How to best melt a bunch of snow using metal and heat?

[Darwinspet]

TL;DR Summary

I tried an iron to melt the snow and it worked until I think the plate got cold (or the snow got packed from pressing down). I'm wondering if I should be looking for something that stays hot, or focus on another approach

Hi everyone,

So I have a bunch of snow that I am trying to find the fastest way to melt (and get rid of the water).

I tried using a clothes iron and it seemed to work at first until the depth got too much (it worked well until perhaps about 2 inches of depth). I think the iron's plate got too cold from contact with the snow and then I had to remove it from the snow so it could get hot again and melt more snow. Perhaps also the downward pressure caused the snow to pack, making it even harder to melt?

I think the iron's plate is aluminum or steel. Would changing the plate to a more conductive material like copper help? What if I soldered on copper rods to penetrate deeper into the snow? Or what if I soldered on "walls" to the iron's plate, and made it into some kind of box to isolate it from the surrounding snow? Would that help melt the snow more?

I'm not really concerned about electricity price, but don't want to go make something out of diamonds even if that's better at conducting heat. I'm really just looking to see if it's possible for me to melt a bunch of snow using really hot metal. Obviously I could eventually melt it all with a clothes iron, but that would take way too long based on my recent experiment.

And as for why I'm doing this... uhh, I guess I just tried melting it with my clothes iron after seeing a friend's hot steel rod melt a bunch of snow and I wondered if I could melt even more snow, like a lot more lol.

Do you have any suggestions on approaches to melting deep snow even faster?

Thank you

 

[Nugatory]

Do you have any suggestions on approaches to melting deep snow even faster?

Set your goal first. How much snow do you want to melt, how quickly?
It takes about 334 Joules to melt one gram of snow. Voltage times amperage equals Joules per second, so you can calculate the amount of electricity you’ll need to get the job done (or equivalently, what’s the best you can do given the capabilities electrical outlet you’re going to plug into).

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.

So I have a bunch of snow that I am trying to find the fastest way to melt (and get rid of the water).

Why melt it when you can shovel it, or throw it away with a snow blower?

 

[BillTre]

The amount of heat a piece of metal could hold for you melting project. it may take reheating the metal or a bigger piece of metal to accomplish your goal.

Alternatively providing something continuously making heat source would not get depleted. This might present safety issues if electricity is involved (like plugging in an iron and putting on the snow.

However a blowing warm air (perhaps from your heated house) could provide a slower way to melt the snow. Construction crews can have blowers blowing air through 6-12" diameter plastic sheet tubes. The blowers are probably expensive.

Some people have under cement heating cables (like under the floor heating in some houses) installed under their driveways/sidewalks. Not likely a quick fix for you I think.

Of course there is salt, but that can have disadvantages due to spreading around chemicals.

 

[DaveC426913]

and get rid of the water).

What are your options for disposal of the water? Street drain?

Seems to me, you might want to start there at the end and work your way back. (Because transporting of the water may give you a idea on how to break up the snow)

 

[Baluncore]

To melt the snow, and "get rid of the water", is a double problem.

Maybe cover the snow with a bell jar, or put it in a vacuum chamber, then lower the pressure to boil any water, and sublimate the snow. Provide the energy needed for the phase transition as IR, that will radiate through the vacuum, from a heat lamp or a bank of IR LEDs. The water vapour will be expelled in the output from the vacuum pump.

I am suggesting you freeze dry the snow.

 

[DaveC426913]

Also, some questions:
How much snow? How deep? Area? Density?
What is the temp there? -5C? -20C?
How far does it have to be moved? (The water, I mean)
How much extra room do you have? (A field? A driveway between houses?)
Budget?