ALTERNATIVE HIGHWAY DEICING CHEMICALS

Abstract

A search has been made for road deicing chemicals to replace sodium chloride (NaCl). The impetus for this search stems from the numerous drawbacks associated with the prevalent use of NaCl as a road deicer. All types of chemical compounds were reviewed. Selections were made on the basis of criteria such as water solubility and freezing point lowering, corrosion, toxicity, relative cost or cost potential, effect on soils and plants and water supplies, flammability, concrete compatibility, traction, friction, highway performance, etc. Information was sought first in the literature, then supplemented or verified in the laboratory as needed. Two candidate deicers were found to be as effective as sodium chloride. One, methanol, reacts almost immediately upon contact with snow and ice but is less persistent than NaC1. The other candidate, calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), acts at about the same rate as NaC1 in the temperature range of common activity and shows about the same persistence.