Evaluation of the effectiveness of salt neutralizers for washing snow and ice equipment.

Details

• Creators:
  Monty, Chelsea N. ; Miller, Christopher M. ; Schneider IV, William H. ; Rodriguez, Alvaro
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Akron
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Winter maintenance
  • Deicing chemicals
  • Deicers (Equipment)
  • Corrosion protection
  • Neutralization
  • Protective coatings
  • Benefit cost analysis
  • Washing
  • Maintenance equipment
  • Spectroscopic analysis
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/OH-2013/18
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Ohio
• Corporate Publisher:
  Ohio. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Statewide Planning and Research
• Abstract:
  In winter maintenance, the chloride-based deicers used to keep roadways clear of ; snow and ice are highly corrosive to vehicles and equipment. Corrosion of snow and ice equipment ; is a major issue causing increased maintenance and repair costs, reduced vehicle life, and increased ; vehicle downtime. Statistics show that road salt causes approximately $1500/ton of damage to ; vehicles, bridges, and the environment. Washing of winter maintenance equipment after exposure to ; ice control chemicals has been suggested as one possible solution to minimize corrosion. However, ; washing with soap and water has been shown to be insufficient in removing residual salt from winter ; maintenance vehicles. Treating winter maintenance equipment with salt neutralizers, used in a ; variety of household and industrial applications, has been shown to prevent corrosion. ; Although the consensus points to the need for a reliable and easy to implement corrosion ; prevention strategy, at present there is not sufficient information available to determine the ; effectiveness of different wash systems at preventing corrosion. As the corrosion reduction data of ; salt neutralizer solutions on bare and coated metal surfaces is lacking, a systematic study has been ; carried out to provide quantitative information. A parallel study of six commercially available salt ; neutralizers is carried out for comparison. Analysis of the salt neutralizer solutions was carried out ; using contact angle, Ultra Violet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and Scanning Electron Microscopy imaging (SEM). Corrosion inhibition for several metals treated with salt neutralizer was determined ; using potentiodynamic measurements and accelerated weight loss analysis (ASTM B117). When ; considering the effects of corrosion on winter maintenance equipment, it is important to study not ; only steel but also various “soft metals” (copper, aluminum, brass, etc.) that can be found in the ; wiring and other parts of the fleet. Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy and visual inspection were ; used to determine the ability of coated metal samples to prevent corrosion. A cost benefit analysis ; was completed to determine what specific conditions directly impact the cost effectiveness of ; corrosion prevention strategies.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SJN 134718
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27184/dot_27184_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.00 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:149398efa255045100f67f9732c3f3000c3e12f3d8201d2823a23ad2c60a4a6d