A Method for Producing Fine-Grained Ice from Snow by Compaction

• Main Authors: Diemand, Deborah, Klokov, Velery
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *SNOW; *ICE; *FINE GRAINED MATERIALS; *COMPACTING; MODULAR CONSTRUCTION; CRYSTALLOGRAPHY; SINTERING; FINE-GRAINED ICE; HIGH-PRESSURE COMPACTION; HOT PRESSING; SNOW BRICKS; SNOW COMPACTION; SNOW CONSTRUCTION; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA399588; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA399588

This report describes a preliminary study of the fabrication of building blocks by converting snow directly to ice without the very high energy cost of melting it first. This was accomplished by a hot sinter technique that produced a very fine-grained material that is considerably stronger than natural ice. The very high pressures applied to the snow appear not only to have reduced the grain size present in the raw material (natural snow), but to have completed the sintering process before the block was removed from its form, as there was no convincing increase in strength at any storage temperature over a period of 20 days, nor were there any striking crystallographic changes.