Title

Comparative sustainability assessment of warm-mix asphalts: A thermodynamic based hybrid life cycle analysis

Authors

Authors

O. Tatari; M. Nazzal;M. Kucukvar

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

Resour. Conserv. Recycl.

Keywords

Life cycle assessment; Pavement sustainability; System analysis; Pavements; Uncertainty analysis; INDUSTRIAL; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences

Abstract

Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) has received considerable attention in the past few years as a potential solution for the reduction of energy consumption and emissions during production and construction of asphalt mixtures. However, many concerns and questions are still unanswered regarding its environmental benefits. Although several studies have been conducted to quantify the atmospheric emissions of WMA pavements, the direct and indirect role of ecological resource consumption was generally excluded in these studies. In this study, a thermodynamic based hybrid life cycle assessment model was developed to evaluate the environmental impacts of different types of WMA pavements and compare it to that of a conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA) one. The impacts on the ecosystem were calculated in terms of cumulative mass, energy, industrial exergy, and ecological exergy. Monte Carlo simulation was also conducted to analyze the variability of critical input parameters. The results of this study showed that although the mixing phase is important, it should not be the only phase to evaluate the decreased amount of atmospheric emissions of WMA pavements. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

Resources Conservation and Recycling

Volume

58

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

18

Last Page

24

WOS Identifier

WOS:000300127400003

ISSN

0921-3449

Share

COinS