Recipient Organization
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
240 FRENCH ADMINISTRATION BLDG
PULLMAN,WA 99164-0001
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Sustainable bioeconomy through biobased products that diverts woody biomass and other agro-wastes to beneficial uses is highly desirable. Enabling technologies are needed to further valorize such products while helping mitigate climate change and/or reduce environmental risks. Upcycling agro-wastes will be profitable for both upstream industries (farmers and poultry producers) and downstream industries. This project aims to integrate research, education and extension activities that demonstrate repurposing of agro-waste derived biochars for net-zero built environment, through engineering of biochars that enable high binder replacement level and unprecedented level of carbon sequestration in asphalt pavement. By leveraging the porous characteristics of biochars, one can further employ biochar as a functional additive to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission and enable self-healing of pavement. We have preliminarily demonstrated the feasibility of this upcycling strategy of wheat-straw-derived biochar in the laboratory. This work will advance the critical knowledge on surface engineering and biochar/healant/asphalt interactions to optimize relevant interfaces in the asphalt mixture and maximize the value of renewable feedstocks of interest. Techno-Economic-Environmental benefit analysis will be conducted to quantify the life-cycle benefits for upstream and downstream industries of the engineered biochars. This project is led by WSU, in collaboration with CSU-Chico and UGA. We will work extensively with stakeholders to address their considerations for overall profitability and address end-user requirements, and build community rapport. We will conduct outreach activities, work with diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the three universities, incorporate the developed knowledge into curriculum and webinars, and deploy pilot pavements on tribal lands.
Animal Health Component
35%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
35%
Developmental
40%
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of this research thrust is to maximize the value of agricultural wastes through pyrolysis into biochar and subsequent surface engineering that produces a carbon-negative multifunctional additive for asphalt pavement. Specifically, this research will exemplify the comprehensive utilization and diversion of orchard trimmings, wheat straw, and poultry litter from farms and poultry producers (upstream stakeholders) to beneficial use as biochar to partially replace non-renewable petroleum asphalt material and extend the service life of asphalt pavement (road industry as downstream stakeholder).To achieve the long-term goal, this project selects orchard trimmings, wheat straw, and poultry litter as model materials to manufacture multifunctional additives that enable carbon-neutral and durable asphalt roadways.Overall Objectives: This project aims to integrate research, education and extension activities that demonstrate repurposing of agro-waste derived biochars for net-zero carbon built environment, through engineering of biochars that enables high binder replacement level and unprecedented level of carbon sequestration in asphalt pavement. By leveraging the inherent porous characteristics of biochars, one can further employ the biochar as a functional additive to reduce emission of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) during construction (and beyond) as well as to enable self-healing and extend the service life of the asphalt pavement. We will achieve the following four specific objectives to fulfill this project goal.Objective 1: Sourcing and surface engineering of biochars from different feedstock and characterize their physicochemical properties for beneficial use in asphalt pavement.Objective 2: Developing sustainable carbon-neutral asphalt pavement mixtures and assessing the self-healing and service life.Objective 3: Environmental life cycle assessment of the use of engineered biochars derived from orchard trimmings, wheat straw and poultry litter in asphalt pavement.Objective 4: Economic analysis and stakeholder outreach to facilitate the beneficial use of engineered biochar in carbon-neutral asphalt pavement.
Project Methods
To fulfill the project goal, the methods used to achieve the four project objectives are described below:Objective 1 entails the sourcing and surface engineering of biochars from different feedstock and characterize their physicochemical properties for beneficial use in asphalt pavement. Our method includes the following:Task 1.1 Tailor biochars to inhibit VOC emissions by asphalt.Task 1.2 Tailor biochars for better durability performance of pavement.Task 1.3 Tailor biochars for in situ self-healing of pavement.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) will be used to investigate the differences in functional groups for as-received vs. treated biochar, original vs. modified asphalt binders vs. aged binders, and VOC components in air samples. Biochar samples will be characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, BET surface area, droplet test of hydrophobicity [75], thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Crystallization morphology of asphalt samples will be characterized by SEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) peak areas of VOCs emissions are used to calculate the reduction in VOCs emission.For the selected types of biochar, the experimental data from well-designed experiments will be statistically analyzed to quantitatively correlate the surface engineering parameters with the resultant physicochemical properties of the engineered biochar, and then with the resultant performance of the biochar-amended asphalt binder or mixture. Such critical knowledge will benefit the valorization of biochar products and maximize their value as multifunctional additives for use in asphalt pavement and likely other applications.Objective 2 entails developing sustainable carbon-neutral asphalt pavement mixtures and assessing the self-healing and service life.Our method includes the following:Task 2.1 Evaluate reduction of VOC emissions from asphalt using surface-treated biochars.Task 2.2 Assess engineering performance of biochar-amended asphalt paving materials.Task 2.3 Design and develop biochars as micro-storage media for self-healing asphalt pavement to extend the pavement's service life.Task 2.4 Field trial and test of carbon-neutral asphalt pavement with biochars.We will analyze the effectiveness of treatments for different biochars on the mechanical performance of biochar-modified asphalt. This will fill the critical knowledge gap between physicochemical characteristics of biochar and engineering performance biochar- modified asphalt. Such knowledge will advance the design of sustainable carbon-neutral asphalt pavement with biochars. The results will be iterated to achieve the maximum cost-effectiveness and extend the service life of roadways.The performance results of biochar-modified asphalt will be compared with unmodified asphalt. These results serve as inputs for environmental life cycle analysis (Objective 3) and economic analysis (Objective 4). We will link the treatment and characteristics of biochar (Objective 1) to the performance improvement of biochar-modified asphalt (Objective 2). We will develop production guidance for carbon-neutral asphalt pavement with biochars, which will be used to guide field trial tests.Objective 3 entails environmental life cycle assessment of the use of engineered biochars derived from orchard trimmings, wheat straw and poultry litter in asphalt pavement.Our method includes the following:Task 3.1 Develop baseline (i.e., counterfactual) scenarios for current biomass, biochar, and asphalt production emissions and environmental impacts.Task 3.2 Develop primary (i.e., functional-unit) climate and environmental impact scenarios for biochar-asphalt production that incorporate knowledge generated by laboratory and field studies.Task 3.3 Calculate net climate and environmental impacts associated with conversion to biochar-amended asphalt using a consequential dynamic life cycle assessment approach.he LCA data will be interpreted in terms of the boundaries we define, which will vary somewhat between generic and project-specific LCAs and exclude some processes whose climate impacts are unknown or difficult to estimate. Including the temporal dynamics of climate impacts will provide more accurate estimates of these impacts, but lead to some difficulty in comparing our results with conventional LCAs that do not use this approach.Objective 4 entails economic analysis and stakeholder outreach to facilitate the beneficial use of engineered biochar in carbon-neutral asphalt pavement.Our method includes the following:Task 4.1: Modify existing enterprise budgets and donduct partial budget analysis to account for biochar-related incomes and expenses.Task 4.2: Develop Equilibrium Displacement Models (EDMs) to study the market impact of producing biochar from biomass residues.Extension/education activities and evaluation: We will work extensively with agricultural and poultry industries, as well as asphalt and paving industries to address waste stream considerations and user requirements, facilitate public understanding, and build community rapport. We will work with diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the three universities (e.g., Plateau Center for Native Americans at WSU), to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in Agriculture, Animal Science, and STEM fields. The number of stakeholders or student engagements and exit/feedback surveys will be used for evaluation.