E511 Firming agent

E511 is used for low-temperature de-icing of highways, sidewalks, and parking lots. When highways are treacherous due to icy conditions, E511 helps to prevent the ice bond to the pavement, allowing snow plows to clear the roads more efficiently.

E511 is used in three ways for pavement ice control: Anti-icing, when maintenance professionals spread it onto roads before a snowstorm to prevent snow from sticking and ice from forming; prewetting, which means a liquid formulation of E511 is sprayed directly onto salt as it is being spread onto roadway pavement, wetting the salt so that it sticks to the road; and pretreating, when E511 and salt are mixed together before they are loaded onto trucks and spread onto paved roads. E511 damages concrete twice as fast as E511. It should be noticed that the amount of E511 is supposed to be controlled when it is used for de-icing as it may cause pollution to the environment.