Automatic Controls for the Carbon Fiber Tape-Based Deicing Technology
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 1
Abstract
Snow and ice on roads are hazardous. Many methods are applied for road surface deicing. Most of these methods, however, suffer from one or more of the following shortcomings: low energy efficiency, large labor requirements, high cost, or potential to damage roads. This paper presents the design of automatic controllers and the analysis of their efficiency as applied in a carbon fiber tape (CFT)-based resistive heating deicing technology. Two automatic controllers based on surface temperature—an on-off controller and a fuzzy logic-based controller—are implemented in an experimental deicing facility with CFT-based deicing technology. The fuzzy logic-based controller retrieves the weather forecast information and considers many different scenarios. A LabVIEW interface is used for remote monitoring of the deicing process. The experimental results show that both types of automatic controllers are very effective in preventing the ice from forming on the sidewalk surface, and both are significantly more efficient than manual control in terms of operating cost, with the fuzzy logic-based controller being the most efficient. The fuzzy logic-based controller represents the major technical contribution of this paper, and with certain adaptation, it is also applicable for other resistive heating-based deicing technologies.
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Acknowledgments
This project is jointly sponsored by grants from the Alaska University Transportation Center (AUTC No. 510022) and the Facilities and Campus Service of University of Alaska–Anchorage (UAA). The authors are thankful to Mr. Chris Turletes, Associate Vice Chancellor, Mr. John Faunce, Director of Facilities Planning and Construction, and Mr. Eric Lopez, Project Manager, all from UAA, for their support to this experimental study.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 28 • Issue 1 • March 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 15, 2012
Accepted: Aug 28, 2013
Published online: Aug 30, 2013
Published in print: Mar 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Apr 27, 2014
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