Winter Applications For -
Deicers, Anti-icing and Ice Control Products

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Commercial Applications

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Dow Calcium Chloride

Dow Chemical calcium chloride products are produced from natural brine deposits found underground. The brines are processed into liquids of various concentrations or into solid forms as flakes or pellets.

Calcium chloride is one of the most versatile of the basic chemicals. It has been produced commercially for more than 100 years. All forms of calcium chloride are essentially non-toxic and present no unusual hazard to people, animals, or the environment, when used as recommended. This has been documented for many years by many government agencies and commercial firms.

Perhaps most important in deicing applications is the superior deicing speed and power of calcium chloride. It allows end users to use less total chemical to meet required service levels. This further increases its value as a tool to help you meet service demands with the lowest cost and least potential environmental impact.

Ability to Attract and Retain Moisture, and Go into Solution Quickly

Calcium chloride is hygroscopic and deliquescent. This means it attracts moisture from the air and its surroundings and goes into a solution quickly as it attempts to return to, or remain in, its natural liquid state. Calcium chloride retains this ability even under conditions of very low humidity. For dry forms of calcium chloride these properties allow rapid brine creation for faster deicing action. For liquid calcium chloride it means longer-lasting effects as the solution resists evaporation to remain an effective brine even as dilution occurs.

Providing Heat of Reaction

Another distinguishing characteristic of calcium chloride is that it gives off heat as it dissolves. It is exothermic. This property helps solid calcium chloride to go into a brine more quickly to provide fast deicing action. This heat-releasing feature also exists with liquid forms when calcium chloride content is high. Other common chemicals actually require heat to go into solution. See table below for a comparison with other common deicers.

Material	Heat of Solution BTU/lb*
Calcium Chloride	+290
Magnesium Chloride	+125
Sodium Chloride	-39

Anti-icing: The Preventive “First Step” Strategy

Anti-icing is the newest snow and ice control practice. It was pioneered in Europe and involves preventing the formation of bonded snow and ice by timely applications of chemical freeze-point depressants. Relatively small amounts of a liquid chemical or wetted salt are applied before or immediately at the start of freezing precipitation. This strategy either eliminates the need for further action or reduces the task of clearing roadways to bare pavement conditions. At the same time, it requires smaller chemical amounts than would be required under conventional deicing practices. As a result, anti-icing is quickly becoming a vital strategy for many end users.

Clearing Drives, Walks, Entryways

Solid forms of calcium chloride have been the preferred materials for undercutting snow and ice around buildings and grounds for decades. This is due to its unique combinations of properties discussed earlier and summarized in the comparative table below.

In large-scale grounds maintenance applications, many agencies are also making use of salt/calcium chloride blends. Both dry blends and prewetting are used on private drives and roadways using the same application technique for public road use. Smaller, more maneuverable pickup truck spreader systems are often employed as well.

In very severe, low temperature conditions, many agencies also rely on applications of unblended flake and pellet calcium chloride. Again, smaller pickup truck spreading systems are most often employed.

Recommended Practices

While both flake and pellet forms of calcium chloride are highly effective in grounds maintenance, the pellet form is generally preferred. This is due to its higher concentration of calcium chloride and because pellets contact a very small area of snow and ice compared to flakes and chips. As a result they bore down vertically more quickly. This has been documented in side-by-side comparison tests at several temperatures. Pellets are also more easily applied using all types of commercial spreaders.

Depth of Deicer Penetration at 15°F After 10 Minutes

Lab test results clearly show calcium chloride in pellet form bores through ice faster than flake form of the chemical (20 milligram particles).

Chemical Deicers Quick Comparison Chart

The Ideal Combination of Properties for Snow and Ice Control

Calcium chloride has long stood alone as the most powerful of the practical chemicals for winter road maintenance.

The important characteristics of calcium chloride in anti-icing and deicing applications are its extremely low freezing point and its ability to attract and retain moisture and release heat as it dissolves.

Low Freezing Point

Pure calcium chloride’s eutectic temperature (lowest freezing temperature) is -59°F (-51°C) at 29.8% concentration in water. In practical application, solid forms remain effective ice melters at temperatures to -25°F (-32°C), while LIQUIDOW™ 32% liquid calcium chloride remains effective to 0°F (-18°C).

All other commonly used deicers have much higher eutectic and practical temperature limits. These differences are illustrated by the phase diagram at right and the table on the next page.

Phase Diagram of Five Chemical Solutions

This phase diagram shows the freezing points of anti-icing/deicing chemicals of various concentrations in water. Data show that calcium chloride offers the highest concentration of solution and the lowest freezing points, followed by magnesium chloride and sodium chloride.

Pre-wetting: The Next Step in an Efficient, Effective Strategy

Pre-wetting granular material with liquid calcium chloride has now been endorsed for more than 20 years by dozens of respected government agencies. Year in and year out, new reports and user testimonials confirm the findings from a report, The Wetting Salt Process for Improved Snow and Ice Control, first published by Public Technology Incorporated under contract by the National Science Foundation in 1977.

These same findings have recently been re-verified by SHRP during their anti-icing studies. Pre-wetting is clearly a valuable tool within the maintenance toolbox, a natural next step after anti-icing to effectively manage a variety of storm events. Used as a tool, pre-wetting with calcium chloride will offer the following advantages.

Faster Action than Salt Alone

Pre-wetting salt with calcium chloride will enhance salt’s performance at any temperature. Liquid calcium chloride provides salt with the moisture it needs to form brine and begin its melting action. Once this action is started, salt can then break the bond between ice and the pavement, allowing for more precipitation to be removed by plowing.

Recommended Practices

There are three well-established application methods being used to apply liquid calcium chloride to rock salt.

• Truck-Mounted Application System

These systems are now the most commonly used. The pre-wetting equipment can be an integral part of the spreader design or a system added to an existing dry-material spreader. An existing spreader can be modified simply and inexpensively with an electric or hydraulic spray system. Alternatively, these systems can be purchased from a number of equipment specialists. The recommended application rate for these systems is 6-10 gallons of LIQUIDOW™ 32% calcium chloride per ton of salt and 8-12 gallons per ton of salt/sand mixes.

• Truckload Applications

In one version of the approach, the driver pulls the truck beneath a timer-controlled spray bar system. In another version, users apply the liquid to a load of salt as it’s placed in the truck. Others employ a conveyor system, spraying liquid as salt travels along the belt to the truck. All these variations involve inexpensive, readily available equipment. Basic components involve a storage tank, a centrifugal pump, piping, a metering device, and the wiring. The recommended application rate for these systems varies from 6-8 gallons of LIQUIDOW™ 32% calcium chloride per ton of salt and 8-10 gallons for salt/sand mixes; variations depend on the ability of the system to thoroughly coat a high percentage of individual salt particles.

• Liquid Calcium Chloride Dispensing Systems

Public service entities as well as private snow removal contractors have found that liquid calcium chloride can be a valuable tool in the battle to keep roadways and parking lots open and free of snow and ice during and after a snowstorm.

Our remote controlled liquid dispensing systems will accurately deliver the correct amount of calcium chloride onto the sand for pre-wetting situations and to prevent freezing of sand stockpiles. Calcium chloride can also be directly applied on rock salt to provide a very effective ice melting combination in extreme situations.

Many snow removal contractors have benefited from the flexibility that liquid calcium chloride provides by applying the chloride as an anti-icing agent hours before the storm arrives.

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*Trademark of the Dow Chemical Company