The Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Emissions of Asphalt Pavement Incorporating Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag by Comparative Study

Jun Xie, Zhihu Wang, Fusong Wang, Shaopeng Wu, Zongwu Chen and Chao Yang
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Jun Xie: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Zhihu Wang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Fusong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Shaopeng Wu: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Zongwu Chen: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Chao Yang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag (BOF), as alternatives for aggregate in asphalt pavement construction, is beneficial to the environment by reducing land occupation and resource consumption. However, the quantitative effects on energy consumption and emissions reduction remains poorly understood due to the unavailability of local life cycle inventory. Therefore, its LCI needs to be built by accounting for the properties of BOF aggregate in terms of high porosity and dust content in BOF, the rainy interference condition that reducing efficiency in production, and transportation distance. Here we investigated the life cycle energy consumption and global warming potential (CO2-eq emission) of asphalt pavement incorporating BOF aggregate by performing a case study with uncertainty analysis. Five scenarios were elaborated and performed in the case study. The results show that the energy required for BOF production is 0.024 MJ/kg, approximately half the energy required for crushed stone of 0.044 MJ/kg. The pavements with BOF can reduce up to 12% of emission compared to ordinary pavement. Considerably more negative impacts of rainy weather on energy consumption of BOF than natural crushed stone can be concluded. Monte Carlo simulation indicates that the order of magnitudes of the energy values were varied, from materials extraction as the maximum contributor to transportation. The benefits for BOF utilization are gradually offset by increased transport distances and the displacement ratios of fine crushed stones, due to the increase in fuel and resource consumption for mixing, construction, and transportation.

Keywords: Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag (BOF); energy consumption; global warming potential (GWP); life cycle assessment; rainy interference condition; production efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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