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. 2024 Mar 24;17(7):1477.
doi: 10.3390/ma17071477.

Waste Cooking Oil as Eco-Friendly Rejuvenator for Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement

Noemi Bardella  1 , Manuela Facchin  2 , Eleonora Fabris  2 , Matteo Baldan  2 , Valentina Beghetto  1   2   3
Affiliations

Waste Cooking Oil as Eco-Friendly Rejuvenator for Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement

Noemi Bardella et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Over 50 MioT of Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) was collected worldwide in 2020 from domestic and industrial activities, constituting a potential hazard for both water and land environments, and requiring appropriate disposal management strategies. In line with the principles of circular economy and eco-design, in this paper an innovative methodology for the valorisation of WCO as a rejuvenating agent for bitumen 50/70 coming from Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) is reported. In particular, WCO or hydrolysed WCO (HWCO) was modified by transesterification or amidation reactions to achieve various WCO esters and amides. All samples were characterised by nuclear magnetic resonance, melting, and boiling point. Since rejuvenating agents for RAP Cold Mix Asphalt require a melting point ≤0 °C, only WCO esters could further be tested. Efficiency of WCO esters was assessed by means of the Asphaltenes Dispersant Test and the Heithaus Parameter. In particular, bitumen blends containing 25 wt% of WCO modified with 2-phenylethyl alcohol, showed high dispersing capacity in n-heptane even after a week, compared to bitumen alone (1 h). Additionally, the Heithaus Parameter of this bitumen blend was almost three times higher than bitumen alone, further demonstrating beneficial effects deriving from the use of WCO esters as rejuvenating agents.

Keywords: circular economy; reclaimed asphalt pavement; waste cooking oil; waste valorisation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors Noemi Bardella and Valentina Beghetto were employed by the company Crossing S.r.l. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Esters and amides obtained from chemical modification of WCO and HWCO (Hydrolysed WCO).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pictures of a Bruker Ultra Shield 400 NMR spectrometer (left), a Stuart Scientific SMP3 melting point apparatus (center) and apparatus set up for boiling point determination (right).
Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Synthetic strategies for the preparation of WCO esters and amides. (a) ROH, NaOMe, neat, reflux; (b) NaOH 4.5 M, 60 °C, 8 h/HCl 5 M; (c) RNH2 in toluene, 110 °C, 48 h, Dean–Stark apparatus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dean–Stark set up for the transesterification of purified WCO.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pictures of purified WCO (a), WCOH (b), methyl, butyl, octyl, and dodecyl WCO esters (c) and butyl amide (d).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Deposition of asphaltenes observed after 1 h, 1 day, and 1 week in n-heptane; from left to right: aged bitumen (reference), aged bitumen enriched with 25 wt% of additive (II), aged bitumen enriched with 25 wt% of additive (VI), and aged bitumen enriched with 25 wt% of additive (VII).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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