Keeping roads safe during winter weather is an ongoing challenge. Road agencies have long relied on salt-based deicers such as sodium chloride and calcium chloride because they are affordable and effective at melting ice. This same material that helps keep traffic moving contributes to bridge corrosion, pavement damage, and environmental concerns over time. With growing interest in more sustainable winter maintenance practices, a new study, “Lowering the Freezing Point and Improving the Ice Melting Capacity of Deicers with Xylitol and Erythritol,” investigates whether two naturally derived sugar alcohols could help improve the performance of traditional salt brines while reducing some of these drawbacks.
Researchers Muhammad Rafiul Mahdi, Sher Afgan, Hizb Ullah Sajid, and Ravi Kiran tested deicing solutions containing different amounts of xylitol and erythritol and examined how they affected freezing temperatures, ice melting performance, and pavement traction. Results are promising and suggest that these deicers could work well in colder climates where maintenance conditions are more challenging. Rather than replacing salt entirely, the study looks at how these additives could make existing deicing strategies work better. This paper offers new approaches that can help agencies evaluate next-generation deicing materials. Learn more about this study and its more sustainable approach to snow removal in the Journal of Cold Regions Engineering at https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/JCRGEI.CRENG-1139. The abstract is below.
Abstract
Chloride-based deicing solutions are predominantly used for winter road maintenance; however, they are the leading source of corrosion in concrete pavements and bridges and are known to adversely affect crop production and aquatic life after runoff into soil and water bodies. To address these issues, this study explores the efficacy of corn-derived nontoxic polyol-based salt brine (23.30% NaCl) deicers as a sustainable alternative. This study evaluates two polyols, xylitol and erythritol, in varying weight concentrations ranging from 5.00% to 12.50%, focusing on their freezing point depression, ice melting capacity, and skid resistance. Freezing point depression tests indicated that 12.50% erythritol-based and 12.50% xylitol-based salt brine deicer achieved maximum freezing point depression at −37.53°C and −35.37°C, respectively. The ice melting capacity tests were conducted for the following weight concentrations: 0.00%, 5.00%, 10.00%, and 12.50% using an in-house experimental setup at four different temperatures: 0.00°C, −10.00°C, −20.00°C, and −30.00°C. Test results indicated that 12.50% erythritol-based and 12.50% xylitol-based salt brine deicers exhibited superior ice melting capacity with an increase of about 23.00% and 16.00%, respectively, compared to the conventional salt brine deicer at −20.00°C. Moreover, a 12.50% xylitol-based salt brine deicer exhibited slightly superior skid resistance compared to a 23.30% NaCl deicing solution in Portland cement concrete pavements.
Get the details on these formulas in the ASCE Library: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/JCRGEI.CRENG-1139.
