Performance and inorganic fume emission reduction of desulfurized rubber powder/styrene–butadiene–styrene composite modified asphalt and its mixture

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2022-09, Vol.364, p.132690, Article 132690
• Main Authors: Li, Haibin, Feng, Zixuan, Liu, Hua, Ahmed, Abdulakeem Temitope, Zhang, Mingming, Zhao, Guijuan, Guo, Ping, Sheng, Yanping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asphalt mixture; Asphalt mixture performance; Composite modified asphalt; Fume emission reduction; Rubber asphalt; SBS modified asphalt
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132690

Rubber asphalt (RA) and styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) modified asphalt are widely used for all roads grades. However, the fumes generated by RA preparation as well as the high cost of SBS modified asphalt have limited their widely development. To address these challenges, desulfurized rubber powder (DRP) was developed as a cheap and clean modifier. Herein, DRP and SBS were applied to produce composite modified asphalt. Afterward, experiments were performed to evaluate the performances of the resulting blend. The basic physical properties of the DRP/SBS composite modified asphalt were satisfactory when DRP and SBS comprised 15% and 4% of the blend, respectively. Regarding the road performances, the DRP/SBS composite modified asphalt mixture performed much better than SBS modified asphalt mixture. Moreover, microcosmic property tests and inorganic fume emission monitoring indicated that the DRP/SBS composite modified asphalt reduced fumes because of the stable chemical bonding of DRP, absorption of the light components, and increased swelling. Finally, the DRP/SBS composite modified asphalt and its mixture significantly reduced SO2 emissions by more than 40% and NO2 and NOx emissions by more than 50%, which demonstrated their potentially significant contributions toward field construction application and environmental protection.