In december 2010 part of the roads in the Netherlands were covered with compressed snow. This road had to be closed to remove the ice and snow from the road. A company has invented a tool for this. The tool is based on a jet engine and a hairdryer. Hot exhaust gases coming out of the jet engine were guided to the asphalt to heat up the snow and ice. This process is costing a lot of energy and is very time consuming. It takes some time fo the snow to melt. After that the moist has to be vapourised which costs a lot of energy.
I thought that this proces could be speeded up at lower energy consumption. That is why i invented the concept of a ribbelwaltz. This ribbelwaltz is made out of a steel pipe with big diameter. This idea is published in Cobouw of 12 februari 2010.
On the circumference of this pipe cutting knives are welded. Sensors measure the distance between te waltz and the surface of the road. With this tool you can overcome the problem of damaging the asphalt with the knives. By choosing the right distance between the knives and a special way of sharpening the knives will deminish the danger of damaging the road. Due to the fact that all the holes between the asphalt are also filled with snow and ice the asphalt is stronger. I am not afraid that the asphalt will get damaged.
After the layer of snow and ice is crushed by the waltz, a snowplow can remove most of the ice and snow from the road. Maybe at this stage the road needs some heat so all the snow is gone. Also salt can be used to get te last piece of snow from the road. In Cobouw of 12 februari 2010 i saw a picture of the jet engine with dryer. If you look at this picture then you will see that all produced heat will rise away from the road very quickly. Hot air rises quickly when air temperatures are below freezing. A redesign will help improve the effectivity of this jet engine. When we place a horizontal plate above the air outlet slot paralel to the road surface, the hot air has to stay near the road for a much longer time, using the heat more effectively. The flat plate paralel to the road (or better upside down box) can be supported with tho or more wheels. Now the heat is trapped and more heat will reach the road. With this small design change the jet engine can be at least 2 times more effective.
When we really want to reduce energy consumption the waltz can be a good option.