Study of the Incorporation of Ladle Furnace Slag in the Manufacture of Cold In-Place Recycling with Bitumen Emulsion

Abstract

Cold in-place recycling with bitumen emulsion is a good environmental option for road conservation. The technique produces lower CO2 emissions because the product is manufactured and spread in the same location as the previous infrastructure, and its mixing with bitumen emulsion occurs at room temperature. Adding materials with cementitious characteristics gives the final mixture greater resistance and durability, and incorporating an industrial by-product such as ladle furnace slag (of which cementitious characteristics have been corroborated by various authors) enables the creation of sustainable, resistant pavement. This paper describes the incorporation of ladle furnace slag in reclaimed asphalt pavements (RAP) to execute in-place asphalt pavement recycling with bitumen emulsion. Various test groups of samples with increasing percentages of emulsion were created to study both the density of the mixtures obtained, and their dry and post-immersion compressive strength. To determine these characteristics, the physical and chemical properties of the ladle furnace slag and the reclaimed asphalt pavements were analyzed, as well as compatibility with the bitumen emulsion. The aforementioned tests define an optimal combination of RAP (90%), ladle furnace slag (10%), water (2.6%), and emulsion (3.3%), which demonstrated maximum values for compressive strength of the dry and post-immersion bituminous mixture. These tests therefore demonstrate the suitability of ladle furnace slag for cold in-place recycling with bitumen emulsion.

Evaluation of Physical, Chemical, and Environmental Properties of Biomass Bottom Ash for Use as a Filler in Bituminous Mixtures

“…According to the hypotheses developed, and taking as a basis a new circular economy in which waste is the raw material for new materials [3], various research projects have been carried out in which industrial by-products were used in bituminous mixtures [4,5]. The wastes used in bituminous mixes have been ladle furnace slag [6,7], electric arc furnace slag [8], reclaimed asphalt pavement [9,10], scrap tyres [11], recycled glass [12], ceramic dust [13], etc. In most cases, the results were acceptable and demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating waste into bituminous mixtures for roads, reducing the environmental impact through their use [14].…”

Evaluation of the Physical, Chemical and Environmental Properties of Ladle Furnace Slag for Their Utilization as Filler in Bituminous Mixtures

“…This has demonstrated the cementitious properties of ladle furnace slag [28]. Accordingly, this waste has interesting particularities for its use as a filler in bituminous mixtures [29][30][31]. However, it is necessary to carry out a chemical characterization to determine which compounds are pollutants or harmful to the final product; and a physical characterization must be carried out to corroborate that it does indeed have the appropriate properties for use as a filler.…”

Study of the Incorporation of Biomass Bottom Ash as a Filler for Discontinuous Grading Bituminous Mixtures with Bitumen Emulsion

“…Research into the improvement of production processes is mainly based on the use of new techniques to reduce the temperature at which bituminous mixes are formed, as these are the main element in the production of high-quality, comfortable, and safe roads [18]. Temperature reduction techniques are mainly based on the use of bitumen emulsions [19], as the mixes are formed with this binder at ambient temperature, thus avoiding the heating of the bituminous mix at high temperatures by fossil fuels [20]. At the same time, and with the aim of reducing the extraction of raw materials, waste has been reused for the formation of bituminous mixtures.…”