Deicer

deicer [dē′īs·ər]

(aerospace engineering)

Any device to keep the wings and propeller of an airplane free of ice.

(materials)

Any substance used to keep a surface free of ice or to rid it of ice; ethylene glycol is used to deice windshields of automobiles and airplanes.

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Deicer 

a device designed to protect airplanes and helicopters from the formation of ice. There are mechanical, chemical, thermal, and combination types.

The mechanical deicer removes ice by means of pulsating air chambers made of rubber and installed in places where ice forms. Other mechanical deicers use an electromagnetic field that creates vibrations on the aircraft skin. Chemical deicers use a liquid that dissolves the ice or lowers the freezing point of water; these include glycol compounds, ethyl alcohol, or alcohol-glycerine mixtures. The liquid is supplied through a porous material covering the surface being protected. It is possible to use soluble coatings that melt the ice, which is then thrown off of the surface by the airflow. Thermal deicers either heat the protected surface continuously or melt the ice periodically; the ice is then blown from the surface by the airflow.

Combination devices use more than one of the methods described above. The most common types are hot-air and electrothermal deicers. The hot-air type features a second, usually corrugated, skin fitted to the inside of the surface being protected, such as the leading edge of a wing. Warm air is fed through the channel formed by the second skin. Electrothermal deicers may use wire heating elements in the form of a metal mesh, a metal coating sprayed on the surface, or a similar system.

REFERENCES

Trunov, O. K. Obledenenie samoletov i sredstva bor’by s nim. Moscow, 1965.
Protivoobledenitel’nye sistemy letatel’nykh apparatov. Moscow, 1967.

G. V. KOMISSAROV