Heated Runways
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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Heated Runways
With all of the chaos being caused at the moment by "Snow Closed" runways is there any possibility of having heated runways to stop the snow laying / ice forming in the first place. It does seem that "allowing" the white stuff to lay on the runway in the first place then attempt to remove it and then treat the surface with de-icer only to begin the whole procedure again an hour later after another "dump" has occured is crazy. I notice that in our street at the moment where there is hard packed snow at least four inches deep, all of the manhole / inspection covers are clear which is know doubt due to the very slightly warmer air inside the below ground drains. If premiership football teams can have heated pitches surely the technology could be adapted for aircraft runways.
Join Date: Oct 2010
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umm let me think 
, take 9L/27R at LHR: 3902m x 50m. so thats 195100m^2, which is a f*** load of heaters. Far to expensive to install, and far to expensive to feed with electricity, sorry Mike, its not going to happen.
, take 9L/27R at LHR: 3902m x 50m. so thats 195100m^2, which is a f*** load of heaters. Far to expensive to install, and far to expensive to feed with electricity, sorry Mike, its not going to happen.
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Maybe some of the hot air generated by politicians and business people 'talking the talk' could be ducted out and used to heat runways, in much the same way as geo-thermal heat is used to supply most of Iceland's heating needs.
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Well I wasn't thinking of Electricty which as we all know is just about the most expensive way to produce heat (at least in the UK it is). The snow and ice free drain covers in our street don't have electric heating !!. I was just wondering if any of our boffins had given any thought to just how runways could be kept snow and ice free.
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Given that most airports occupy vast areas of land, I would have thought a ground heat recovery system could be effective. With heating coils laid under the runway(s) fed by heat recovery pumps scavenging the heat contained in the ground of the airport (and possibly even waste heat from the airport's H&V systems, it ought to be possible.
Having said that, given the thickness of runway concrete, any such system would need to be switched on possibly days in advance of any likely freeze, to overcome the thermal inertia of such huge amounts of concrete.
And the installation cost would be massive. It's not something you can retrofit to a runway, either, so it would mean runways having to be torn up and new ones laid. How many airports could close their runways for a year or more while construction proceeded? So it's only really an option for new airports and how many of those get built these days?
Having said that, given the thickness of runway concrete, any such system would need to be switched on possibly days in advance of any likely freeze, to overcome the thermal inertia of such huge amounts of concrete.
And the installation cost would be massive. It's not something you can retrofit to a runway, either, so it would mean runways having to be torn up and new ones laid. How many airports could close their runways for a year or more while construction proceeded? So it's only really an option for new airports and how many of those get built these days?
Join Date: Oct 2009
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The thing is mike were just not equipped to deal with <extreme weather>of any kind in britain,be it snow, floods, or drought. other countries have had to invest and adapt to cope with snow and ice because they know they are guaranteed to get it for weeks/months at a time every year.where as for all we know this could all be gone in a day or two.
so unless this happens every year for weeks at a time for the next 2or3 decades i dont expect to see much in the way of investment to keep our roads and schools etc open let alone airports in the near future.
keep warm folks
ph.
so unless this happens every year for weeks at a time for the next 2or3 decades i dont expect to see much in the way of investment to keep our roads and schools etc open let alone airports in the near future.
keep warm folks
ph.
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Heat your runway.
You could try FIDO.
http://www.thewarillustrated.info/21...g-airfield-fog
It melts snow as well as clearing fog.
Elf & safety would not like it.
http://www.thewarillustrated.info/21...g-airfield-fog
It melts snow as well as clearing fog.
Elf & safety would not like it.
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So let's assume that we heat the runway and melt the snow. The melted snow, which we'll call water, runs off to the edge and freezes. This blocks any further run-off. Now we have a flooded runway.
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Nice clear warm runway, aircraft lands OK but then still has to find a safe taxiway, a clear stand and an infrastructure that is still operable to process the passengers and get the staff where they need to be, looking at the state of the roads and railways around Gatwick I think shutting until it melts is probably the best option.
As an aside Manchester used to have a heated elevated approach road leading up to Terminal 1 multi level car park, dont think its still used (far too costly)
As an aside Manchester used to have a heated elevated approach road leading up to Terminal 1 multi level car park, dont think its still used (far too costly)
The runway at Offut AFB in Nebraska used to be heated. The 747 command post aircraft were based there as it was HQ Strategic Air Command and it gets a lot of snow in the winter. It may not be now since the cold war is over.
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Well, I've always felt an underground runway might be a good idea.. Just follow the ILS down a tunnel.
Might make go-arounds interesting though!
Might make go-arounds interesting though!