Sensitivity analysis and optimum design of a hydronic snow melting system during snowfall

Abstract

Snow and ice accumulation induces hazardous driving conditions due to the effect of reduced friction on the road surface. A traditional chemical-based snow melting approach is not environmentally friendly and effective when the temperature is below −3.9∘ C. Thermal snow melting techniques, such as hydronic heating system, can be an alternative to chemical-based methods. In this paper, a new approach is proposed for sizing the hydronic snow melting system. For this purpose, a transient heat transfer mechanism is considered. A complete energy balance equation including solar radiation, snowfall, and convective heat flux is used at a bridge surface. The Nelder-Mead algorithm is used to minimize the energy consumption used for snow melting by determining an optimum relation between the inlet temperature and flow rate. Since the performance of such systems depends significantly on the weather design, sensitivity analyses were performed to analyze the sensitivity of the optimum design to variations in air temperature, snowfall rate, wind speed and insulating methods. The results showed that the insulating methods and snowfall rate are the most dominant factors influencing the energy consumption of the hydronic heating system. The energy consumption rate is expected to increase by 29% without insulating the bottom and sides of a bridge deck. A 30% increase in snowfall rate leads to a rise in energy consumption by 35%. On the other hand, heat loss due to the variation in air temperature, wind speed, and solar radiation is not significant.