Experimental investigation of hydronic snow melting process on the inclined pavement

Hydronic snow melting on pavement has been used as an alternative to the conventional chemical method based on chloride salts. In the present work, dynamic snow-melting experiments were performed on a hydronically-heated inclined pavement. The effects of design parameters including the idling time, the fluid temperature and the tilt angle on the snow-melting time were analyzed. Further, the snow thickness profile during the snow-melting process was obtained. Experimental results showed that the symmetry of the snow-melting process around the hydronic pipes was destroyed on the inclined pavement, which is different from the case on the horizontal pavement. Because a part of melted slurry drained out of the snow-melting region, the capillary effect in the snow layer tended to be weakened, thereby prolonging the total snow-melting time. The phenomenon of critical free-area ratio was still found during the snow-melting process on the inclined pavement. The optimization of the layout of hydronic pipes and the idling time is a major approach to improving the performance of practical hydronic snow-melting systems.