Effect of odour-less additive on asphalt flue gas emission and performance of asphalt and asphalt mixture

Abstract

In this study odour-less additive were added to modify the asphalt properties in order to reduce the asphalt flue gas produced during the application process.Three different brands of No. 70 asphalt were chosen as the base asphalt and different dosages of odour-less additive were added to prepare the odour-less asphalt. The effect of the odour-less additive on VOCs, CO, H2S, NO and SO2 were tested by a portable detector to determine the optimal dosage. Then, a gas chromatography was adopted to further analyze the effect of odour-less additive on the compounds in the VOCs. SEM was used to investigate the mechanism of odour-less asphalt. Finally, the effect of odour-less additive on the basic performance of asphalt and on the road performance of asphalt mixtures were analyzed. Research results indicate that the optimal dosage of odour-less additive for No.70 asphalt is 0.04%; The odour-less ratio of the total emissions of the five gases can reach up to 52.9%; Crude oil and the processing technology exert relative huge influence on the concentration of VOCs and the higher the concentration of the compound, the better the odour-less effect, and the odour-less ratio of ethanethiol can reach up to 73.7%. The odour-less asphalt inhibits the volatilization of small molecular substances by increasing the specific surface area of asphalt and improving the inter-molecular cohesion, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing asphalt flue gas; odour-less additive yields little effect on the performance of asphalt and asphalt mixtures.

Keywords

• Road engineering
• Asphalt
• Odour-less additive
• Asphalt flues
• Flue gas purification