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To cope with increasingly heavy traffic flows, polymer modified bitumen has been applied for many years. Not only is such an asphalt granulate a valued solution for heavily loaded road constructions, the material is also indispensable in (porous) thin noise-reducing top layers because of its wide range of application possibilities and accepted service life. These are added values that are given even more substance thanks to Latexfalt. Indeed, with Neomex® HPR, the company developed a bio-based rejuvenator that, among other things, completely restores the original properties of a polymer-modified bitumen (PmB) during recycling.
Through the principle of partial recycling, asphalt is increasingly being reused in the Netherlands. One way to do this is with old polymer-modified asphalt (PmA), which contains PmB. "An environmentally excellent raw material," believes Anthon Tolboom, general manager of Latexfalt. "In fact, research has shown that the emission from old PmA granulate is the same as from unmodified asphalt granulate. The chemical structure of the polymers used is similar to that of the bitumen components. Old PmA still contains a content of active polymer that lends itself well to new asphalt mixtures. The use of the bio-based rejuvenator Neomex® HPR now also makes it possible to rejuvenate the bitumen, restore the polymer network and optimally preserve the value of the granulate."
It does not stop there, however. Because the base bitumen gains thermal stability during high-temperature processing of PmB, the material also shows less change than unmodified bitumen when reused. "Thanks to our new rejuvenation technology, horizontal recycling of PmA can become the standard," Anthon continued. "At the same time, such high-grade granulate is used completely and very effectively."
The amount of Neomex® HPR to be used depends on both the percentage of recycled asphalt granulate and the degree of aging of the recycled asphalt. Furthermore, the two components of the rejuvenator must be dosed in a strict order. "We recommend briefly homogenizing the two components separately before use," Anthon said. "Our advisors will be happy to tell you more about it."
