Abstract: A valve for controlling flow of a liquid is provided. The solenoid valve includes a valve body, a spring, and a plunger. The valve body includes an input port, an output port, and an orifice between the input port and the output port. The spring is positioned within a cylindrical cavity of the valve body. The plunger is within the cavity and the position of the plunger in the cavity controls flow of the liquid between the input port and the output port through the orifice. The plunger includes a core and a sleeve. The sleeve is made of a non-metallic corrosion resistant material and provides mechanical interfaces for the plunger. The core is made of a ferritic material.

Abstract: A method of operating a road spray system for distributing a liquid is provided. The method involves determining a degraded status of a road based on road condition information received from a road condition sensor. In response to determining the degraded status, a spray command is transmitted to valve control modules. The spray command is addressed to a selected one of the valve control modules and transmitted over electrical conductors which supply power to the valve control modules. The method also includes determining, at one of the valve control modules, that the one valve control module is the selected valve control module and activating a valve associated with the selected valve control module permitting flow of the liquid through the valve to a spray nozzle. Finally, the method also includes the step of receiving status information from the selected valve control module over the electrical conductors.