Today, there are different deicers and bulk rock salt available in the market. But which is the most effective in the fight against ice and snow? Here you will find the different possibilities.
Other deicers are more expensive compared to sodium chloride. They will be applied to places that fear corrosion. In addition, they are more dangerous for the environment.
Products To Level The Road
Gravel and sand: its products are only applied during extremely low temperatures and in places inaccessible to snow plows. The advantage is that they have no environmental impact, but they still clog the sewers during the thaw. In addition, these products are mixed with salt to make them easier to spread. They will only be applied in extremely cold mountain regions.
Depending on the salt culture, there are several varieties:
Vacuum salt: very fine road salt and kitchen salt are obtained after the evaporation of underground brine. In concrete terms, this means drilling into the underground saline layer and injecting water into it. When salt dissolves in water, the solution (called brine) is pumped to the surface. Evaporation takes place in a vacuum process in large factories. Due to the energy used and the unavoidable CO2 emissions, this process hurts the environment. In addition, fine salt spreads very far due to the size of the granule and its dry composition. Thus, the salt ends up more often in the shoulders and is wasted.
Rock salt: This salt like in Ninja De-Icer for example comes from underground salt layers but is isolated differently than fine salt. Rock salt is mined in the same way as coal, including blasting and mining of salt deposits.
Sea salt: sea salt is obtained after the natural evaporation of seawater, as its name suggests. This takes place in superficial basins, saline. The water evaporates due to heat until a layer of salt is obtained at the bottom. This first layer is often too thin to isolate the salt. Repeating the evaporation process allows crystallization which produces larger grain sizes. It is worth mentioning that this process is environmentally friendly. In addition, the sea is an inexhaustible resource since the salt will almost always end up there again (sewers, rivers, etc.). The remnants of the anti-icing salt flow into sewers, streams, and rivers and thus find their way back to their origin, the sea. Sea salt is, therefore, a sustainable product. In addition, the grain is generally coarser, so it will be less susceptible to wind and benefit from the longer operation. This salt is generally more humid, which favors the speed of operation. The product immediately gnaws at the layer of frozen snow on the road.
