Experimental Investigation of Concrete Runway Snow Melting Utilizing Heat Pipe Technology

Abstract

A full scale snow melting system with heat pipe technology is built in this work, which avoids the negative effects on concrete structure and environment caused by traditional deicing chemicals. The snow melting, ice-freezing performance and temperature distribution characteristics of heat pipe concrete runway were discussed by the outdoor experiments. The results show that the temperature of the concrete pavement is greatly improved with the heat pipe system. The environment temperature and embedded depth of heat pipe play a dominant role among the decision variables of the snow melting system. Heat pipe snow melting pavement melts the snow completely and avoids freezing at any time when the environment temperature is below freezing point, which is secure enough for planes take-off and landing. Besides, the exportation and recovery of geothermal energy indicate that this system can run for a long time. This paper will be useful for the design and application of the heat pipe used in the runway snow melting.

Durability and Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Fiber Cloth/Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Rubber Composite for Active Deicing and Snow Melting

“…Heat pipe technology realizes the active snow melting and deicing of the road by embedding pipes in the road structure and introducing a heat flow into the pipes. Chen et al [15] conducted a snowmelt test after laying heat pipes on the airport runway. The results proved that the heat pipe technology can achieve snow melting and deicing, which provided certain support for the actual construction design.…”