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US 6,464,148 B1Granted
Snowmaking process
AssigneeAquatrols Holding Co., Inc.
InventorsDominic Charles Costa, Stanley J. Kostka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to artificial snowmaking and specifically to the discovery that by introducing an effective amount of organo-modified polysiloxane material to the water being supplied to the snow guns, the quality of the snow thus made is significantly enhanced.
Claims4
A method for making intermediate quality snow comprising the steps of:
- a) incorporating an amount of organopolysiloxane surfactant into water to produce a snow property enhancingly effective composition;
- and
- b) spraying said composition in the form of droplets into a fan-generated large volume, unidirectional mechanical movement of air at substantially atmospheric pressure and at a temperature below about 0° C., thereby to effect at least partial crystallization of the droplets of the composition in said spray to form the intermediate quality snow.
A method for making intermediate quality snow comprising the steps of:
- a) incorporating into water an amount of organopolysiloxane surfactant to produce a snow property enhancingly effective composition, the organopolysiloxane surfactant being of the formula:
- MDyD′xM
- wherein
- M=Me3SiO0.5
- D=Me2SiO
- D′=Me R SiO
- Me=CH3
- R=CnH2nO(C2H4O)a(C3H6O)bR′
- wherein
- n is from 2 to 4;
- a is from 3 to 25;
- b is from 0 to 25;
- wherein the oxyalkylene groups are random, block or mixtures of oxyalkylene units;
- R′=hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or an alkyl ester group wherein the alkyl group of the ester has 1 to 4 carbon atoms
- y=0 to 5;
- and
- x=1 to 5;
- and
- b) spraying said composition into a fan-generated large volume, unidirectional mechanical movement of air at substantially atmospheric pressure and at a temperature below about 0° C., thereby to form droplets and to effect at least partial crystallization of the droplets of the composition in said spray to form intermediate quality snow.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.