WARM MIX ASPHALT &

HALF-WARM MIX ASPHALT

D.V.AKHILESH M.HEMANTH
• Conservation of non-renewable resources and energy, together with reduced
environmental pollution and working conditions are current global issues.
• Especially in the sector where the highest energy consumption occurs, i.e. in
hot mix asphalt (HMA) production proper incentives should be laid to reduce
the consumption of non-renewable resources.
• Asphalt industry started researching in environmentally friendly production
processes which led to new product called WARM MIX ASPHALT
WHAT IS WARM MIX ASPHALT?
Asphalt mix that includes a technology which improves the
production and placement of conventional asphalt mix at
significantly lower temperatures.
 HISTORY OF WARM MIX ASPHALT
• 1995 -99 - First European experiments, First pavements
constructed in Europe First pavements constructed in Europe
• 2004 - First U.S. field trials under the supervision of National
Asphalt Pavement Association(NAPA)
 HISTORY OF WARM MIX ASPHALT
• August 10th, 2009 - The first field trial of warm mix in India surfactant
based chemical warm mix additive and crumb rubber modified- 500 meter
section - Bawana industrial area owned by the Delhi State Infrastructure
Development Corporation (DSIDC), 11m wide, 45 mm thick.
• April 7th, 2011 on State Highway (SH) 5 in Gujarat between Godhra and
Halol. The warm mix section was one kilometer in length, 7.5 meters wide
and 40mm thick in the bituminous course
NEED FOR WARM MIX ASPHALT
• Temperature reduction – Less Energy Consumption – Reduction in the
usage of burning fuels to heat Aggregates And Binder.
• Decreased production temperatures – Reduced emissions of fumes , odors
at plant and paving site.
• Better performance at cooler temperatures – Hauling distance increased
than HMA – No need to worry about temperature reduction.
• Workers safety improved
NEED FOR WARM MIX ASPHALT
• Fuel savings – 30 to 55 %
• CO2 Emission – 46%
• Nox Emission – 58%
• Sox Emission – 81%
 How much effective in India
• India has the world’s second largest road network after the United
States of America, with a road infrastructure of over 47,000 km.
• The Indian bitumen market that is currently around 5 million tons and
the production of asphalt mix is about 100 million tons and is expected
to grow in the future due to the Governments proposed construction
projects to upgrade the road networks.
• If WMA replaces HMA the cost in production can be drastically reduced
 Warm mix Asphalt
• Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is the generic term for a variety of
technologies that allow producers of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
pavement material to lower temperatures at which the material is
mixed and placed on the road.
• These technology allow to reduce viscosity of asphalt and provide
complete aggregate coating at lower temperature.
• WMA temperature ranges - 100°C to 140 °C where as for HMA its
around 150°C to 170 °C.
 Half-Warm mix Asphalt
• warm mix asphalt mixes are separated from half-warm asphalt
mixtures by the resulting mix temperature.
• Half-warm asphalt is produced with heated aggregate at a
mixing temperature (of the mix) between approximately 70°C
and100°C.
• HWMA uses asphalt emulsion as their binders , whereas WMA
uses original or modified asphalt binders.
Classification of Asphaltic mixes 
 Warm mixing procedures
• WMA technology involves three different types of approaches:
Direct foaming with steam.
Addition of organic waxes
Chemical modification with waxes and surfactants.
 Warm mixing technologies
Direct foaming with steam
The foaming processes are able to significantly reduce high shear
viscosity and vastly increase the bulk volume of an asphalt binder,
allowing for improved wettability at reduced production and/or
compaction temperatures. Zeolites (Aspha-min) can also be used
 Warm mixing technologies
Low-Energy Asphalt
The coarse aggregate is dried and coated with hot asphalt, and then
the wet sand is introduced into the mix. The moisture in the sand
foams the asphalt, allowing the sand to be coated.
The resulting mix temperature is less than 100 °C .
LEA Process
 Warm mixing technologies
Addition of organic waxes
organic additives(sasobit) are used to reduce mixing temperatures
through the release of micro bubbles that help reduce bulk viscosity
 Warm mixing technologies
Chemical admixtures
chemical processes utilizing waxes, fatty acid amides and siloxane type
surfactants, typically decrease compaction temperatures through a
reduction in high shear viscosity and improved lubricity between
aggregate particles.
Warm mixing technologies
 Usage of Warm mix technologies in RAP
• In many countries at present, growing health, safety and
environmental awareness by the general public and the roads
industry can be observed.
• Significant efforts are underway to Recycle materials, save non-
renewable fossil fuels.
 Usage of Warm mix technologies in RAP
• Recycling provides important savings in road construction
• It mitigates environmental impacts, diminishes the use of
hydro-carbon binders.
• Cold in place recycling (CIPR) :
Combination of stabilizers such as foamed bitumen and
cement/lime or emulsion and cement, is used.
 Usage of Warm mix technologies in RAP
• These processes (foamed bitumen and cement/lime or emulsion and
cement) enhance the properties of RAP and granular materials.
• With cold recycling, the final performances of the asphalt material
are not similar to virgin Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA).
 Usage of Warm mix technologies in RAP
• To maximize the value from RA, Hot in-plant reuse is the
preferred option.
• In this process, RA is processed in a hot mix plant and mixed
again with virgin aggregates and virgin bitumen.
• The current range of RA content is almost 100 % for cold in situ
recycling and up to 50 % for hot in-plant reuse.
Advantages of using cold in place recycling
• Short construction times • Extended life span
• Saving of resources • Reuse of material
• Enormous cost savings • Environment friendly
“FUTURE OF ASPHALT INDUSTRY”
 Benefits of warm mix asphalt
Temperature reduction upto 40 °C than the HMA
Ageing during mixing of HMA is reduced

