Did you know about ice melt??

  

ASK ME FOR A GREAT PRICE ON YOUR ICE MELT!!!

Using ice melting compounds to clear snow and ice from walks, drives, and entries near public buildings is virtually a universal practice today. Facility maintenance personnel learned long ago that to achieve safe surfaces in the shortest time with the least total cost, ice melters are a necessity. Understandably, whenever a product category gains such widespread acceptance, the market attracts a host of suppliers looking to capture a share. As a result, there are more than 100 brands of ice melters available today. Unfortunately, many of these products are packaged with no mention of their chemical composition. Others carry labeling which specifies contents but make erroneous or misleading claims about the products’ abilities. The result is considerable confusion about the benefits and limitations of such products.

Few Actual Materials

Although there are many dozen brands of ice melter, the list of materials in common use is much shorter. It includes the following compounds:

• Sodium Chloride (rock salt)
• Calcium Chloride
• Potassium Chloride
• Urea
• Magnesium Chloride
• Sodium Acetate
• Calcium Magnesium Acetate
• Ammonium Nitrate
• Ammonium Sulfate
• Various blends of the above, with and without abrasives (such as sand, etc.)

Of the materials listed, rock salt and calcium chloride are most extensively used in applications around commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Rock salt, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride are naturally occurring salts. Urea, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate are synthetic materials which find their most common applications as fertilizers.

How Ice Melters Work

Generally, all ice melters work in the same way. They depress the freezing point of ice or snow and turn the mixture into a liquid or semi-liquid slush. Solid chemical salts bore through ice or snow and form a strong brine solution. This brine spreads under the ice or hard-packed snow and undercuts, breaking the bond to the surface. Once loose, the ice or snow is easily removed by mechanical means. Or, in many cases, users, apply the material in anticipation of ice or snow. This prevents the bond to the surface and melts the snow or ice as it comes in contact with the brine.
Fertilizer products work in much the same manner, though they do not form a brine. All are soluble in water and the resulting solution acts by depressing the freezing point of snow and ice.
Though common deicing materials work in the same way, they vary widely in performance. The determining factors are speed, quantity of material required, and duration of melting action. Environmental considerations are also important.

Comparing Temperature Ranges

The first measure of an ice melter’s effectiveness is the range of temperatures in which it can provide deicing action (in a reasonable time period). The “practical” lowest temperature limits for these materials is defined as effective within 15-20 minutes of application and is listed next to the material. When reviewing deicing materials on the basis of their effectiveness at practical temperatures, they rank as follows:

1. Calcium Chloride (-25^o F)
2. Magnesium Chloride (5^o F)
3. Sodium Acetate (5^o F)
4. Calcium Magnesium Acetate (5^oF)
5. Potassium Chloride (12^o F)
6. Urea (15^o F)
7. Sodium Chloride (20-22^o F)
8. Various Blends (usually 20-22^o F)