PREVENTION OF PREFERENTIAL BRIDGE ICING USING HEAT PIPES

This report describes the results of a 27 month analytical and test program to investigate the use of heat pipes and renewable energy sources (specifically earth heat) to avoid the preferential freezing of highway bridge decks. Based on computer simulations of typical preferential icing events (days), a single system design is recommended for most U.S. locations. This design consists of nominal 0.5 inch heat pipes at the slab mid-plane, on 23 cm centers, connected to nominal 2 inch heat pipes in the ground via a pumped fluid loop, with 1 m of earth heat pipe provided for every 0.3 square meters of bridge deck. The report also provides preliminary assessment of the design requirements and costs of an alternative, solar collector design; it concludes that the solar collector design may offer economic advantages over the earth heat pipe system, and thus should be investigated further.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • See also report dated July 75, PB-249658.
• Corporate Authors:

  Grumman Aerospace Corp.

  Bethpage, NY  United States 

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Ferrara, A A
  • Yenetchi, G
• Publication Date: 1976-9

Media Info

• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge decks; Deicing; Energy; Heat pipes; Highway bridges; Icing; Simulation; Solar energy; Solar power generation
• Old TRIS Terms: Preferential icing
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00166495
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-76-168 Exec Summ, FCP 1
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-8545
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 27 1978 12:00AM