The project ran between November 2023 and June 2024.
Reduction of CO2 emissions has been a focus for the asphalt industry, where great effort is being made to investigate and implement various strategies including use of bio-based materials. This project is to determine whether a bio-oil produced by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is suitable for bitumen application. It consists of production and characterization of HTL-oil, and experimental investigation of bitumen properties after addition of the HTL-oil.
In producing HTL-oil, a mixed wood biomass feedstock was properly selected, as well as the set of process conditions. The obtained HTL-oil was characterized in terms of its chemical and physical properties. Extensive laboratory analyses were carried out on bitumen with the HTL-oil, including selection of base bitumen, binder formulation with the HTL-oil, and various binder tests. It was found that bitumen containing the HTL-oil fulfilled paving binder specification criteria except for solubility. Satisfactory long-term aging properties were also observed. These results indicate the potential of the HTL-oil as a renewable component in bitumen, although more research and development work is needed.
Participants
Nynas AB, RISE Processum and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB.
Budget
The project’s total budget was 1 MSEK.
