Billian launch sustainable alternative to polymer-modified binders
New GTR PavingPellets made from recycled ground tyre rubber mixed with bitumen and hydrated lime
NEW suppliers to the UK asphalt industry, Billian UK have launched a sustainable alternative to more expensive and energy-intensive polymer-modified binders used in the construction and maintenance of roads and streets.
A safe and easy-to-use ‘green’ concentrate, made from recycled ground tyre rubber mixed with bitumen and hydrated lime, Billian’s GTR PavingPellets (pictured) are designed to allow asphalt producers to improve product performance whilst using less energy and enabling production flexibility to create modified performance asphalts on any plant without the need for switching bitumen grades across a limited number of storage tanks.
The innovative product, which is already being used in road construction projects in the UK, is manufactured at a purpose-built facility in Sheffield. Billian claim their patented process and technology creates a unique solution for delivering recycled rubber into the asphalt mixture.
‘Our primary focus is on developing and supporting a pragmatic and sustainable alternative to polymer and fibre modifiers in bitumen, while also meeting the consumer need for greater sustainability and environmental responsibility,’ said Billian’s general manager, Gareth Evans.
‘The key to this innovation is the precise pre-blending of the ground tyre rubber with bitumen prior to introduction of either limestone filler or hydrated lime for even greater adhesion qualities.’
In the past, dry addition of crumb rubber raised concerns about premature aging of the binder because of its affinity for the aromatic oils within the bitumen. GTR PavingPellets remove this concern because of the ‘wet’ process of pre-blending the rubber with soft 125pen bitumen.
About the size of 10–20mm crushed aggregate and delivered to site in convenient one- or half-tonne bulk bags, the paving pellets have the potential to save asphalt producers thousands of pounds in costs by negating the need for costly polymer-modified bitumen (PMB) and the highly energy-intensive heated tanks used for storing hot liquid PMB. The GTR PavingPellets can be blown into the asphalt mixing plant via conventional Flomac-type automated delivery systems.
The concentrate product can also be stored indefinitely without the need for tank investment and can be introduced into the mixing process without the need for any adjustment to mixing parameters.
