Plant Operations: Sustainability in Asphalt Operations

Adam J.T. Hand, PhD, PE

Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference and Equipment Show

Denver, CO February 26, 2015

Questions Posed • Is Sustainability Important in the Materials Business?

• What are a companies objectives for using sustainable technologies, for example foamed WMA?

• Is Sustainability Owner, Market, or Industry Driven?

• Our Sustainability Goals - Optimizing: – ROI

– Compliance

– Citizenship

Sustainability will be an Increasingly more Important National and Global Issue

• Growing Population and Wealth – 9B by 2050, New Middle Classes; resource demands

• Depleting Ecological Wealth – Once Renewables (forest & water) finite; 2/3 water stressed 2025

• Climate Change – Fossil-fuel based economy=GHG; extreme weather drought/flood; policy

• Radical Transparency – Digital communications in last 20years; reputation

• Highly Interconnected Economies – Awareness of interconnectedness of global economies

Studies & Reports

Key Themes from Studies/Reports • Sustainability issues more prominent on company agendas

• More needs to be done to address sustainability

• CEOs challenged to justify what really needs to be done

• Governments not doing much (enough)

• Sustainable products & services as well as supply chain focus on

the rise

• VOC: RFQ/RFP requiring Sustainability Plans (Alt Procurement)

• Influence from investors is on the rise

“CEOs are unequivocal in their belief that the global economy is not on the right track – and that business is

not doing enough to address global sustainability challenges” Source: Accenture – UN Global Compact 2013

93% Sustainability is important to the success of their business

80% Source of competitive advantage and innovation

80% Important to measure and try and reduce their environmental footprint

75% Satisfying societal needs and protecting the interests of future generations is important

74% Measuring and reporting their total (non-financial) impacts contributes to their long term success

Voice of the CEOs

Transparency Forces Change • Technology Driven

– Internet: big, heavy, public data • 550 new websites, 82k app downloads, 2.2M Facebook likes/min

• 6k hours YouTube video uploaded/hr

• 400M tweets/day

• 4000 text/teenager/month

• Facebook hit 1B users in 2012

• Twitter grew from 7M to 500M < 4years

– Reporting - evidence of walking the talk

• Who Cares – Should Business Care? – Generations X, Y, Z,…, Consumers, Industry, Government,…

• FedEx - YouTube: FedEx Guy Throwing My Computer

• Crayola - change.org: 4th Grader: Collect, Reuse, Recycle

• IBM–28k suppliers: energy use, GHG & waste

• Walmart: supply chain/CSR last year

Sustainability Plan Examples

• We will operate energy-efficient asphalt production facilities on a per-unit consumption basis.

• We will responsibly implement the use of sustainable-materials technologies so that the quality of end-product materials is not compromised.

• We will increase the use of recycled materials in asphalt pavement.

• We will increase the sale and the use of warm-mix asphalt consistent with our quality objectives.

Energy Efficient Asphalt Production • Many Opportunities

• Examples

– Conveying vs. Tramming

– Controlling Moisture

– Burner Fuels

– Maintenance

– …

– Renewable Energy

– 10 -1-1 Plan

Controlling Moisture

• Aggregates

– Washed

– Marinated

• RAP

• RAS

• Moisture = Energy

Controlling Moisture

• Rule of Thumb:

– Every ↕ 1% MC, ↕ 10% Energy or Fuel Demand

– RAP p200, RAS p200, Washed Fines

– RAP + RAS + Washed Fines MC

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Agg/RAP/RAS Moisture • Impacts:

– % RAP &/or RAS Usable

– Production Rate

– Drying Cost

– Mix Quality?

• Reduce Moisture By: – Tall Stockpiles

– Paving Under Stockpiles

Burner Fuels • Options:

– Nat Gas – Propane – Diesel (heating oil) – Heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel) – Recycled waste oil – Coal

• Considerations – Burner capability – Preheater requirement – Availability of fuel (location, fixed/portable) – Cost and efficiency ($/MBTU) – Emissions standards and company goals – Sustainability

Equivalent BTUs 180 gal Diesel ≈ 300 gal Propane $?/gal Diesel ≈ $?/gal Propane

Optimizing investment, compliance, and citizenship

Renewable Energy

• Wind and Solar

– Geography Affords

• Solar

– 180kW to 1.2mW Arrays

– Plant Power

– Feed Grids

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Competing Industry • Cement Plant

– So Cal

– Others

10-1-1 Plan

• 10 Hot Plants

• $1M Investment

• $1M ROI/year

• Insulate Drums and Hot Oil Piping

– Reduce losses, energy consumption, energy costs

• VFD on BH Fans

– Reduce losses, Energy consumption, Peak demands

Drum Plant 10-1-1

FC Insulation 10-1-1

VFD BH Fans 10-1-1 • Fan speed vs. damper air flow

• NASCAR

– PD (50% of cost, single 15min max consumption)

– Power company recognition/rebates

Increase Use of Recycled Materials with No End-Product Quality Compromise • RAP - Stockpile and Crush for Consistency

– Stockpile Uncrushed RAP Horizontally & Mine Vertically w/ Dozer

– Horiz Impact or Jaw/Roll Crusher with Uniform Feed

– Cool Weather

Process - Inspect, Pile, Crush, Pile, Design, Blend, Verify

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• Every Load Inspected by QC

• Plant Transfer = A Pile Source

• Project and Import = B Pile Source

• Import (including PCC) = C Pile Source

A, B, C RAP Piles

• A and B RAP Piles

– Maximize %RAP

– Lower Binder Stiffness

– Best Agg Qualities

– Minimize Binder Grades

• C RAP Pile

– EnviroBase

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RAP not CRAP! • There is Far More Value in High Quality RAP

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No End-Product Quality Compromise Example: Fractionation and Feeding RAP? • Up to 25% RAP without Fractionation

– Multiple Plants, Volumetric Specs, Good Quality

• Fractionation Common with >25% (typically ±3/8”) • Multiple RAP Feed Bins, Scalping Screens, … • RAP Production Cost Increases • RAP/RAS also

• Benefits

– Increase Binder Replacement with Binder Rich -3/8” Fraction – Control of Properties (Grad, Volumetrics, …) - Quality – Reduced Variability - Quality – Is it Cost Effective? – Value Added?

