Asphalt contractor Austek asphalt production has purchased the Benninghoven ECO3000 asphalt plant from Wirtgen to aid its production of asphalt mixes using unique tyre derived recycled materials.
Queensland based surfacing contractor Austek Asphalt Production recently commissioned the latest Benninghoven ECO3000 asphalt plant to help facilitate increased sustainability in production.
The Benninghoven ECO3000 plant however, is used for much more than energy efficiency at Austek. The company is using it to incorporate unique tyre derived products into asphalt mixes called Carbonphalt and Carbonmastic under their sustainable process called Zeroad.
Working in conjunction with Queensland tyre recycler Pearl Global, Austek have developed systems to allow the incorporation of tyre derived fuel oil and recovered carbon black (rCB) into asphalt mixes to increase the sustainability and performance of specific asphalt products.
Recognised by Tyre Stewardship Australia, Pearl Global have created these products over eight years. The Pearl Global tyre recovery process sees every component within the tyres, recycled and reused.
David Simmons, General Manager of Austek Asphalt Production says Pearl Global have created a process to produce rCB, where they can transform tyres into a powdered like substance.
“The shredded rubber tyres go through the series of heating chambers at Pearl Global, the steel is removed, the fibres are taken out and the rCB is left. It is then cooled to produce a powder, much like hydrated lime, and we then add that to the pugmill with the heated aggregates and hot bitumen to produce the carbon asphalt products,” he says.
“The other valuable product we get from the Pearl Global desorbtion process is tyre derived fuel oil which we use to replace diesel that dries our aggregates in the mixing drum.”
Both products are used in Austek’s sustainable asphalt mixes, Carbonphalt and Carbonmastic under the ZEROAD product range. These unique products have been created for the Australian market and meet Transport and Main Roads Queensland specifications.
Simmons says this not only an Australian first but a world first innovation.
Carbonphalt is a dense range of asphalt products while Carbonmastic is a Stone Mastic Asphalt range, making it possible to use these recycled tyre solutions in a multitude of asphalt applications.
Both asphalt types produced by Austek using the Zeroad system reuse 10 passenger vehicle tyres in every tonne of asphalt produced. Simmons adds this is one of the most effective ways to repurpose used tyres in asphalt available at present.
Austek engaged an independent consulting company to quantify the carbon footprint of its asphalt production and it found Austek’s Carbonphalt and Carbonmastic products will decrease they company’s emissions by upto 7000 tonnes of C02 per annum. This is equivalent to removing the emissions produced from over 3,100 passenger cars annually.
To facilitate the creation of the ZEROAD asphalt mixes, Austek purchased the Benninghoven ECO 3000 asphalt plant from Wirtgen Australia.
“A team from our group attended the Bauma exhibition in Germany and reviewed many different asphalt plants. They chose Benninghoven because of the product
is supplied and supported by Wirtgen Australia. The technology included within the Benninghoven plants assist in allowing Austek to readily incorporate both rCB and the alternate fuel,” Simmons says.
Peter Ozoux, Director at Austek Asphalt Production attended the exhibition and says he found the Benninghoven plants are in a league of their own.
“Upon my visit to Bauma in Germany, having the opportunity to climb over all asphalt plant brands it was made very apparent that our choice in the Wirtgen Group was very smart.”
Simmons says in addition to the plants reliability we have included the capability for recycled asphalt to be incorporated into approved mixes.
“It’s this flexibility and knowing the plant is designed and manufactured in Germany by Benninghoven that made our choice of Wirtgen and the Benninghoven plant the obvious one.”
For Austek the Benninghoven ECO 3000 plant includes specific features that allow, but are not restricted to, the addition of recycled asphalt and the additives system developed between Austek and Pearl Global.
“The plant was then systematically upgraded with hazardous zones identified to manage the class 3 fuel oil with external consultants engaged to ensure all the relevant safety standards were met, audited and in place,” Simmons says.
“We also created a detailed risk elimination plan and standard operating procedures.
All pipework, motors, fittings, pumps and electrical work were (EX) rated to meet the relevant Australian standards.”
For Austek an rCB silo was built and installed to ensure the product is stored appropriately. The silo also ensures quality control for the rCB, which performs in a similar way to the control of hydrated lime additives.
“The Benninghoven ECO 3000 asphalt plant provides the best technology in bitumen storage tanks, it’s an energy efficient plant and the filtration system of product to air is highly efficient and effective. It has also allowed all of the other systems we’ve introduced to be integrated and the plant’s ECOjet allows us to burn fuel with modification to create these products,” Simmons says.
A standard ECO 3000 plant has a nominal mixing capacity of 240 tonnes per hour and was created to have a high level of mobility and flexibility to handle fast site changes easily.
Austek Asphalt Production launched its two ZEROAD products in November 2020 at Norwell Motorplex where their crews laid two significant test strips of both Carbonphalt and Carbonmastic around the racetrack for motorsports legends to try out and assess and test the new product ranges.
“To date we have carried out successful product demonstrations with Logan City Council and Norwell Motorplex which was a demanding racetrack environment on which we used multiple mixes,” Simmons says.
“More significantly in January 2021 we successfully laid 2,215 tonnes of Carbonphalt for Moreton Bay Regional Council at their King Street site in Clontarf. On this project we repurposed 22,150 light vehicle and truck tyres which produced 93 tonnes of C02 savings.”
Austek has further product demonstrations planned with Gold Coast City Council, Sunshine Coast Council and Logan City Council with other councils lining up to utilise this unique sustainable technology, Simmons adds.
This story appears in the May edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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