Road structure – process – or apparatus – Miscellaneous road structure
Patent
1996-10-23
1998-12-29
Lisehora, James A.
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Miscellaneous road structure
404 72, 244134R, E01C 1124
Patent
active
058532625
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for de-icing roadways to which is applied a melting-agent solution in water to lower the freezing point, which solution, mixed with precipitation water and melted snow and ice, as melt water which is collected, runs off the roadway, is purified, if necessary, and, after its melting-agent content has been tested, at least partially is re-used by re-applying it to the roadway as the aqueous melting solution, if necessary after adding fresh melting-agent, and further relates to an apparatus installation for implementing the process, with facilities for applying the melting solution to the roadway along the roadways to be de-iced and with extracting devices for the collection of melt water running off the roadway, said extracting devices being connected, via channels, a concentration sensor for melting-agent concentration and a switch controlled by the sensor, on the one hand, to a drainage and on the other hand, to a collector tank which, in turn, is connected to the facilities for applying the melting-agent.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Such apparatus installation and process are known from publication No. WO 93/00481. According to this reference, the melt water running off roadways, in particular off expressways, is collected and, after adding more melting-agent or a highly concentrated melting solution if necessary, is re-applied to the roadway, in particular sprayed automatically onto the road surface via spray nozzles. Pure rainwater running off the roadway can also be diverted directly to a drainage receptacle. The re-use of the melt water for a new melting solution helps save melting-agent and is also less damaging to the environment, which is otherwise put under strain by the melting-agent content of the melt water, salt in particular. On the other hand, it has been proven that a particularly large quantity of melting-agent has to be added for the implementation of the known process in order to reach the required melting-agent concentration for de-icing purposes. If salt is used for de-icing purposes, a melting-agent consisting of an 25% solutions are used preferably. The melt water has, in the meantime, been rather diluted by added precipitation water and melted snow and ice, so that a major percentage thereof even has to be diverted directly to the drainage receptacle as it is not worth re-using.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, in contrast, is to ensure improved evaluation of the re-usable melting-agent. This is achieved by increasing the concentration of the solution in the melt water to be re-used before re-applying it as melting solution by subjecting it to a separation step in the course of which water free of or low in melting-agent content on the one hand and a more highly concentrated solution on the other hand are created as partial flows, preferably by means of an apparatus installation wherein a concentration increase stage is inserted between the collector tank and the facilities for applying the melting-agent, for concentrating the melting-agent in the melt water to be re-used as melting solution and with a drainage for the flow of reduced-concentration melt water. By means of these measures, a higher percentage of melt water can be re-used in the cycle.
Separation steps to increase the concentration and corresponding devices, mostly for the purpose of desalting (e.g. Schwering "Wasser wird wieder Wasser" (water becomes water again), a corporate publication of the Gutling GmbH), are known per se.
The known ion exchanger cycle systems, desalting systems and filtering installations with membrane filtration and ultra-filtration are suitable for this purpose. In the case of interposing mechanical filters filtering out dirt and floating particles from the melt water, systems operating according to the principle of osmosis are pre-eminently suitable for desalting steps. By means of these known devices, it is easy to separate a solution with a considerable melting-agent concentration from water almost free
REFERENCES:
patent: 4392959 (1983-07-01), Coillet
patent: 5104068 (1992-04-01), Krilla et al.
patent: 5350533 (1994-09-01), Hubred et al.
patent: 5462655 (1995-10-01), Ladd et al.
patent: 5472291 (1995-12-01), Vogel
patent: 5515623 (1996-05-01), Weeks
BTS Beratung und Technik fuer die Strasse GmbH
Lisehora James A.
Rosden Peter E.
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