Evaluation of natural asphalt properties treated with egg shell waste and low density polyethylene

Asphalt deposits are distributed in many areas on earth and released natural asphalt of various chemical composition. Rheological properties of natural asphalt are usually improved by the addition of synthetic additives to convert it into a useful material for various industrial applications. In this work, the chemical composition of natural asphalt obtained from Al-Qayyarah/Iraq was analysed to detect its alluvial system using column chromatography and infrared spectrophotometer. Moreover, Natural asphalt was then treated by the addition of food waste product particularly eggshell powder (ESP) and commercially available low density polyethylene (LDP) in different ratios. The asphalt was separated into four main parts using column chromatography in a manner called SARA. The relative amounts of the paraffin compounds (28.58%), aromatic (29.34%), resins (19.88%) and asphalt (20.04%) determined the quality of asphalt system. The study showed that the aromatic and resin parts ratio were higher than the asphaltene part added to the negative value of penetration index. The results indicated that natural asphalt has a colloidal system of SOL type and its rheological properties were improved by the addition of both additives (ESP and LDP). This was confirmed by the application of various thermal and physical tests (softening, penetration, ductility, viscosity and water absorption tests).

Automated summary

The chemical composition of natural asphalt and its rheological properties were analyzed in this study. It was found that the addition of additives improved the flow characteristics of the asphalt. Furthermore, the study highlighted the importance of the chemical composition of asphalt in determining its quality and application performance.