Rheological and Chemical Characterization of Biobinders from Different Biomass Resources

Abstract

The increasing costs and strong worldwide demand for petroleum and the adverse environmental impact of the consumption of nonrenewable energy sources have encouraged the development of alternative sources of renewable energy. One source of renewable energy can be developed in biorefineries, where biomass feedstocks can be converted to biocrude oil through thermochemical processes. Biocrude oil can replace petroleum-based transportation fuels and can be used to build and maintain transportation infrastructure, which requires an energy-intensive process that consumes natural resources, including mineral aggregates, steel, cement, and petroleum-based binder. This study aimed to characterize biocrude oil as an alternative binder material, which is referred to here as biobinder. The hydrothermal liquefaction technique was used to produce biobinder from spirulina algae (microalgae), swine manure, and nanoalgae. A chemical analysis was performed with the saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes technique to characterize the percentage of different components present in the biobinder. A rheological characterization of biobinders was conducted to evaluate their feasibility for use in pavement construction and to predict their performance during the service life of a pavement. Surface free energy properties of biobinders also were determined with the use of a sessile drop device to characterize adhesion properties. The results indicated that biobinder had significantly different rheological and chemical properties than conventional asphalt binder. When blended with conventional binder, biobinder showed the potential to reduce the stiffness of original binder. As a result, it might be used to rejuvenate mixes with recycled asphalt materials or find an application under low-temperature conditions.

Thermal and Fatigue Evaluation of Asphalt Mixtures Containing RAP Treated with a Bio-Agent

“…The main reason for recycling milled asphalt mixtures is the decreased need for new material (aggregate and bitumen) in the production of new asphalt mixtures. It should be highlighted that reused bitumen serves as a fully functional, albeit aged, bitumen [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

Synthesis of Asphalt Binder Aging and the State of the Art of Antiaging Technologies

“…Apart from the improvement at low-temperature properties, the high temperature rutting resistance of manure-based rejuvenator has been proved as well. Chemo-rheological studies conducted using bio-binders from spirulina algae (micro-algae), swine manure, and nano-algae from others (75). Bio-binders were blended with a conventional AB and the rejuvenating effect was demonstrated estimating also the durability enhancement of AB at low temperature conditions.…”

Investigating the pavement performance and aging resistance of modified bio-asphalt with nano-particles

“…Bio-oil has been introduced as a replacement for traditional asphalt materials, owing to its advantages in environmental protection, low costs, and abundant resources. The physicochemical characteristics and pavement properties of different types of bio-oil modified asphalt binders have been extensively analyzed in recent years [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The results have revealed that bio-oil modified asphalt binders can provide better low-temperature performance than traditional asphalt binders, as the bio-oil alleviates the thermal stress more easily [13].…”

“…Fini et al [1] discovered that a bio-asphalt binder might decrease the high-temperature grade of asphalt binders. Gao et al [2], Sun et al [3,4], Yong et al [5], Wang et al [6], and Dhasmana et al [7] found that the bio-oils weakened the stiffness and temperature stability of asphalt binders at high temperatures. Mirhosseini et al [8] indicated that the high-temperature performance of a bio-asphalt binder could be adversely affected owing to the softening effect of bio-oil.…”