PAVEMENT HEATING - AUGUST 1971

TO DEVELOP MORE ECONOMICAL MEANS OF MELTING SNOW AND ICE BY PAVEMENT HEATING, A 3200 SQ FT EXPERIMENTAL HEATED PAVEMENT, DESIGNED TO UTILIZE LOW TEMPERATURE HEAT AVAILABLE IN THE EARTH, WAS CONSTRUCTED. HEAT WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE EARTH BY MEANS OF THREE HEAT EXCHANGERS EACH CONSISTING OF 2000 FEET OF 1 1/4" DIAMETER WROUGHT IRON PIPE BURIED 3 TO 13 FEET IN THE EARTH. BY MEANS OF A CIRCULATING ETHYLENE GLYCOL SOLUTION, HEAT WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE HEAT EXCHANGERS TO A GRID OF PIPES EMBEDDED IN THE TEST PAVEMENT. RESULTS OF OPERATION FOR THE WINTER OF 1970-1971 INDICATED BEST SNOW MELTING ON A SECTION OF THE TEST PAVEMENT CONTAINING 3/4" AND 1 1/4" WROUGHT IRON PIPES SPACED ON SIX INCH CENTERS. HEAT DISSIPATION ON THIS SECTION OF THE TEST PAVEMENT WAS APPROXIMATELY 100 BTU'S PER SQUARE FOOT OF SURFACE AREA PER HOUR, PRODUCING A SNOW MELTING RATE OF 1/2" PER HOUR PER SQUARE FOOT. DURING THE SUMMER OF 1970, THE HEAT TRANSFER CYCLE WAS REVERSED IN ORDER TO STORE HEAT IN THE EARTH FOR LATER USE DURING THE WINTER. SUMMER OPERATION RESULTED IN A MAXIMUM AVERAGE TEMPERATURE INCREASE OF 13 F IN THE EARTH OF THE TEST SITE ABOVE THE NORMAL EARTH TEMPERATURE. RAPID LOSS OF HEAT DURING THE FALL REDUCED THIS TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE TO 3 F BY MID-DECEMBER. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT STORAGE OF HEAT RESULTING FROM OPERATING THE SYSTEM DURING THE SUMMER. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/research/reports/FHWA-NJ-1972-001-7722.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  New Jersey Department of Transportation

  Division of Research and Demonstration, 1035 Parkway Avenue
  Trenton, NJ  United States  08625

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Winters, F
  • Sasor, S R
• Publication Date: 1972-8

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Heat exchangers; Heating (Structures); Melting; Pavements; Snow and ice control; Solar energy; Solar power generation
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218071
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: Rept No 72-001-7722
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 2 1972 12:00AM