ICE DUSTING EXPERIMENTS TO INCREASE ICE MELTING RATE

THE SNOW AND ICE SECTION OF THE DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH HAS UNDERTAKEN A STUDY OF THE USE OF DUST TO ACCELERATE THE MELTING OF ICE COVERS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF CANADA. THE OBJECTIVE IN APPLYING A THIN LAYER OF SUITABLE DUST TO SNOW OR ICE COVERS WAS TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SHORTWAVE RADIATION REFLECTED FROM THE SURFACE AND THUS INCREASE THE HEAT ABSORBED. IT WAS CONCLUDED FROM THESE STUDIES THAT THE SUCCESS OF ANY ICE DUSTING TECHNIQUE WILL DEPEND PRIMARILY ON THE WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT PREVAIL JUST PRIOR TO AND DURING THE NATURAL MELTING PERIOD. ICE DUSTING WILL PROBABLY BE OF MOST VALUE IN ARCTIC AND SUB-ARCTIC REGIONS WHERE THE AMOUNTS AND DURATION OF SUNSHINE CAN BE HIGH DURING THE MELTING PERIOD AND THERE IS USUALLY A THICK ICE COVER TO BE MELTED. ALMOST ANY DARK MATERIAL APPLIED TO AN ICE SURFACE WILL ABSORB RADIATION AND, UNDER FAVORABLE CONDITIONS, WILL INCREASE THE RATE OF MELT. THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL WILL DEPEND LARGELY ON COST AND LOCAL CONDITIONS. AT SITES WHERE THE COST OF TRANSPORTING AND APPLYING MATERIALS IS HIGH, POWDERS OR DYES APPLIED BY SPRAYING FROM AIRCRAFT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. ONE DISADVANTAGE TO THE USE OF SPRAYS IS THAT EARLY IN THE MELT SEASON THEY PENETRATE THE ICE COVER TO A GREATER DEPTH THAN SOLID PARTICLES AND LOSE SOME OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Nrc 9349, NO 22, P 6
• Corporate Authors:

  Nrc Div Bldg Research /Can

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Williams, G P
• Publication Date: 1967-4

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Absorption; Acceleration (Mechanics); Dust; Heat; Ice; Melting
• Uncontrolled Terms: Increase
• Old TRIS Terms: Cover; Dusting
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218206
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 1 1994 12:00AM