Brine delivery apparatus and method

A method for the positive flow delivery of brine housed in an onboard brine tank carried by a vehicle comprising the steps of:

• (a) actuating a variable flow positive displacement pump assembly (24) that pumps brine from a brine tank (28) and comprising a pair of cylinder assemblies (40, 42) having a single rod assembly (38) reciprocating therebetween, one cylinder assembly in fluid connection with hydraulic fluid (34) and the other cylinder assembly in fluid connection with an intermediate brine manifold assembly (26);
• (b) withdrawing brine from the brine tank by passing through the intermediate brine manifold assembly in fluid connection with the variable flow positive displacement pump assembly, the brine tank, and an output delivery line;
• (c) delivering brine from the intermediate brine manifold assembly (26) via the output delivery line to a spray nozzle assembly (30) for spraying the brine;
• (d) actuating a hydraulic pump control unit (18) for controlling the variable flow positive displacement pump assembly;
• (e) monitoring the brine delivery method with a system monitor (14) and a control module (16) that permits a vehicle operator to input data therefor, wherein both the system monitor and the control module are in two-way communication with the pump control unit;
• and,
• (f) employing a material calculator to control the amount of brine to be delivered by a vehicle on a roadway route wherein the amount of brine comprises a predetermined quantity of brine per mile driven by the vehicle for a known route of miles independent of and proportional to vehicle speed, wherein the vehicle carries a known number of gallons of brine and a known number of pounds of salt, wherein the material calculator comprises:
• a processor accepting entry values of route miles to be driven, number of times the route of miles is to be driven, number of gallons of brine carried by the vehicle, and the number of pounds of salt carried by the vehicle,
• wherein the processor executes software to calculate a number of gallons of brine per mile that should be dispensed over the known route and a number of pounds of salt per mile that should be dispensed over the known route, and
• wherein the processor feeds an electrical signal to a hydraulic pump pumping hydraulic fluid to a variable flow positive displacement pump assembly to implement the calculated number of gallons of brine per mile to be dispensed for the known route.

A method for dispensing one or more of brine or salt by a truck onto a roadway route for the truck to traverse, comprising the steps of:

• (a) entering the following values into a material calculator onboard the truck:
• (i) number of miles of the roadway route to be driven by the truck;
• (ii) number of times the roadway route will be driven by the truck;
• (iii) number of gallons of brine carried by the truck;
• and
• (iv) number of pounds of salt carried by the truck;
• (b) the material calculator having software therein for calculating values as follows:
• (i) the number of gallons of brine to be dispensed by the truck per mile driven by the truck on the roadway route, and
• (ii) the number of pounds to be dispensed by the truck per mile driven by the truck on the roadway route;
• and
• (c) setting controls on the truck for delivery of brine and salt corresponding to the values calculated in step (b) (i) and (b) (ii) for the truck to dispense brine and salt from the truck driven over the route.