Alternative Binders for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements: Papers from a Workshop. Held in Washington, DC on January 22-26, 2012.

摘要

Increasing energy costs and the strong worldwide demand for petroleum has encouraged the development of alternative binders to modify or replace asphalt binders. The benefits of using alternative binders are that they can help save natural resources and reduce energy consumption, while maintaining, and in some cases improving, pavement performance. Common alternative binders include fossil fuel, biobinder, soybean oil, palm oil, vegetable oil, engine oil residue, grape residues, swine waste, and pyrolized materials, among others. It has been observed that most, if not all, of these alternative binders contain chemical compositions somewhat similar to those of conventional asphalt binders (hydrocarbons, aromatics, saturates, and asphaltenes, etc.). However, tests indicate significant variability in the properties of alternative binders. In addition, the modification mechanism (chemical) for asphalt with alternative binders depends on the base asphalt and is therefore not well understood. It is critical to evaluate the technical feasibility of incorporating alternative binders into conventional asphalt binders for use in pavements. Because of the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance, the introduction and application of such sustainable and environmentally friendly materials will have significant impact on the national economy as well as energy sustainability.