This depends on the customer’s requirements, and any extra costs the customer is willing to incur to achieve the noise levels they require. Generally, with the standard noise suppression package option, people working outside the snowmelter can quite comfortably talk to each other.
Is the interior of the unit well enough protected to guard against all the junk (concrete blocks, steel fence posts, etc.) that may be loaded and can damage the unit?
Trecan Snowmelters are very well built to handle all manner of debris, and are very easy to clean out. The portable Snowmelter melting tank walls and floor are typically 3/16 to 1/4 inch steel plate stiffened with HSS members. (However, they are not designed to be rammed by front-end loaders or any other heavy equipment).
Where can the sediment be land filled?
The sediment could go to the same place as the debris picked up by the city street-sweeping vehicles, or the vacuum trucks that clean out the storm sewers.
If you discharge to a storm, do you discharge to a pond that will trap sediment before discharging the water? Does the unit collect a lot of sediment?
Most of the sediment (typically sand or grit) is trapped in the Snowmelter melting tank. If the sediment is light or fine enough to stay in suspension in the water, then this sediment can leave with the water. In this case a discharge pond might be necessary – again depending on the concentration or an intercept. For a pit type Snowmelter, the melting pit can be quite large, allowing for a lot of sediment to accumulate – thereby decreasing the frequency of cleanout. Portable Snowmelters by virtue of being portable have a smaller (relative) melting tank, so depending on the ingress of sediment (debris), may need to be cleaned out every shift or once a day. Again, it really depends on the amount of debris in the snow entering the melting tank/pit.
Do you have any data on the discharge water?
There is approximately 240 US Gallons of water generated per 1 short ton of snow melted. The discharge water quality really depends on the particular contaminants in the snow being melted. A properly maintained and operated Snowmelter will not degrade the discharge water quality by any measurable amount.
If you discharge to a sanitary sewer, do you require permits or must you pay a rate to discharge to the sanitary sewer? Do the sewer-use by-laws regulate the discharge?
As Trecan is a supplier of both portable and stationary types of snowmelters, we are not usually involved in acquiring any type of operating permits for the customers. A snowmelter basically speeds up the natural process of melting snow. If, for example, a shopping mall parking lot contains contaminated snow, which is left to melt naturally, the melt water will most likely run into a storm water catch basin. The liquid type contaminants will enter the catch basin while the solid debris will lie all over the ground – or blow all over the place, as plastic bags seem to do.
Do you discharge the melt water to a sanitary sewer or storm sewer?
Melt water can be discharged to either system, depending on the customer, and local regulations. The water leaving the snowmelter is usually cleaner than the snow entering the snowmelter. During the melting process, the heavy debris in the melting snow falls to the bottom of the melting tank where the debris will need to be cleaned out periodically and taken to the dump. Floating solids (larger than the discharge screening) would also be captured in the melting tank. Any snow contaminated with salt, oil, glycol etc would pass through the snowmelter. A catch basin with an oil and particulate interceptor to accept melt water would be prudent if oil contamination is an issue. Glycol contamination is not normally a problem except at airports. For example, Pearson International Airport’s Central De-Icing Facility directs all the melt water through their real-time glycol concentration monitoring system. Melt water with a glycol concentration over a regulated threshold is stored in large underground storage tanks for later reprocessing. Melt water below this threshold is discharged to the municipal sewer system.
What are the energy costs of the unit in gallons per hour?
Typically, one ton of snow requires 1.5 US gallon of diesel (heat energy) to melt. This will vary depending on snow density, types of contaminants, air temperature, elevation and to some extent on the capacity and configuration of snowmelter (the larger the capacity, the more chance the water leaving contains slush – therefore less energy is used to melt.
How do I figure out what size snowmelter or how much melting capacity is need for my particular area and or how many hours it will take to melt?
The formula for calculated snow tonnage is:
{Depth of snow (inches) X Area to clear (sq.ft.)} /4000 = Tons of snow. Next, divide the tons by the size of the snowmelter to calculate how many hours it will take to melt the snow.
What types of fuel can Snowmelters use?
Our snowmelters do not run on gasoline. They do run on furnace oil (#2 oil) or diesel, #1 oil, and certain types of jet fuel or natural gas.