Investigation of the Effect of Lignin on Aged Bitumen
Abstract
Globally, sustainability is an important issue. Bitumen is obtained from crude oil, is solid at ambient temperature, almost completely soluble in toluene, is in a non-volatile, sticky form, and is defined as a waterproofing material. In terms of low carbon dioxide emissions, the asphalt industry is looking for more sustainable options. Lignin is one of the most common natural polymers on earth. Its role is to hold the chemical components, which is the wall material, together in the matrix structure in plant cells and to provide resistance. Millions of tons of lignin are released after pulp production which is considered waste material. Depolymerized fractions cause significant environmental problems due to toxic chemical structures. In this study, short-term aged bitumen was modified by lignin at the rates of 15% and 20% to bitumen weight, and conventional Penetration Test, Ductility Test, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis were carried out to determine the rheological effect. In addition, it was aimed at determining the effective rate of lignin usage. In conclusion, the current research aimed to demonstrate that lignin, as a value-added modifier, is a promising solution with both environmental and engineering values. Also, as the lignin rate increased, the hardening rate of short-term aged bitumen increased in both penetration and ductility tests. Furthermore, SEM data revealed that particles with irregular surfaces are homogeneously distributed in aged bitumen. However, with the increase in usage rate, the distribution of lignin particles in bitumen became irregular.
Keywords
Sustainability , Lignin modified bitumen , Bitumen microstructure
References
- Abraham, H., (1938). Asphalts and allied substances: their occurrence, modes of production, uses in the arts, and methods of testing. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 4th ed.
- Brauns, F.E. and Brauns, D.A. (1960). The Chemistry of Lignin: Suplement Volume Covering the Literature for the Years 1949–1958 (1st Edition). Academic Press Inc. Ltd, New York and London, 804p.
- European Commission. (2015). Closing the loop—An EU action plan for the circular economy. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
- Gonçalves, A.R. and Benar, P. (2001). Hydroxymethylation and oxidation of organosolv lignins and utilization of the products. Bioresource technology, 79(2), 103-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(01)00056-6
- Kumar, A., Choudhary, R., Kataki, R., Kumar, A. (2020). Bioasphalt binders: introducing sustainability in a non-renewable road construction material. Civil Eng. Constr. Rev., 34(4), 34–42
- Liu, H., Fu, L., Jiao, Y., Tao, J. and Wang, X. (2017). Short-term aging effect on properties of sustainable pavement asphalts modified by waste rubber and diatomite. Sustainability, 9(6), 996. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9060996
- Mastrolitti, S., Borsella, E., Giuliano, A., Petrone, M.T., De Bari, I., Gosselink, R., van Erven, G., Annevelink, E., Triantafyllidis, K.S. and Stichnothe, H. (2021). Sustainable lignin valorization: Technical lignin, processes and market development. IEA Bioenergy Task 42 and LignoCOST. 2021 https://task42.ieabioenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/11/Sustainable-Lignin-Valorization_rev26-01-2022.pdf
- McCready, N.S. and Williams, R.C. (2008). Utilization of biofuel coproducts as performance enhancers in asphalt binder. Transportation Research Record, 2051(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.3141/2051-02
- Patel, A. (2022). Risk Management in Petroleum Refinery, Doctoral dissertation, School of Petroleum Management, India.
- Rasman, M., Hassan, N. A., Hainin, M. R., Jaya, R. P., Haryati, Y., Shukry, N. A. M., ... & Kamaruddin, N. H. M. (2018). Engineering properties of bitumen modified with bio-oil. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 250, p. 02003). EDP Sciences.
