Abstract
This research is focused on the production process of the asphalt used for roads, in order to gather the information required for developing an environmental management program in a road construction company. Life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology was used to evaluate the environmental profile of the batch production process of dense graded hot mix asphalt, in terms of its environmental impact. It was found that the environmental impact of the process is caused mainly by the stages where the asphalt binder is involved, such as heating, stock, weighing and mixing.
According to the results, three alternative scenarios were proposed for improvement, where the input of the asphalt binder to the heating process is partially replaced with three different additives (polyvinyl resin, amine-based, and a powder synthetic zeolite). The comparison of these three scenarios showed that the amine-based liquid additive is the best to decrease the environmental impact due to the asphalt binder processing.
