Novel uses of vegetable oil in asphalt mixtures

• Main Author: Bailey, Helen Katherine
• Published: University of East London 2010
• Subjects: 665
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.532999

Sustainable development has become a key ideal which must be translated into the real world, leaving scientists and engineers confronted with meeting demanding tasks of far-reaching environmental, economic and social objectives. Products must be developed that can be manufactured in environmentally acceptable ways with minimum consumption of energy and raw materials, whilst maintaining as favourable an ecological balance as possible [Metzger, 20011. Global drivers have led the construction industry to consider the use of recycled and waste materials to aid sustainability. A key area for development is in the use of alternative binders for asphalt. A primary target of this investigation was the development of technical knowhow for blending of bitumen and vegetable oil (both virgin and used) to produce a range of equivalent penetration grade binders referred to henceforth as Vegetex. This thesis begins by exploring and critically reviewing current applications of used vegetable oil in industry, followed by a review of current construction applications, along with present developments in asphalt mix production for pavement applications; whilst also documenting the technical development of Vegetex from exploratory laboratory work through to laying trials outlining, whilst also summarising, key features and benefits, current intellectual property status and environmental considerations. Following an in depth laboratory analysis, numerous full scale manufacturing trials were carried out. Work has shown that partial substitution of bitumen with used vegetable oil (UVO) can produce a wide range of standard binder grades, that comply with BS EN requirements for paving grade bitumen and that meet Sector Scheme 14 requirements thus enabling the product to comply with quality management systems. It has been shown that Vegetex material composites manufactured using traditional asphalt plants, delivery vehicles and laying equipment as currently used by the asphalt industry, retains similar or improved performance in compaction,