Advancement In technologies made particle coating and

required compaction at lower temperatures easier
Benefits of warm mix asphalt
Production plant modification required is limited ,
can be laid using existing equipment

Reduced use of carbon fuels , lower emissions of green

house gases, lesser fumes generation
Benefits of warm mix asphalt
Lower temperature – cooler working condition
Less steam – Greater visibility – Good work efficiency

Similar or improved performance to hot mix

Lower temp – less oxidation – less binder hardening
 Benefits of warm mix asphalt
Shorter work programmes – reduced plant, labour costs,
Carriage way reopened faster
WMA cools more slowly than HMA allowing WMA to be
successfully placed in lower temperatures - WMA extends
the paving season - It also makes night paving more feasible.
 WORKING
CONDITIONS
 WORKING
CONDITIONS
 LIMITATIONS OF WARM MIX ASPHALT

• Lowering temperatures may not allow for proper drying of aggregates,

especially at the mixing temp of 90–110°C. If the aggregate is not dried
completely during the mixing process, the presence of moisture can
prevent the binder and aggregate from adequately bonding, which can
lead to moisture damage of mixtures and pavement failure
• The compounding effect of lowered mix production temperatures
(leading to less oxidation) and the possibility of residual moisture in the
aggregate may result in moisture damage and rutting failure of the
asphalt pavement
 LIMITATIONS OF WARM MIX ASPHALT

• With cold recycling, the final performances of the asphalt material are
not similar to virgin Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
• The HWF bitumen technology results in a reduction in production
capacity of the plant. Most mixture types being produced using HWF
technology require substantial application of binder to be foamed, which
takes extra time.
• Although the HW foamed mix does not provide the same compressive
strength as the equivalent HMA at temperatures lower than 25°C, the
HW mix has comparable compressive strength at higher temperatures.
 References

• An overview of the emerging warm mix asphalt technology Behnam Kheradmanda*,

Ratnasamy Muniandya1, Law Teik Huaa2, Robiah Bt. Yunusb3 and Abbas Soloukia4
• Development of (half-) warm foamed bitumen mixes: state of the art M. F. C. VAN DE
VEN†*, K. J. JENKINS‡k, J. L. M. VOSKUILEN{# and R. VAN DEN BEEMT§**
• Use of emulsion for warm mix asphalt
Mahabir Panda1, Madhan Mohan Padhi2, Jyoti Prakash Giri3
• Warm mix asphalt investigation on public roads – review
Rajiv kumar and Satish Chandra
• Analysis of Warm Mix Asphalt Additives
Benjamín Colucci, PhD, PE, PTOE, FITE, PAE, JD