Laboratory Investigation of Naturally Sourced Liquid Deicers and Subsequent Decision Support

Four commercially available snow- and ice-control products made from naturally sourced materials were tested laboratory. Using 23 wt. % NaCl (salt brine) as a control, ice-melting performance, corrosion impacts to carbon steel, and impacts to portland cement concrete were determined.. All four liquid deicer products showed significantly lower corrosion rates than the salt brine control, whereas their ice-melting capacity at −9.4°C (15°F) and −15°C (5°F) varied. Coupled with 10 freeze–thaw cycles, the naturally sourced liquid deicers induced less mass loss but more reduction in splitting tensile strength of non–air-entrained concrete specimens relative to the salt brine. The porosity of each concrete sample was calculated from X-ray microcomputed tomography images to determine the effects of the deicer and freeze–thaw exposure on the concrete. Relative to water, two liquid deicers induced more significant porosity of the concrete, whereas the salt brine and one liquid deicer increased its porosity. The analytical hierarchy process was demonstrated for the integration of test results, assisting winter maintenance agencies in the proper selection of a product depending on specific user priorities. All of the naturally sourced deicers featured higher scores than the salt brine control under the investigated conditions and given priorities.