Pavement aging can be reduced by applying to an asphalt-containing pavement a topcoat layer or a surface treatment containing asphalt binder with sterols.

This invention involves the addition of ester bottoms to an asphalt paving composition to improve the usable temperature range (UTR). The ester bottoms are a byproduct of refining a feedstock containing all or a portion of vegetable oil or animal fat.

Methods of making a hybrid crude oil using man-made or natural petroleum-based waste stream products. The hybrid crude oil is composed of an oil-based solution and petroleum-based coatings that were extracted from a petroleum-containing material. This hybrid crude oil is created by elevating the temperature of the oil-based solution to or above an elevated temperature, i.e., the melting or phase-change temperature of the petroleum-based coating so that it can become liquified and dissolve into the oil-based solution and create the hybrid crude oil. The petroleum-containing material is submerged into the heated oil-based solution to cause the petroleum-based coatings to dissolve into the heated oil-based solution at the elevated temperature. The liquid oil-based solution at the elevated temperature creates an environmental seal to the petroleum-based coatings to protect them from burning, carburizing, or degrading, until the liquid oil-based solution is capable of providing the necessary thermal energy for the phase change of the petroleum-based coating from a solid state to a liquid state. At which time, the petroleum-based coatings safely phase-changes into a liquid and dissolves into the oil-based solution, creating the hybrid crude oil.

Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method comprising: obtaining asphalt shingle waste (ASW) and performing grinding, screening, and separating steps on the ASW. In some embodiments, granules are removed from the ASW. In some embodiments, the method transforms ASW into ASW powder. In some embodiments, the ASW powder is formed into a plurality of briquettes. In some embodiments, at least one of: the ASW powder, the plurality of briquettes, or any combination thereof is fed into a mixing process that results in an ASW powder filled coating.

Compositions including reclaimed asphalt may be optimized for performance that is comparable with asphalt compositions that do not contain any reclaimed asphalt. In a method to determine an optimal level of reclaimed asphalt for use with at least a rejuvenator, TSRST tests are carried out on test asphalt compositions with varying levels of reclaimed asphalt (RA) materials to obtain failure temperature and failure stress data for all compositions. The test results are compared to identify composition(s) with optimal amount of RA. The optimal asphalt composition containing the maximum amount of RA for comparable performance may have a failure temperature within±5% of the failure temperature of the reference composition, and a failure stress that may be equal to or greater than the failure stress of the reference composition.

Treating aged asphalt includes contacting aged asphalt with a bioagent to yield a mixture. The aged asphalt includes a siliceous stone component and bitumen, and the bioagent includes bio-oils formed from hybrid biomasses. The siliceous stone component and the bitumen are separated. The bioagent promotes separation of the siliceous stone from the bitumen. A rejuvenated bitumen composition includes recycled bitumen, virgin bitumen, and a bioagent. The recycled bitumen can be produced from recycled asphalt paving, and the bioagent can include bio-oils formed from hybrid biomasses.

An asphalt mixture comprising an oligoterpene composition and reclaimed asphalt and/or virgin asphalt, a method of preparing said asphalt mixture, a bituminous binder-oligoterpene blend and a method for rejuvenating reclaimed asphalt or treating virgin asphalt are disclosed, wherein the oligoterpene composition comprises at least one oligoterpene with at least two isoprene moieties selected from a diterpene, a triterpene, a tetraterpene, a pentaterpene and a hexaterpene. The method of preparing an asphalt mixture comprises mixing the oligoterpene composition with reclaimed asphalt and/or virgin asphalt. The oligoterpene-bituminous binder blend, comprises 0.5-50 wt. % of the oligoterpene composition based on the total weight of the blend. The method for rejuvenating reclaimed asphalt or treating virgin asphalt comprises mixing the oligoterpene composition with reclaimed asphalt or virgin asphalt to form a modified asphalt.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to compositions and methods for a thermoplastic paving composition including an asphalt rubber binder and a polyethylene polymer additive.

Asphalt compositions comprising reclaimed asphalt and an ester-functional rejuvenating agent derived from tall oil are disclosed. Rejuvenated binder compositions are also included. The rejuvenating agents restore to reclaimed asphalt desirable properties of virgin asphalt. Reduced glass-transition onset temperatures and improved creep stiffness in the rejuvenated binders translate to improved low-temperature cracking resistance in the asphalt. The rejuvenating agents impart desirable softening at low dosage while also maintaining acceptable penetration values. Dynamic shear rheometry results demonstrate that criteria for asphalt compositions under low, intermediate, and high temperature conditions can be achieved, and the asphalt will have good fatigue cracking resistance and rutting avoidance. The rejuvenating agents reduce the temperature needed to compact or mix asphalt compositions, which conserves energy and reduces cost. The rejuvenated asphalt and binder compositions enable greater use of reclaimed asphalt, especially RAP, and help the road construction industry reduce its reliance on virgin, non-renewable materials.

A method of making a tire tread includes mixing a tire tread compound including a virgin rubber component and a reclaimed rubber component, forming a green sheet from the tire tread compound, and curing the green sheet to form a cured tire tread. The reclaimed rubber component may have a Mooney viscosity (ML (1+4) @ 100° C.) of greater than 65. The reclaimed rubber component may also have a crosslink density that is between 20 and 50% of the crosslink density of the reclaimed rubber prior to reclaiming.