[mana]

hi all
I'm seeking for a safe alternative for ice removal instead of salt and sand, I have found some compounds such as sugar beets or some inorganic salts such as MgCl₂, CaCl₂, KCl, and etc. which one will not chemically attack for the environment and also the asphalt?
and also how an ice removing compound works? I can't understand why adding NaCl to ice will reduce the temperature

[Borek]

All substances added to the ice will have some kind of environmental impact.

Basically they work by lowering the freezing point of water, which helps melting ice. Temperature reduction (while occurs in the same system) is not what is important here.

[mana]

All substances added to the ice will have some kind of environmental impact.

Basically they work by lowering the freezing point of water, which helps melting ice. Temperature reduction (while occurs in the same system) is not what is important here.

thanks, but I wonder how lowering the freezing point and melting ice affect on temperature
and I really like to know generally which compounds can be used as ice removal? why salts are the best candidate for ice removal?

[Borek]

thanks, but I wonder how lowering the freezing point and melting ice affect on temperature

Sorry, question as posted doesn't make sense. Neither lowering the freezing point nor melting ice "affect temperature". Temperature is what it is (unless you are talking about closed systems and their heat balance, then yes, adding some substances can lead to some endothermic or exothermic process that will change the temperature).

and I really like to know generally which compounds can be used as ice removal? why salts are the best candidate for ice removal?

Please google for information about freezing point depression and how it is calculated, that's a good starting point for understanding what happens and why some substances produce better results than others.

[P]

thanks, but I wonder how lowering the freezing point and melting ice affect on temperature
and I really like to know generally which compounds can be used as ice removal? why salts are the best candidate for ice removal?

The thing here is that salt dissolves into the water as an impurity. Impurities in water often lower the melting point. Which means it freezes at a lower temp or in the case of ice melts at a lower temp.  The salt doesn't alter the temperature obviously  -  it's the melting point that is lowered - so if it is -1C for example and you have ice...  the addition of salt could take the melting point of the ice from 0C to as low as -15C...  so the pure water ice at -1C is still solid, but the salty impure water ice at -1C melts back to impure salty water in a liquid form.

So the salt doesn't raise the temperature - it lowers the temperature needed for melting.

 

[mana]

can I say the ice removal compounds are just polar compounds like salts which are solube in water or the compounds which are able to form hydrogen bond with water molecules such as ethylene glycol or etc.?
is there any other mechanism for ice removing?

[Borek]

can I say the ice removal compounds are just polar compounds like salts which are solube in water or the compounds which are able to form hydrogen bond with water molecules such as ethylene glycol or etc.?

No, you are mixing several unrelated concepts here, and none of them is behind the effect.

is there any other mechanism for ice removing?

Other than scrubbing or making it melt? Large amounts of low freezing solvent that will dissolve the ice. More or less that's how they deice planes. Doesn't make much economical sense in other situations.

[mana]

can I say the ice removal compounds are just polar compounds like salts which are solube in water or the compounds which are able to form hydrogen bond with water molecules such as ethylene glycol or etc.?

No, you are mixing several unrelated concepts here, and none of them is behind the effect.

is there any other mechanism for ice removing?

Other than scrubbing or making it melt? Large amounts of low freezing solvent that will dissolve the ice. More or less that's how they deice planes. Doesn't make much economical sense in other situations.

yes you are right I have mixed two different concept  , I like to find a better replacement for sodium chloride (for  de-icing of roads), so I think first I have to understand how sodium chloride and other compounds like calcium Magnesium acetate, PEG and etc. (which are using right now) works.

and also from economical point of view can I replace some organic compounds such as sugar beet juice? or sth like this?

[billnotgatez]

urea?

[mana]

urea?

yes urea has been reported as a good ice removal also

[P]

urea?

yes urea has been reported as a good ice removal also

That would be because it dissolves into the water as an impurity - lowering the melting point of the water.