Thomas More

After the experiment that I did in the laboratory, I have come to conclusion that calcium chloride (CaCl2) would be the best deicer to use on a naval base instead of sodium chloride (NaCl) and ethylene glycol (C2H6O2).

In order to melt ice, deicers lower the freezing point so that the ice melts at lower temperatures than normal. CaCl2 has a freezing point depression of -3.35 °C, NaCl has -2.6 °C depression, and ethylene glycol has -2.5 °C based on the experiment. The more the freezing point is lowered, the faster the will melt. NaCl and ethylene glycol can lower the freezing point a bit, which can be a problem at lower temperatures. CaCl2 melts ice quickly and lowers the freezing point easier than NaCl and ethylene glycol.

Moreover, using CaCl2 to melt ice proved that the rate of melting ice is faster than NaCl and ethylene glycol. In 5 minutes, CaCl2 melted 6.25 ml of ice; NaCl melted 3.51 ml of ice; ethylene glycol melted 1.00 ml of ice. Based on these results, CaCl2 melted the most ice quickly and effectively.

As an environmental impact of these deicers, NaCl can harm some aquatic plants and animals by disrupting their osmoregulation ability. Ethylene glycol can show no toxicity at low doses, but if we use it for roads we need to use it more, because its melting rate is not high enough, so it can be harmful to the environment. CaCl2 is relatively harmless to plants and soil so that using CaCl2 can be more effective than using NaCl and ethylene glycol to melt ice.

Money shouldn’t be a problem. The prices of deicers are as follows: NaCl - $2.593/kg, CaCl2 - $50.243/kg, ethylene glycol – $8.135/kg. If money is a problem and if the cheapest is bought, it can give more harm than the expensive one. Also, buying and using expensive one will be cheaper in the long run because of its effectiveness. CaCl2 is the most expensive, but it has the most effect on ice, lowers freezing point more than others and melts ice easily. I think life should come before the money if we think about the harms.

In conclusion, CaCl2 would be the best deicer in terms of freezing point depression, melting rate, environmental impact. I respectfully recommend CaCl2 for the naval base.