Trecan Equipment Snowmelt System
Combating cold climate conditions can be a difficult challenge. Snow and ice build-up can be damaging to company operations, stakeholder bottom lines, and client safety. Mitigating unpredictable cold weather, snowmelt technologies allow for effective snow and ice removal.
Drawing expertise from the implementation of these technologies at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), Aviation Project Managers Brittany Jaramillo and Doug McGregor share unique insights into these systems’ operations.
What are snowmelt technologies?
[Brittany] Simply put, they are systems that melt snow. Equipment snowmelters take snow from parking ramps or surfaces and use a gas burner system to melt the snow and drain it into a storm system.
[Doug] Outside of equipment snowmelters, where you bring the snow to the equipment and melt it, there is also heated concrete. Car washes, sidewalks close to buildings, and emergency exits, are typical locations for implementation. Where there may be a lot of ice or snow piling up that is difficult to remove, you can use hydronic heat inside the pavement to have it easily removed.
What is Michaud Cooley Erickson’s (MCE) role in implementing these systems?
[Brittany] We are not designing the machines; we are providing the infrastructure to and from them. We measure the natural gas, the right pressure, properly size the drain, power the system, and install a domestic water connection close to it. Generally, a lot of piping and plumbing.
Concrete Snowmelt System
Our team utilizes heat trace technologies on the drains from the snow melt. Heat trace is a live electric wire that keeps the pipes warm. This ensures the water is flowing and not freezing, preventing pipe expansion and damage.
What spaces are these systems implemented in?
[Brittany] I would say they’re standardized within the aviation market. The snowmelt system we have successfully used at MSP will likely be used similarly at other projects we are designing, such as Jackson Hole Airport.
Are there any challenges when designing these systems?
[Doug] The hardest challenge is project coordination. Clear communication is always key when designing any system. Making sure all design partners are on the same page from infrastructure to building weight loads. Additionally, equipment may be on backorder, schematics may be unclear, or you may be waiting on an important detail before you can make substantial project progress.
“Clear communication is always key when designing any system. Making sure all design partners are on the same page from infrastructure to building weight loads.”
[Brittany] Alongside coordination, the drainage design can be challenging. There are often heat trace technologies integrated in a drain system, so pipes don’t freeze. We often run into challenges with heat trace failing. These systems are the first point of failure because they are being utilized 24/7.
At MSP, they counteract this issue with highly effective monitoring of those systems. They utilize a local device with a physical indicator light. When staff are surveying the facility, they can quickly see if the indicator light is red (needing attention) or green (currently working). Alongside the physical indicator, MSP technology is all connected to an amazing building automation system. This system sends them a digital indication if a system has failed.
How do these systems benefit the client?
[Brittany] These systems are highly beneficial in parking ramps. This is because it is difficult to remove or store snow without compromising valuable parking square footage. Surface lots may have a good snow removal plan that takes it off-site. Because of this, it is not always necessary for these structures to implement snowmelt technologies.
Loading Dock Concrete Snowmelt System
Outside of a necessity or cost factor perspective, installed snowmelt systems give end clients timing flexibility. If there is a huge snowfall overnight, owners do not have to rely on external service scheduling to ensure their lot is clear and profitable.
Are these systems energy efficient?
[Doug] Heated concrete systems are high energy-use while operating. Despite this, you can effectively regulate when these systems are operating. Utilizing this snowmelt technology also allows the end-user to lean less on chemicals and salt. Take the MSP carwash for example.
The carwash facility previously heavily utilized salt and chemicals, which quickly degraded the concrete. When we renovated the facility, we expanded the heating loop system. MSP now uses less chemicals to de-ice the area. Long-term, this implementation will preserve the concrete and enhance consumer safety.
“As an owner, you must weigh the overall system energy efficiency with the system’s inherent value. Safety, revenue, and asset preservation are huge incentives that often outweigh the energy cost. With equipment snowmelters, you’re able to thoroughly clean parking ramps, which are a huge earner for airports.”
[Brittany] As an owner, you must weigh the overall system energy efficiency with the system’s inherent value. Safety, revenue, and asset preservation are huge incentives that often outweigh the energy cost. With equipment snowmelters, you’re able to thoroughly clean parking ramps, which are a huge earner for airports. With heated concrete, you’re able to minimize chemicals and enhance user safety.
Another value example is the MSP field maintenance building’s utilization of the technology. It’s a large building where MSP stores all its important vehicles, from big snowplows to tractors. We have designed snowmelt systems at every single garage. This ensures they will not slide and hit the garage door before it opens. Those trucks are critical to keeping the airport operational, alongside being worth millions of dollars.
How do these systems impact company sustainability initiatives?
[Brittany] So the two different types of systems, equipment snowmelters and heated concrete systems. We’ve solely utilized Trecan as our equipment snowmelter on projects. Trecan is the industry standard and is the most thermally efficient available. Trecan offers 98% efficiency with submerged combustion technology. Heated concrete systems certainly can be electrified. Nevertheless, they’re still energy hogs due to the resistance heat, which isn’t generally efficient.
Trecan Equipment Snowmelt System
[Doug] When the equipment itself is an energy hog, the big thing becomes system controls. If you can minimize the runtime with the equipment, based on weather events and air temperature, that becomes your best bet at conserving energy.
[Brittany] When thinking of other sustainable snow management initiatives, MSP is an excellent example. MSP does not use snowmelt on their airstrips. They haul snow off the runways, dumping it at an infiltration pond. They designed this area with the ability to permeate a lot of water.
Alongside this, they have a deicing system for their planes where they spray them with a glycol mixture. We then helped design controls for a system that captures and reuses this mixture. The mixture is pumped to their glycol management building where they separate the glycol out of the water. A substantial amount of glycol is then reused, which is a huge sustainability accomplishment. Other future uses for snowmelt technologies are a recapturing of water. Once the snow is melted and drained, it could be recaptured and reused. The recaptured melted snow could be classified as white water after the water goes through a filtration process. We are always looking for new sustainability initiatives to implement with our valued clients, and this could be an opportunity for the future.
