Cecabase RT® Warm Mix Asphalt

Cecabase RT® Warm Mix Asphalt: innovation helping to lower our planet's temperature

The development programme of additives for warm coated materials was born in the Arkema Rhône-Alpes Research Centre (CRRA) in 2003.  The result of this research has been marketed by CECA since 2006 in the form of the CECABASE RT® product line.  In one year, about ten road paving preparation units have successfully used these products and 80,000 tonnes of warm paving materials were produced with these additives in 2006.

The CRRA team of Gilles BARRETO has developed an additive for CECA containing surface active agents composed of at least 50% renewable raw materials.  When mixed with asphalt, the application temperature on the road surface can be reduced by about 50°C with no effect on performance of the material.  Compared to the classical paving process, the use of these additives reduces energy consumption by 20 to 50%, depending on the process, and considerably reduces dust emission.

A process that uses less energy and is more environment-friendly.

A classical road paving is composed of 95% granules and 5% asphalt extracted from petroleum.  The mixture has to be heated to 160-180°C to obtain the fluidity required for spreading on the road surface.  The incorporation of asphalt additives developed by CECA (2 to 4 kg per tonne of asphalt) enables the application temperature to be reduced to 120°C at the same time as enabling the paving to retain the same properties as a classical paving produced at 160-180°C.

There are three advantages of this "warm" paving:

1. Reduction of energy consumption of 20 to 50%, with the positive effect of reducing gas emissions (carbon dioxide and   monoxide, nitrous oxide) by 20 to 50%.
2. 90% reduction of dust emission when the paving is prepared.
3. This process also improves working conditions for road crews as a result of reduced thermal radiation from the paving.

When designing the CECABASE RT® line, CECA paid special attention to avoid reducing construction productivity: these products use the same technology as that for conventional paving.  These additives are very easy to use since the process involves their simple addition to the asphalt.

For the entire European coated materials market (350 million tonnes per year), the use of these warm paving materials could account for 700,000 tonnes of fuel saved annually:

• the equivalent of the annual heating needs of a city the size of Marseilles (800,000 inhabitants),
• and reduces CO2 emissions by about 1.8 million tonnes.
  

• More information on CECA asphalt additives on www.cecachemicals.com