Antihielo -Sprinklers with Spanish seal for icy roads

Cold, snow and ice. An endless atmospheric phenomena hinders the circulation in these winter months and can occasionally cause an accident. Only one year have sustained thousands of people up to 18 hours in the AP-6 at temperatures below zero due to a storm, poor efforts or lack of information. Those affected – some because they did not find out about the notifications, others because they did not take the necessary precautions – they had to be saved by army troops. The trucks that spread salt in the early morning to prevent large ice plates from being short and the road became a nightmare for many. It is something that probably no longer happens in the future and that frost on the asphalt stops being a problem.

Spain is at the forefront of research into road safety with solutions like this: Spanish company SicoTogether with the Technological Institute of Plastic (Aimplas)Has developed a new system against revolutionary ice that can dismiss traditional trucks, which sometimes take to arrive when they are most needed. The project was in the test phase, It is already being used on different roads Spanish such as Aragonese A-23, the northeastern highway, the N-420 or the AP-68 Toll Highway while it passes through Altube (Álava). Now it is Ready for commercialization and export Until broadtraads as rude as Russia or Poland. His fire test arrives.

And what is the invention? The system is a mechanism similar to the typical water that sprinkles from the gardens, but salt. Thanks to one Kleine Pekel Centraal, which can be underground, and hundreds of salt sprayersThe irrigation system sprays a solution of water and salt – or a necessary connection – every so often when it detects that it is necessary. “Automatically launch El Fundente that the formation of ice on the road occurs, on those points where it is difficult to provide the risk of the occurrence of ice at a certain moment, depending on the climatic conditions, which changes one hour for another in many places,” he explains, he explains Antonio Cogollos, Sico Company Manager.

Autonomy

The goal is to eliminate ice to increase cars. More conflicting sectionsSo the company can compile different deposits on the most strategic points, where the worst prince is usually placed. And where should the Salmina producer Central be? «One of the innovations of this system is that it can be housed on the same road thanks to the Autonomy in its operation through efficient use of renewable energyAs a result of which transport with vehicles, the costs of fuel and the transfer time eliminate, “says Cogollos.

Every Road Conservation Center has its action sector and from there the use of technology will bear the brine, depending on the need. This is more relevant to what it seems, because getting trucks with brine charging is not an easy task, precisely because of the condition of the roads, especially those of mountain ports or difficult access.

Another key is the plastic that is used for brine deposits. Thanks to them, the facilities are practical for life, while the metal tanks that are traditionally used to contain brine since the first day must have a very meticulous maintenance because sodium chloride is a very corrosive substance. «It is a complete system of Recyclable plastic with raw material of the first qualitySo not only costs are saved and sustainability are greater, but the impact of the environment is also less, “he explains Serafín García, head of Aimplas Design and Injection.

The company guarantees the lifespan of the reactor, an expensive installation, of around 16,000 euros for 15 years. With minimal maintenance you can go along forever.

Why are snow and ice paid salt?

All winters have the same scene, trucks that spread bags and bags of salt on the road to prevent it from freezing, because ice is one of the most important problems while driving. But why is this done? To find the answer, you must go to the periodic system. And it is that the union between the salt (NaCl) and the water (H2O) is pure chemistry. Contrary to what many would think, the salt would not melt the ice – because it would make heat – but solve it. And when we dissolve a dust in water, the melting point drops from this. That is, if pure water freezes at 0ºC, in normal atmospheric pressure, if we stag a substance in it, such as the case of salt, we obtain what a solution is called (a fixed fixed solution in a solvent). This solution of water and salt has a freezing point less than that 0ºC, depending on the amount of salt that has been dissolved per liter of water, but that can descend to the -21ºC in ideal conditions. What is achieved with this? Something simple, because we cannot melt the existing snow or ice on the asphalt, the only way to do this by applying heat-what we do is use it like a solvent, throwing salt so that a water-sale yes) instead of the smooth ice.