Life Cycle Inventory of Asphalt Mixes

Abstract

The significant use of hot mixed asphalt asks for a prescriptive or detailed investigation into the energy consumption of different mix types This thesis provides the results of an investigation into the energy use of different HMAs during its production The goal of this study was to prepare a detailed life cycle inventory of HMA mixes produced in an asphalt batch plant Another objective of this research was to provide a systematic methodology that can be used to quantify and compare the specific energy consumption and equivalent CO2 emission of various types of asphalt mixtures from simple plant material production and energy consumption data The effect of key factors that affect energy use in the production of various types of asphalt mixes were analyzed The key factors that affected electricity consumption and fuel used were moisture content gradation and binder type Energy use and CO2 emissions from upstream processes was referenced from other literatures and databases It was found the type of mix produced had no effect on electrical consumption as plant equipment are operated in similar manner and conditions irrespective of the mix type been produced The key findings were an average of 0 04 litres of fuel is consumed per degree drop in the ambient temperature for each tonne produced and fuel consumption increases by an average of 0 67 litres for each 1% increase in moisture content Polymer modified mixes needed an average of 1 04 litres more than regular polymer mixes per tonne of material dried/heated The site-specific fuel consumption for DG PMDG OG PMOG PAC and SMA were found to be 8 29 9 17 7 52 7 75 7 74 and 8 19 litres/t respectively The results from this research show the significance of understanding energy use of different mixes and identifying areas and factors where energy use can be reduced Reducing energy consumption also reduces related carbon emissions which important or been pushed by many international organizations and governments This study will also help in making decisions to which type of asphalt mix to be selecting considering energy consumption and the environmental aspect

Date of Award	2014 Aug 25
Original language	English
Supervisor	Shih-Hsien Yang (Supervisor)