregate
is more beneficial in melting snow when concrete is exposed to variety of temperature
changes when snow melting or deicing is needed. We believe that using porous
lightweight aggregate can be potential way of incorporating phase change materials in
concrete as it is easy to be implemented in practice and can cover environmental
conditions of various locations in the US dealing with snow, especially melting snow or
deicing in roads and bridges in the Northeast.

Farnam

One of the first applications of this infrastructure technology could be at airports, where keeping
runways free of snow and ice is critical and a continuous challenge in the winter. This research
was supported by the Federal Aviation Administration as part of its Heated Airport Pavements
Project in its Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability
program.

Additional research is needed to further understand other factors influencing concrete

constructibility, including concrete fresh and hardened performance when the concrete
contains phase change materials, and the phase change materials thermal performance
in different locations in the U.S. Eventually this could be used to reduce the amount of
deicing chemicals we use or can be used as a new deicing method to improve the safety
of roads and bridges. But before it can be incorporated, we will need to better
understand how it affects durability of concrete pavement, skid resistance and long-term
stability.
 Farnam

Download PDF Copy

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a review, update or anything you would like to add to this news story?

Leave your feedback

Login

Public Comment

Private Feedback to AZoBuild.com

Submit

Trending Stories

1Adding Wax into Roads Concrete Mix Would Help Melt

Off Snow in Environmentally-Friendly Way

2Enhancing Safety, Structural Performance with New Wood

Technology, Materials and Science

3Research Unearths Water-Saving Nature of Cool Roofs

4Vivint Smart Home Joins with Philips Lighting to Provide

Seamless, Connected Lighting Experience

5Boxabl's Patented Shipping and Packing Technology to

Transform Construction Sector
 6OpenAire Begins Construction on Historic Plunge
Swimming Pool Transformation
Newsletters you may be interested in

3D Printing
(Preview)

ADD / ADHD
(Preview)

Thermal Analysis
(Preview)

See all Newsletters

<div style="display:none;">< img src="//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-44YZJYpg6LiCA.gif" border="0"
height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/>< /div> <div class="statcounter"><img class="statcounter"
src="//c.statcounter.com/2605074/0/8a3c1e33/1/" alt="web analytics"></div>

Other Sites from AZoNetwork

AZoM
AZoNano
AZoRobotics
AZoCleantech
AZoOptics

AZoMining
AZoSensors
AZoQuantum
News Medical
Life Sciences
Useful Links
News
Articles
Directory
Books
Product
Property

Process
About
The Team
Become a Member
Newsletters
Help/FAQs

Search
Contact
Advertise
Terms
Sitemap

back to top
 Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus

AZoBuild.com - An AZoNetwork Site

Owned and operated by AZoNetwork, 2000-2017
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more.
x