winter ice manufacture by snowmaking: a novel approach for massive ice...

Winter Ice Manufacture by Snowmaking: A Novel Approach for Massive Ice Production for a Variety of Industrial and recreational Applications Moshe Alamaro Massachusetts Institute of Technology Summary: I propose that the same snowmaking that is used in ski resorts be used in the winter

to manufacture ice, and that the ice/snow be preserved for the summer to alleviate water shortages

in regions such New England and elsewhere where the winter is cold. Massive ice piles that

are produced in the vicinity of water reservoirs or lakes will be allowed to melt gradually in the

spring and summer, making better economic use of scarce land. Large amounts of ice can also

be used in the summer for providing chilled water for air-conditioning of commercial buildings

and for the operation of new year-round ski resorts.

This concept is based on radical revision of existing snowmaking technologies, which have

evolved through trial and error over the past 50 years. In all that time, no one has performed

a comprehensive analysis to describe or optimize the snowmaking process. According to the

theory behind the proposed new concept, which is based on three-phase fluid, and heat and

mass transfer analyses, the accumulation and production rates of artificial snow/ ice are

proportional to the height from which water is sprayed. To achieve a high rate of ice accumulation,

water should be sprayed from tall towers with a height of 200-300 feet. (Such towers may be

constructed by bungee-jump recreational contractors, for example.)

Copyright © Moshe Alamaro 2017-2020

Artistic Rendering of the Winter Ice Manufacture Concept


The concept of winter ice manufacture (WIM) has been developed to:

Address summer water shortages for communities in Northeast China, New England, and

northern Europe;

Provide an inexpensive alternative to reverse osmosis for desalination;

Provide chilled water for assisting large air conditioning systems of commercial buildings;

Create large ice and snow piles for commercial recreational activities such as summer ski

resorts (as in Australia and Japan) and ice parks and cross-country skiing trails.

The concept calls for large masses of ice to be manufactured in the winter, close to existing

water reservoirs (or rivers), thereby increasing their effective capacity. During subfreezing

atmospheric conditions, water will be sprayed into the air to produce ice, in a process similar to

snowmaking. The pile of ice will be gradually melted during the spring and summer, providing a

continuous supply of fresh water.

Current snowmaking technology uses machines to spray water into cold, dry air. Heat transfer

and evaporation cool the water drops, as they fall. The existing process requires water to be

atomized using high-pressure air and sprayed from a height of a few feet. This requires a high

flow rate of high-pressure air both for fine atomization and initial spray cooling. In the proposed

snowmaking process, however, the water is sprayed from a height of 200-300 feet, leading to an

increase of about two orders of magnitude of the ice production rate compared to conventional

snowmaking. The new method could also eliminates the need for the compressed air.


Artistic Rendering of the Cross Country Skiing Snowmaking Park Concept


Conventional snowmaking requires enormous amounts of energy for air compression used for

water atomization. In the proposed process, spraying the water from high altitudes increases the

free fall time of the drop. This enables increasing the water drop mass by two orders of

magnitude compared to the mass of the drops in conventional snowmaking. Therefore, the new

process allows spraying the water through inexpensive hydraulic nozzles, instead of using

atomizers and energy-intensive compressed air.

Economic Development and Commercial potential: The entire system can be made either static

or site–specific; alternatively mobile or portable systems can be constructed, requiring neither

dedicated on-site equipment nor permanent construction. A company that owns the equipment

can dispatch mobile systems to various municipalities under short-term contracts. Water

authorities would pay a day rate or a fee based on the amount of ice produced. The mobile

system approach increases the utilization rate of capital equipment, especially the high-head

water pumps. Equipment could be relocated during the winter to areas with favorable weather

conditions and the need for water or ice storage.

Inland locations such as in Beijing or Minnesota would be an ideal location for pilot development

and testing, due to favorable winter weather conditions. Also, hardware and facilities at existing

ski areas might be accessed to minimize initial demonstration program costs. Target markets for

operation will include Northeast China, Northern US states such as New England, Midwest and

other areas where the system will be used for alleviating water storage, the creation of new year-

round ski resorts and for cooling for a variety of industrial applications. Large scale farming in the

Great Plains is a second market with potential longer-term impact. Small systems may also be

used in gulf courses to store water from winter to summer. Draw down of the water table for

irrigation is a continuing problem, and ice storage using winter precipitation may supplement the

current pumped supply.


Engineering: This technology can be implemented using available and established hardware

technologies. Performance and cost can be improved by addressing refinements in droplet

freezing mechanisms. These refinements include new nucleation techniques to enhance

and initiate the freezing process of super cooled water drops. Potential techniques for the

production of ice crystals may include electro-freezing and/or the expansion of a dedicated

small amount of compressed humid air.

The engineering development and refinement program will include the development of new

insulation methods to prevent premature melt of the ice. It will also include new spraying

techniques and the development of new control software to address successful operation

during the ever-changing winter weather conditions. New de-icing and fog prevention

techniques will also be developed.

Development Plan, Timetable and Budget: A demonstration development for eight months

is planned for next winter. We seek now $800,000 for project initiation to start with

demonstration development. The demonstration will concentrate on two key technological

milestone issues. The first is the dependency of the mass production rate of ice on the

height from which water is sprayed. This demonstration can be accomplished using cranes

to elevate the spraying nozzles as high as possible. The spraying can use simple inexpensive

hydraulic nozzles instead of expensive atomizers since this concept allows for spraying

relatively large water drops.

The second key issue for the initial phase of development is the production of ice crystals,

which are required for the nucleation of supercooled water drops. This will be accomplished


a variety of nozzle configurations (including existing snowgun hardware technologies). The

development will use borrowed equipment from ski resorts that expressed their willingness to

collaborate and provide in-kind support.

The second phase of development will require both in-kind and cash investment. The in-kind

will include contributions from partner companies, municipalities, suppliers and government

agencies. The required cash investment for the second phase is estimated ~$1.0 million,

depending on the level of in-kind contribution. In the second phase that will take 12 months, all

other issues for development are in the category of system integration that do not pose

technological risk. They include the development of an insulation quilt to prevent premature

melting of ice, the prevention of icing on the spraying tower, the integration of weather data with

operational control and the development of energy and recreational applications for the ice.

Total development time for this program is estimated as 24 months. The total required cash and

in-kind investment is estimated as $1.5-2.0 million

The program goal after 18-24 months is to transfer and franchise the commercial use of the

technology to one or several companies with the technology becoming self-sustaining at that

point.


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