Ural Plant of Deicing Materials (UZPM) - one of the largest manufacturers of deicing materials in Russia against winter slipperiness – has developed a unique infrastructure for storing and filling up the special machinery with two-phase dry/wet road icemelt. UZPM presented its comprehensive approach to winter road maintenance at the International Specialized Exhibition Road 2019 in Ekaterinburg.
Bionord two-phase is an innovation in winter city road maintenance. It consists of 75% solid phase and 25% liquid phase which are mixed before road surface treatment. Unlike traditional deicing materials, damped granules melt ice two times quicker, providing cost-effective consumption, and are more environmentally friendly. Kazan was the first to use this technology: Bionord two-phase has been successfully used there for three winter seasons. The next winter this practice will be adopted in Samara, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kaluga and Perm.
Along with new technologies, new requirements for the operation processes of road services appear. Upon entering into long-term contract, UZPM gratuitously provides its customers, using the two-phase material, with infrastructure for storing and liquid phase filling. Compact automated complexes take up 35 sq.m. Liquid phase of the deicer is stored in containers of at least 50 tons capacity. The containers are made of composite wear-resistant materials with 50-years lifetime.
‘Filling and storage complex is fully automated. Circulation system of liquid phase at extremely low temperatures and liquid level and density monitoring sensors ensure required quality and quantity of deicer. It is possible to control these parameters as well as deicer volumes and machinery filling time in a real-time mode using special software. The application can be used on smartphones and computers. Moreover, it allows preparing reports for any selected period. Autonomous backup power source provides smooth operation of the complex,’ says Viktor Gein, UZPM Project Managing Director.
Deicer’s liquid phase loading process is also automated as much as possible. To identify a machine, an operator needs to place magnetic mark on the sensor and then connect the machine to the filling complex using a hose. This way the manufacturer minimized the ‘human-factor’ aspect and eliminated the potential errors. Filling process takes not more than 10 minutes.
The company is also developing a solution for quick filling of machines with the solid deicer. UZPM is planning to accelerate the process using storage tanks automatically loading precise amount of deicer during 7 minutes. It is planned to introduce equipment for solid deicer blends component loading by the end of 2020.