This thesis examines the effect of foamed bitumen asphalt technology on reducing emissions and the consumption of natural resources compared to conventional hot mix asphalt, which serves as the reference. The thesis is a critical review of the existing literature in which warm mix asphalt produced with foamed bitumen is compared with conventional hot mix asphalt across three parameters: production temperature, consumption of natural resources, and emissions. We found that warm mix asphalt with foamed bitumen is produced at approximately 30 % lower temperature than hot mix asphalt, without any deterioration of its mechanical properties. The assumption that foamed bitumen enables higher proportions of reclaimed asphalt was not confirmed, as the lower temperature limits its use. The advantage of foamed bitumen lies in the fact that the same proportion of reclaimed asphalt can be achieved already at approximately 110 °C instead of 165 °C, so that the savings in natural resources from reclaimed asphalt and the savings in energy from the lower temperature can be added together. Regarding emissions, we found that lowering the temperature alone reduces CO₂- equivalent emissions by only 4 %, as bitumen, the main source of environmental impact, remains unchanged. The decisive variable is the proportion of reclaimed asphalt, which is the only measure that directly reduces the consumption of virgin bitumen. A substantial environmental advantage is achieved only through the combination of both measures. The main limitations of the review are the industrial origin of the key studies, the lack of independent field research, and the incompatibility of the methods used, while the contribution of the thesis is the connection of the findings of two separate studies into an overall assessment.
|