The performance of aged asphalt materials rejuvenated with waste engine oil

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

The ability to recycle large amounts of asphalt pavement hinges on the capability of restoring the properties of the aged asphalt binder contained within the old pavement to that of virgin binder. Common practice in asphalt pavement recycling is to blend reclaimed asphalt pavements (RAP) with a recycling agent to chemically restore the aged asphalt binder. Waste engine oil from automobiles has been shown to improve asphalt binder when applied in small quantities, with the added advantage of being a waste product itself. Using waste engine oil as a chemical additive to restore the properties of RAP uses one waste material to increase the recyclability of another, which is environmentally and socially desirable.In this study, a PG 58-28 neat, virgin binder was blended with reclaimed asphalt binder (RAB) and waste engine oil. The blends were then tested to study the interactions between RAB and waste engine oil. Using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), the differences in the samples were compared using the structural indices associated with asphalt binder aging. This testing revealed a decrease in the two aging indices of the blended asphalt binder, indicating that waste engine oil has the ability to chemically restore aged asphalt binder.Asphalt mixture testing was then performed with mixtures of virgin asphalt, virgin binder, RAP and waste engine oil, in quantities similar to the binder testing, to see if the rejuvenation shown in FT-IR led to an improvement in the performance of the pavement specimens. After specimens were created, testing for freeze thaw durability, and rutting susceptibility was conducted. The results of the mixture testing failed to show an improvement of the freeze thaw durability or rutting susceptibility of specimens created with RAP and waste engine oil when compared to mixtures containing only new materials.

Publisher's Statement

© Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.6135/ijprt.org.tw/2014.7(2).145

Publication Title

International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology

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