Development of black-ice removal system with latent heat thermal energy storage and solar thermal collectors

Black ice is a type of thin ice sheet that forms on roads and pavements forms easily generated in moist areas with subzero temperatures, especially in shade. In cold region, a high-efficiency black-ice removal system is required because of the environmental nature of easily generated black-ice. In this study, a new type of black-ice removal system using latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) with a solar thermal collector is firstly introduced and was tested in the field. A concrete pavement was made for the test with a surface area of 0.4 m² with heat pipes were embedded a depth of 0.05 m, with 0.15 m intervals. The solar thermal collector was used to store heat energy in the LHTES, which was dissipated through the concrete pavement by passing the embedded pipes. One centimeter of thin ice sheet, which was assumed to be black-ice, was formed on the surface of the concrete pavement. The LHTES charging and discharging flow rates were 5 and 7 L/min, respectively. The results were that the black-ice with 0.4 m² area and a thickness of 1 cm at −15 °C ambient temperature was heated to 8 °C and completely melted in 2 h.