Modeling the Impact of Airport Deicing and Anti-icing Activities on Dissolved Oxygen Levels in the Receiving Waterways

Abstract

This paper evaluates the efficacy of the environmental management system (EMS) at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in capturing spent aircraft deicing fluids to prevent their discharge into receiving waterways. DFW claims that its EMS captures the spent aircraft deicing fluids completely, leaving only the spent aircraft anti-icing fluids to contribute to drip and shear during taxiing and takeoff and subsequent runoff to the waterways. Glycols in the aircraft deicing and anti-icing fluids reduce dissolved oxygen (DO) in the airport's receiving waterways upon mixing with it during aircraft deicing operations. To evaluate the airport's EMS claim, two decision tree models were built: one with anti-icing glycol usage as a predictor variable, and one with separated deicing glycol usage and anti-icing glycol usage as predictor variables. The analyses suggest that deicing glycol usage is more significant for predicting DO concentrations in the airport's receiving waters than is anti-icing glycol usage.