SYNTHESIS AND DEICING PERFORMANCE OF CALCIUM MAGNESIUM ACETATE FROM DOLOMITIC LIMESTONE OF ABBOTABAD REGION, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) has recently gained much popularity due to its emerging applications in road deicing, and as an industrial adsorbent for removal of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas and other odorous acid gases from gaseous streams. CMA is a multi-purpose, low-corrosion and concrete-safe alternative to the conventionally used sodium chloride (NaCl) deicers. CMA prevents snow and ice from bonding to either surfaces or itself. In the present study, CMA was prepared from dolomitic limestone of Abbottabad region, Pakistan. The prepared samples were characterized through various instrumental techniques like Scanning Electron Microscopy combined with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR).
The performance of CMA was compared with NaCl. It was found that after 24 hours, 15 %, of ice melted, when no deicing agent was used. Likewise, 49.4 %, and 66.4 % of ice melted, when CMA and NaCl were used as deicing agents, respectively. Thus, the rate of ice melting increased by 70 % and 77.4 %, with CMA and NaCl respectively. The analysis showed that CMA could successfully be produced from dolomitic limestone of Abbottabad, and the same may be applied for deicing applications.