Facing the winter challenges for railways in Europe - “Winter

Winter and Railways
RAIL SYSTEM FORUM
SECTOR «ROLLING STOCK»
SECTOR «INFRASTRUCTURE»
Facing the winter challenges for railways
in Europe - “Winter & Railways”
Fact Sheet “De-icing”
© Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (UIC)
Rail System Forum (RSF)
c/o
Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (UIC)
16, rue Jean Rey
75015 Paris
France
Version 1.0
th
Paris, October 20 , 2010
Author: Enno Wiebe (UIC)
Co-Author: Lutz Friedrich (DB)
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Winter and Railways
De-Icing
De-icing is the process of removing frozen contaminant, snow, ice, slush, from a surface.
Anti-icing is the process of protecting against the formation of frozen contaminant, snow,
ice, slush on a surface. (mainly road and aviation sector)
De-icing can be accomplished by mechanical methods (scraping, pushing); through the
application of heat; by use of dry or liquid chemicals designed to lower the freezing point of
water (various salts or brines, alcohols, glycols); or by a combination of these different
techniques. De-icing fluids are always applied heated and diluted. Dry chemicals may be
applied dry, or may be pre-wetted with brine or other liquids that help them stick to the paved
surfaces and start melting ice more quickly.
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