Development of a Mechanical Rocker Test Procedure for Ice Melting Capacity Evaluation Nebraska Department of Roads Project No. M322 June 2014 i Development of a Mechanical Rocker Test Procedure for Ice Melting Capacity Evaluation NDOR Project Number: M322 Project Duration: February 1, 2012 – June 30, 2014 Principal Investigator Christopher Y. Tuan, Ph.D., P.E. Professor of Civil Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln 1110 South 67th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68182-0178 Telephone: (402) 554-3867, Fax: (402) 554-3288 E-Mail: [email protected] Graduate Research Assistant Tregan Albers II University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Civil Engineering 1110 South 67th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68182-0178 June 2014 ii Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. NDOR Project: M322 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date June 30, 2014 Development of a Mechanical Rocker Test Procedure for Ice Melting 6. Performing Organization Code Capacity Evaluation 7. Author/s 8. Performing Organization Report No. Albers, T., and Tuan, C.Y. 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Department of Civil Engineering, Peter Kiewit Institute, 1110 South 67th Street, Omaha, NE 68182-0178 11. Contract or Grant No. 26-1121-4011-001 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Nebraska Department of Roads, Materials & Research Final Report Division, P. O. Box 94759, Lincoln, NE 68509-4759 15. Supplementary Notes 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 16. Abstract During Phase 2 of the NDOR deicing chemicals performance evaluation project (No. SPR-P1(10) P328), a simple and economical test using a martini shaker to evaluate ice melting capacity of liquid deicers showed good potential to become a standardized test. There is a need to support an internal effort at NDOR to further develop the shaker test into a deicing chemicals test protocol. A number of parameters of the testing procedure need to be precisely specified to ensure repeatability and accuracy. The main objective of this research is to transform the shaker test into a gold standard for ice melting capacity evaluation of liquid deicing chemicals. This research focused on the use of a mechanical rocker for shaking instead of shaking by hand which can introduce significant error due to the variability of shaking. In this test, 33 ice cubes of 1.3- mL each and 30-mL of liquid deicing chemical are mixed in a vacuum sealed thermos on a mechanical rocking platform. The rocker is set to a frequency of 90 RPM with a tilt angle of ±10°. The time duration for rocking is set for 15 minutes. Styrofoam dish or cup should be used for measuring the mass of ice. With these test parameters, a standard deviation of 1.15% has been achieved when testing with Apex Meltdown™. This Mechanical Rocker Ice Melting Test procedure will be submitted to selected Departments of Transportation and Clear Roads for parallel testing and feedback. The Mechanical Rocker Ice Melting Test can be used for screening of new deicing products submitted to NDOR by vendors each year. Once validated by other independent organizations, the Mechanical Rocker Ice Melting Test may be proposed to the AASHTO for adoption for ice melting capacity evaluation of liquid deicing chemicals. 17. Key Words Winter Maintenance, Deicing Chemicals, Ice Melting Capacities, Experiments, Mechanical Rocker Tests 19. Security Classification (of this report) 18. Distribution Statement Unclassified This document is available to the general public via Nebraska Department of Roads. 21. No. of Pages 22. Price 65 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of form and completed page is authorized iii DISCLAIMER The contents of this report merely reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Nebraska Department of Roads, nor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This report does not constitute a standard, specification or regulation. Trade or manufacturers’ names, which may appear in this report, are cited only because they are considered essential to the completeness of the report. The United States government and the State of Nebraska do not endorse products or manufacturers. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was sponsored by the Materials & Research Division of the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR), and the Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The authors wish to thank Barbara Gerbino-Bevins, Jasmine Dondlinger, Jodi Gibson, Lieska Halsey, Wally Heyen, Mike Mattison, and Anna Rea of NDOR, and Molly Lamrouex, Melissa Maiefski, Sue Petracek, and Frank Rich of the Nebraska Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for their collaborations and valuable feedbacks. The authors also wish to thank Robert Vanderveen and James Reitmeier for their efforts in setting up the ice melting capacity rocker tests and data collection during the early stages of the project. v Table of Contents I. Introduction ......................................................................................................1 II. Mechanical Rocker Ice Melting Test..............................................................3 III. Lab Equipment Requirements........................................................................5 III.1 Liquid Chemical Deicer ........................................................................5 III.2 Laboratory Freezer ..............................................................................5 III.3 Mechanical Rocker ................................................................................6 III.4 Stop-Watch ............................................................................................7 III.5 Latex Gloves ..........................................................................................7 III.6 Thermoses ..............................................................................................8 III.7 No. 4 Sieve ..............................................................................................8 III.8 Plastic Spatula and Plastic Tweezers ...................................................8 III.9 Dish or Cup to Weigh Ice .....................................................................9 III.10 Two Ice Cube Trays .............................................................................9 III.11 Micropipette ........................................................................................10 III.12 Funnel ..................................................................................................11 III.13 Volumetric Pipette..............................................................................11 III.14 A Digital Mass Balance in a Confined Box ......................................11 vi IV. Test Parameters and Data Analysis .............................................................13 IV.1 Ice Cube Volume/Liquid Deicer Volume ..........................................13 IV.2 Type of Thermos ..................................................................................16 IV.3 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) ..........................................................18 IV.4 Duration of Rocking ............................................................................20 IV.5 Tilt Angle (10° vs. 20°) ........................................................................23 IV.6 Styrofoam Cup vs Ceramic Dish ........................................................26 IV.7 Rocker Test Data using Other Chemicals .........................................28 V. The Proposed Mechanical Rocker Test Procedure.....................................31 Mechanical Rocker Testing Procedure – for evaluation of Ice Melting Capacity of Liquid Deicers in ASTM Format ........................31 V.1 Scope .......................................................................................................31 V.2 Reference Documents ...........................................................................31 V.3 Significance and Use .............................................................................31 V.4 Apparatus ..............................................................................................31 V.5 Testing Procedures ................................................................................33 V.6 Calculations ...........................................................................................35 V.7 Key Words .............................................................................................36 VI. Conclusion ......................................................................................................39 vii Appendix ….. ..............................................................................................................40 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Freezer interior space ......................................................................................6 Figure 2: Mechanical Rocking Platform.........................................................................7 Figure 3: No. 4 Sieve and Spatula....................................................................................9 Figure 4: Filling the Ice Cube Trays .............................................................................10 Figure 5: Micropipette ....................................................................................................10