3 ms·

If you situated it somewhere like the atacama desert, then you'd be right on the ocean, and that's where you could source the water from. I'm from Canada & the

by soperj 11y ago

If you situated it somewhere like the atacama desert, then you'd be right on the ocean, and that's where you could source the water from. I'm from Canada & the reason they don't use salt in places like Edmonton & Winnipeg is that it just gets too cold and salt no longer works at that temperature. In Ontario where they get the lake effects they use salt everywhere.

pacificmint 11y ago
> If you situated it somewhere like the atacama desert, then you'd be right on the ocean Well, the Atacama is 8000ft above the ocean, so the energy required to pump the water up there would be significant.
- URSpider94 11y ago
  In fact, about the same as the energy to desalinate it via reverse osmosis ...
- soperj 11y ago
  8000 feet? I'm going to have to ask for a source on that one. For reference, Whistler & Blackcomb are both under 8000ft, and I sincerely doubt there'd be drop offs that size right into the ocean.
  - ectoplasm 11y ago
    Googling for "atacama elevation" yields 7K-13K feet for me depending on the result.
logfromblammo 11y ago
To be more accurate, sodium chloride salt doesn't work. The freezing point depression effect depends on the total number of ions/molecules in solution. A dissolved mole of NaCl produces one mole of Na+ and one mole of Cl-. A mole of urea would be half as effective, while a mole of CaCl2 would be 50% more effective. CaCl2 works down to about -32C (-25F). But at some point, you just can't dissolve enough stuff into the water to stop it from freezing. Fortunately, that is also about the point where ice stops being quite so slippery when you drive or walk on it. So you just throw down white sand for better traction instead, put on the winter tires, and you're good until it melts in the spring. In Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario, Michigan, and New York, the temperatures are such that snow and ice could go through multiple freeze-thaw cycles. If they just left it, snow would melt and re-freeze into smooth, slippery ice. Ice would melt and seep into the roads, then refreeze and pop out big chunks of pavement each time. That's why they salt and plow. It's too cold for it to safely drain away, and too warm to just leave it alone. If there were a substance that allowed snow and ice to stay frozen at higher pressures or higher temperatures, that might be useful there, too.

by soperj 11y ago

pacificmint 11y ago

> If you situated it somewhere like the atacama desert, then you'd be right on the ocean Well, the Atacama is 8000ft above the ocean, so the energy required to pump the water up there would be significant.

URSpider94 11y ago
In fact, about the same as the energy to desalinate it via reverse osmosis ...
soperj 11y ago
8000 feet? I'm going to have to ask for a source on that one. For reference, Whistler & Blackcomb are both under 8000ft, and I sincerely doubt there'd be drop offs that size right into the ocean.
- ectoplasm 11y ago
  Googling for "atacama elevation" yields 7K-13K feet for me depending on the result.

logfromblammo 11y ago

To be more accurate, sodium chloride salt doesn't work. The freezing point depression effect depends on the total number of ions/molecules in solution. A dissolved mole of NaCl produces one mole of Na+ and one mole of Cl-. A mole of urea would be half as effective, while a mole of CaCl2 would be 50% more effective. CaCl2 works down to about -32C (-25F). But at some point, you just can't dissolve enough stuff into the water to stop it from freezing. Fortunately, that is also about the point where ice stops being quite so slippery when you drive or walk on it. So you just throw down white sand for better traction instead, put on the winter tires, and you're good until it melts in the spring. In Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario, Michigan, and New York, the temperatures are such that snow and ice could go through multiple freeze-thaw cycles. If they just left it, snow would melt and re-freeze into smooth, slippery ice. Ice would melt and seep into the roads, then refreeze and pop out big chunks of pavement each time. That's why they salt and plow. It's too cold for it to safely drain away, and too warm to just leave it alone. If there were a substance that allowed snow and ice to stay frozen at higher pressures or higher temperatures, that might be useful there, too.