EVALUATION OF AIRPORT DEICING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WITH RESPECT TO VARIABILITY IN FLOWS AND CONCENTRATIONS

Saying that there is a best available technology for glycol treatment at airports is like saying there is a best available spouse for a marriage. What works in one case is not necessarily going to work in another. Staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are no doubt struggling with this underpinning of the effluent guidelines program as they develop a rule for airport deicing that is scheduled for promulgation in 2009.Although the glycols typically used for deicing are readily treatable, creating a steady state of predictable flow and concentration for treatment is the true engineering challenge. In this way, the means of treatment is secondary to managing the variability of flow and concentrations that stem from winter storms and springtime snow melt.The paper presents case studies for the modeling of systems at airports in Buffalo, NY and Toledo, OH. The models provide insight in the relationship between storage volume and treatment system loading.