Numerical Assessment of Electric Roadway Deicing System Utilizing Emerging Carbon Nanofiber Paper
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 1
Abstract
Traditional deicing approaches such as salting pollute the environment and corrode reinforcing steel bars in concrete. Meanwhile, recently emerging carbon nanofiber material has improved electrical conductivity, a large heating capacity at low voltage, high strength, and, in particular, natural immunity to corrosion. This material offers an excellent alternative as the heating element in electrical resistive deicing systems. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of a deicing system that has embedded carbon nanofiber paper heating elements and to evaluate the effects of several key parameters on the performance of such a deicing system. A physics-based finite-element model was built, validated by test results, and used to assess the performance of such a deicing system when applied to roadway conditions. Factors considered include air temperature, wind speed, pavement and insulation layer thicknesses, and heating input. Results show that the proposed system can be very effective for roadway deicing. Future research is needed to validate its feasibility and effectiveness in a field experiment.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Alaska University Transportation Center (AUTC Project UNSPECIFIEDNo. 410014) and the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Dr. Zhou’s visit to UAA was supported by a grant from the China Scholarship Council. Christiana Chang and Gangbing Song appreciate the partial support from the Infrastructure Center for Advanced Materials (ICAM) under Fund No. UNSPECIFIEDFA8650-05-D-5807, sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) under the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. The partial support from the National Science Foundation through Award No. NSF0620897 is also acknowledged. Gangbing Song also appreciates the fellowship support provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 1 • March 2012
Pages: 1 - 15
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 6, 2010
Accepted: Jun 28, 2011
Published online: Jun 30, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
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