22 november 2022

LE2AP recycling technology

With the support of the European LIFE+ program, a technology is developed allowing the production of high quality surfacing layers (SMA and PA) comprising up to 95% reclaimed asphalt surfacing layer at 105-115°C. The reclaimed asphalt is first decomposed into reclaimed stone with 1% bitumen and reclaimed mortar with 10-12% bitumen. The reclaimed mortar is heated, rejuvenated, enriched and homogenized to obtain a high-quality mortar, which is then foamed and mixed with pre-heated reclaimed stones of around 100°C, to produce new surface layers with high quality. This paper aims to discuss the production technics which enable the full-scale demonstration of this technology, especially the main challenge: realization of the mortar production line.

The paper discusses three development phases. Phase I, proof-of-concept: a mortar line was developed for the production and installation of porous asphalt test sections in 2016 using makeshift equipment with a production capacity of 20 ton/hour. Phase II, optimization: the mortar line is further optimized during the demonstration of SMA sections in 2018 and also 2LZOAB 16 sections in 2020, using the makeshift equipment and with a production capacity of 80 ton/hour but still limited capacity. Phase III, industrialization: in this phase the aim is to develop a mortar line which is to be incorporated in an asphalt plant allowing full capacity production of high-quality surface layers comprising up to 95% reclaimed asphalt produced at 105-115°C with limited energy use and CO2-emissions and even larger reduction of CxHy and other pollutants.