The Ice Man Cometh

VICTOR PETRENKO THINKS HE HAS the solution to aircraft icing and winter spinouts. A Thayer School engineering professor who has spent years working in the cold realm of ice physics, Petrenko foresees a day—soon—when ice will be forced to loosen its stranglehold on us.

He has developed a technology so efficient that a car battery could generate enough energy to de-ice a jumbo jet in flight or on the ground. Working in a lab cooled to -58 degrees Fahrenheit, Petrenko has designed a thin plastic film impregnated with electrodes to drape over airplane wings. Should ice form, a sensor would be triggered automatically. Then, rather than attempt to melt the ice, Petrenko's invention would use electricity to break apart the hydrogen bonds between metal and ice.

Conversely, reversing the same process can also make car tires less apt to slide on icy roads. Petrenko found that creating a strong electric field increases the friction between tires and ice to the point that driving is as safe as on dry road. "Ice adheres to anything, and it's ubiquitous," says Petrenko.

The electrode attachments are tiny, safe and can be built into virtually any product, including skis, offshore drilling platforms, roofs, power lines, even shoes. So far Petrenko has licensed the invention to truck manufacturer Torvec Inc. for vehicles and B.F. Goodrich Cos. for aircraft and marine applications.

Petrenko predicts that in a couple of years his invention may be a common addition to car tires and windshields, and those signs proclaiming that "Bridges Freeze Before Highway" won't be needed.

Mister Freeze Professor Petrenko,in Thayer's ice physics lab, hasinvented a thin electrified film forde-icing airplanes