Impact of Solar Energy Integration on the Rheological and Chemical Properties of Bitumen

The use of solar energy to partially satisfy the demand for heat in the bitumen industry constitutes an enormous step towards industrial decarbonization. This paper investigates the effect of thermal fluctuations caused by solar energy usage in bitumen storage in the region of Rabat, Morocco. We studied different temperature ranges and storage periods, covering the most common scenarios in this region. This work inspected the impact of these studied conditions on the performance of 35/50 bitumen. After the simulation of fluctuations through thermal storage, we simulated short-term and long-term aging using RTFO and PAV tests, respectively. In addition to the needle penetration at 25 degrees C and the determination of softening point tests, we used a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to assess the rheological and chemical evolutions of the samples. We found that thermal fluctuations enhanced the rheological performance of the binders by improving their rutting and fatigue cracking resistance. We observed that longer storage durations (three months) under thermal fluctuations made bitumen more prone to oxidation in the long term. We conclude that solar energy usage in bitumen storage is not detrimental as long as we avoid long storage periods (more than one month), especially when the maximum storage temperature is higher than 165 degrees C.