Feasibility of a snow-melting membrane roof with an electrical–thermal system and prediction of its performance

Abstract

Snow removal from membrane structures used for roofing is a critical activity to effectively avoid collapse accidents caused by non-uniform snow distribution. Electrical–thermal systems that combine electrical with thermal techniques are proposed as a substitute for chemical and mechanical snow removal methods. These systems overcome the problems of conventional chemical-based snow- melting in construction material corrosion and environmental pollution. The aims of this study are to analyze the performance of an automatic snow-melting membrane roof utilizing an electrical–thermal system with heating wires, determine the suitable heating wire parameters and climatic conditions based on the snow-melting performance, and evaluate the system using experimental data. The findings indicate that a copper–nickel alloy heating wire can provide a stable heat source and is suitable for electrical–thermal systems. The surface temperature reached a stable point at 38 °C after 240 min of heating using electrical energy. The recommended heating wire parameters were identified based on the snow-melting performance and energy consumption. The optimal heating wire spacing is 7.5 cm and the most energy-efficient heating wire power is 250 W/m2. The automatic snow-melting membrane roof is always free of snow if snow melting is started at the instant when the snow thickness is less than 20 mm and the solar irradiance is in the range of 100–250 W/m2. The ambient temperature contributes minimally to the snow-melting performance. Finally, artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) models were built to predict the snow-melting performance using the aforementioned parameters as inputs. The ANN model can predict and evaluate the snow-melting performance trend more accurately than the MLR model. The results indicate the possibility for large-scale practical engineering applications of electrical–thermal systems for snow removal.