A mix of sodium propionate and sodium chloride for the application of chlorides by salt spreader
On expressways operated by Nexco Central, sodium chloride has been the conventional deicer. However, sodium chloride shortens the service life of road structures. Toward mitigating salt damage to these structures while maintaining deicing effectiveness and economy, we have been developing a new deicer since 2015. It is a mixture of sodium propionate and sodium chloride. Field test results show that a 1:9 ratio of sodium propionate to sodium chloride achieves good results.
1) It is no more damaging to road structures than rainwater is.
2) As a deicer, it is as effective as sodium chloride. (The freezing point is -17.0℃.)
3) It can be used for any road structures, including bridges, with existing wet-salt spreaders or brine spreaders
4) Commercially available sodium propionate powders tend to scatter when applied to roads. To address this problem, we have developed a granular sodium propionate with a grain size of 1 mm. It affords improved workability.