Rheological Properties and Application of Molasses Modified Bitumen in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)

Abstract

The use of molasses as a replacement for bitumen could benefit the pavement industry by improving the performance of the pavement or by lowering its cost. An experimental investigation was carried out to investigate the effect of molasses with different moisture contents on the property of hot-mix asphalt (HMA). Bitumen binders (BB) containing 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% molasses were investigated as molasses modified binders (MMB). Molasses with 24.9% and 5.02% by weight of water were used to investigate the effect of moisture on the MMBs. In addition to the conventional binder tests, additional tests such as the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) test, amplitude and frequency sweep test, performance grade (PG) test, and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) test were performed. The results indicated that most of the properties of the MMBs improved with the reduction in the moisture content of molasses but worsened with the percentage replacement of molasses. The IR spectra show that the carbonyl index decreased with an increasing amount of molasses. The control grade PG58 was improved to PG64 and PG70 when the base binder was modified with molasses and aged with rolling thin film oven (RTFO) consecutively. At a temperature of 58 °C, non-recoverable creep compliance of 3.2 kPa (Jnr3.2kPa) was decreased for each MMB, which leads to improved rutting potential. At a temperature of 64 °C, the Jnr value was decreased only for the MMB containing 5% molasses, and then gradually increased for the remaining MMBs. Generally, the study revealed that low moisture content molasses could be used as a partial replacement for bitumen to enhance the rheological properties of the bitumen.

Characterisations of Bio-Asphalt Incorporating Palm Bio-Oil From Waste Empty Fruit Bunches

“…The spectra peak of the control binder (CS) was comparable to the WBO bio-asphalt with 5, 10 and 15 wt% WBO. Similar results were obtained with control asphalt, poppy capsule pulp bio-asphalt, and molasses bio-asphalt (Gürer et al, 2020;Hareru and Ghebrab, 2020) due to the low bio-oil incorporation in the asphalt binder. Furthermore, the similar spectra indicated no substantial differences across functional groups, even when the dehydration occurred after bio-oil mixing with the control binder (Hareru and Ghebrab, 2020).…”

“…Similar results were obtained with control asphalt, poppy capsule pulp bio-asphalt, and molasses bio-asphalt (Gürer et al, 2020;Hareru and Ghebrab, 2020) due to the low bio-oil incorporation in the asphalt binder. Furthermore, the similar spectra indicated no substantial differences across functional groups, even when the dehydration occurred after bio-oil mixing with the control binder (Hareru and Ghebrab, 2020). After combining the conventional asphalt binder with WBO bio-oil in the current study, the absorbance for the wavenumber ranges of 900 cm -1 to 700 cm -1 and 1260 cm -1 was lowered in all bio-asphalt samples.…”

“…The x-axis represents wave number ranging from 500 -4000 cm -1 , with >1500 cm -1 representing the functional group region and <1500 cm -1 representing the fingerprint region. The peak may be classified as strong, moderate, and weak (Hareru and Ghebrab, 2020). In addition, the y-axis displays transmittance ranging from 0%-100%.…”

Rheological Evaluation of Softened Binders Blended with Aged Asphalt Selected with a High-Temperature Mixing Chart

“…The MSCR test evaluates the mechanical properties of a binder at high temperatures, specifically the performance pertaining to permanent deformation, which correlates to the resistance to deformation accumulated in an asphalt binder [ 52 ]. The test procedure used in this research is based on the standardized test specified in AASHTO TP70 [ 53 ] “Standard Test Method for the Asphalt Binder MSCR Test Using a DSR”.…”

Melas esaslı uçucu kül bileşiğinin bitüm ve bitümlü karışımlar üzerindeki etkilerinin laboratuvar testleri ile incelenmesi

“…Şeker üretiminde atık olarak ortaya çıkan melasın şeker kamışı melası ve şeker pancarı melası gibi farklı türleri bulunmaktadır. Şeker kamışı melasının bitümün tekerlek izi oluşumuna karşı direncini arttırdığı [12], karışım stabilitesinde değişimler oluşturduğu [13] raporlanmıştır. Bunlarla birlikte; şeker kamışı melasının bitümün yüksek sıcaklık performans sınıfını yükseltebileceği, ancak fazla oranda kullanılmasının olumsuz etkileyebileceği görülmüştür [14].…”