I'm excited to share that my research paper on agro-based deicers is now published in the Canadian Science Fair Journal! Read it here: https://csfjournal.com/volume-6-issue-3-1/2023/11/20/road-salts-its-implications-and-exploring-agro-based-alternatives
Next Steps:
Currently, I am extending my studies into agro-based deicers in my AP Research course. What's new? Instead of exploring specific food products, I will be using carbohydrates. This will increase the homogeneity of my treatments--one of the biggest concerns in my initial experiments--and allow me to generalize to many different food products rather than selecting specific food products. These carbohydrates are sucrose, fructose, and sorbitol--the carbohydrates abundant in the highest concentrations in already tested agro-based deicer food products.
My experimentation comes three-fold. First, I will be bolstering my deicing effectiveness experiment by using the Mechanical Rocker Test Method for Ice Melting Capacity (MRT-IMC). In short, deicer and ice in a thermos are shaken on a moving rocker for some time and the amount of ice left over is measured.
Second, to measure environmental impact, I will be looking at freshwater rather than vegetation. This is because my initial studies explored vegetation and current literature reveals grave insights into the environmental impact of agro-based deicers in water systems (they might, in fact, be more detrimental than chloride salts!). I will be measuring this through evaluating the ecotoxicity of Daphnia manga, an abundant urban water flea.
Third, I will be investigating the physical implications of agro-based deicers on metal. Physical implications are a chief determinant of a deicer’s viability as it correlates with the safety of a city (i.e. preservation of bridges, roads, and other infrastructure) and externality costs (i.e. corrosion on cars, repairing bridges, etc.). The most prevalent metal in bridges and cars is steel. Thus, this test will use steel coupons, half-submerge them in deicer brine, and qualitatively observe corrosivity. Due to time and equipment limitations, other commonly performed friction and ice penetration tests will not be used, though they are other physical implication variables that must be considered in future research.
I look forward to sharing my results--stay tuned!