Fractionation and Feeding

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Company’s Sustainability Goals Optimized? • Did $1M Spent on Hot Plant 10-1-1 Plan Optimize GCI Sustainability Goals?

– ROI – Compliance – Citizenship

• Would $1M been Better Optimized if Spent On:

– Implementing More RAP, RAS, CRM Plants, or WMA? • Hardware, Supply, Training, Marketing, …

– Paving/Covering Stockpile Areas – …

• Must Constantly Ask Question

• Citizenship Value Hard to Quantify

• Value of No Environmental Violations • Value of Green Company Perception • Value of Awards Recognition – Industry, Owner, Associations • Value of Reputation • Social License to Operate

Value of Good Citizenship

What are a companies objectives for using sustainable technologies, for example foamed WMA?

• Sustainability Goals – ROI (Cap Ex and Materials)

– Compliance

– Citizenship

• Technical Merit-risk

• Potential Implementation Challenges – Not All Markets/Owners are the Same!

• Supply Chain Control

• Market Drivers

• Value Added

Sustainable Technologies Used Today • RAP

• High RAP

• RAS

• WMA

• CRM (20+%)

• GTR or TBR (10+%)

• Combined Technologies

Material /

Process

Recycled

Material

Content,

%

Recycled

Asphalt

Binder

Content,

%

Price

Energy

CO2eq

AC

Agg

Conventional

HMA 0 0 - - - - -

RAP

15 4 5.7 6.1 4.7 11.5 15.2

25 4 9.5 10.1 8.0 19.2 25.3

Post Industrial

Shingles 5 18 6.6 7.6 4.5 17.3 4.3

Post Consumer

Shingles 5 32 12.0 13.2 7.4 30.8 3.6

WMA 0 0 0.8 4.3 1.5 0.0 0.0

Sustainable Materials in Asphalt Mix % Savings

WMA Example – hit objectives Warm Mix Hot Mix

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Selection of Foam WMA Technology • ROI

– WMA Equipment Cap Ex • $20k to $75k per Plant (foam or chemical) • +$ if BH Pre-heater and/or Re-flighting – Temp

– Cost of Technology Additive • $0.01 to $3.00+ per ton

– $50k / $0.25/ton / 200k tons

• Compliance & Citizenship – Reduced Energy Use (10-20% )and Emissions

• Technical Merit – Proven Internally and Externally – Workability – Density Bonus?

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Selection of Foam WMA Technology • Supply Chain

– 0 or 1 Additional Raw Material in Supply Chain

• Market Drivers – Annual Plant Production – Owner’s or Contractor’s Selection – First to Market or in the Pack – ΔΔ Techs

• Implementation Challenges – Low Tonnages – Multiple Technologies at One Plant – Proliferation of Specs (Rationale)

• ≥285°F Behind Screed

• Breakdown ≥270°F

• Finish ≥160°F

• Don’t Core for 24 and 72 hours

• Curing vs. not Curing FMLC

• Value Added – Anti-strip benefit ($1 of $2+/ton)

– Unique Environments (Ak)

Implementation Challenges • Multiple WMA Technologies at a Single Plant

Value Added

• Horses Like It

Using Multiple WMA – 90% Foam

Where is Our Industry on Sustainability and Sustainable Asphalt Materials/Production?

• AAPT

– 2010

– 2011

– 2013

• Other

– NCHRP 10+

– FHWA, EDC, ARC, States, PFS, Industry Assoc, …

• Show of Hands

Sustainability Rating Systems • Greenroads

– https://www.greenroads.org/

• INVEST

– https://www.sustainablehighways.org/

• Envision

– http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/

• What about STARS, Complete Streets, …

• NCHRP 10-91: Guidebook for Selecting and

Implementing Sustainable Highway Construction Practices

Implementation of Rating Systems • Analogy to LEED

• Any Different

– Timing

– Cost

• Show of Hands

• What is True Commitment?

• Actions Speak

• Low Bid vs. Best Value vs. Design/Build

Greenroads

• Roadway Design and Construction Rating System

– Greenroads Foundation - Nonprofit

• Independent 3rd Party Certification: Similar to LEED

• Credits Based (118 total) – Environment & Water

– Access and Equity

– Construction Activities

– Materials and Resources

– Pavement Technology

• Cost

• Many Projects Certified to Date

• Gone International

INVEST • Roadway Design and Construction Rating System

– FHWA Developed

• INVEST - Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability

Tool

• Voluntary, not Independent 3rd Party Verification

• Credit Based (60 total) – System Planning (SP) – Project Development (PD) – Operations and Maintenance (OM)

• Cost?

Envision • Infrastructure Rating System

– Envision™ is the product of a joint collaboration between the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure

• Voluntary + Independent 3rd Party Certification Available

• Credits Based (60 total) – Quality of Life

– Leadership

– Resource Allocation

– Natural World

– Climate and Risk

• Cost

• Engineering Community Support

Sustainability is Good for Business…