CHEMICAL MEANS FOR PREVENTION OF ACCUMULATION OF ICE, SNOW, AND SLUSH ON RUNWAYS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS CONTRACT WAS TO DEVELOP A MIXTURE CAPABLE OF MELTING SNOW, ICE, AND SLUSH AT TEMPERATURES AS LOW AS -10 F. THIS MIXTURE WAS TO BE OF REASONABLE COST, NONCORROSIVE TO AIRCRAFT, AND NOT THE CAUSE OF DETERIORATION OF RUNWAY PAVEMENTS. NINE PRIMARY DEICERS WERE TESTED AND MANY OF THE MIXTURES WERE SUBJECTED TO PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCREENING. THESE MIXTURES WERE THEN COMBINED WITH POTENTIAL CORROSION INHIBITORS AND BY A SIMPLE SCREENING TEST THE KIND AND AMOUNT OF INHIBITOR NEEDED WAS DETERMINED. MINIMIZED CORROSION, PARTICULARLY THAT OF STRESS CORROSION OF HIGH STRENGTH ALLOYS USED IN AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR, WAS VERIFIED BY A CONSTANT LOAD TEST PROCEDURE. TWO SURVIVING CANDIDATE MIXTURES WERE DEMONSTRATED AS EASILY PREPARED IN SIMPLE, STANDARD MIXING EQUIPMENT AND THEIR STORAGE CHARACTERISTICS AS FREE FLOWING GRANULES DETERMINED AT TWO TEMPERATURE EXTREMES. THE APPLICATION RATE TO PRODUCE MELTING AT -10 F WAS QUITE NOMINAL AND THE COMPOSITIONS HAD, AT MOST, SLIGHT SPALLING EFFECT ON CONCRETE. THE PRIME CANDIDATE FOR RUNWAY DEICING HAS THE FOLLOWING COMPOSITION: TRIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE 75 PERCENT - FORMAMIDE 25 PERCENT. THESE MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY, AND WHILE THEIR COST EXCEEDS THAT OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE, THE COMBINATION DOES NOT CAUSE THE EXTENT OF CORROSION OBTAINED WITH CALCIUM CHLORIDE. WHILE LESS SATISFACTORY BECAUSE OF STRESS CORROSION CHARACTERISTICS, A SECOND COMBINATION PROVED OUTSTANDING FOR PREVENTIVE CORROSION OF STEEL NOT UNDER THE POTENTIALLY HIGH STRESS OF LANDING GEAR. QUITE SUITABLE FOR ROAD OR HIGHWAY USAGE WAS CALCIUM CHLORIDE TO WHICH WAS ADDED 1 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF EMULSIFIER STH. THIS COMPOSITION RETAINED ALL ITS ICE-MELTING QUALITIES WITH MARKED CORROSION CONTROL. BECAUSE OF THE OUTSTANDING ICE-MELTING AND CORROSION-CONTROLLED PROPERTIES OF THE RECOMMENDED RUNWAY DEICER AND ITS SUPERIORITY IN THESE QUALITIES TO NOW AVAILABLE COMPOSITIONS, IT SHOULD BE FIELD TESTED. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Srds No 65-13, 58 PP, 14 FIG, 22 TAB, 26 REF, 9 APP
• Corporate Authors:

  Monsanto Research Corporation

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Harris, J C
  • Gibson, J R
  • Street, D
• Publication Date: 1965-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft; Airport runways; Alloys; Calcium chloride; Concrete; Corrosion protection; Costs; Deicers (Equipment); Equipment; Field tests; Granular materials; Melting; Pavement maintenance; Phosphates; Potassium; Screenings; Snow and ice control; Spalling; Stress corrosion; Temperature
• Uncontrolled Terms: Deicers
• Old TRIS Terms: Aircraft equipment; Formamide
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218258
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 13 1994 12:00AM