Flare Emissions from Asphalt Plants

Abstract

Road construction has a negative impact on the environment. In particular, asphalt plants are usually located within the boundaries of settlements. This is due to the need to save transport costs during the construction, repair and maintenance of urban roads. The construction of urban roads, as well as their repair and maintenance, often requires the use of technology for the “hot” preparation of asphalt concrete. But this technology is associated with drying nonmetallic materials: sand, gravel, mineral powder, as well as heating bitumen. Moreover, the process is accompanied by emissions of dust and carbon, including high molecular one, which affects the environment negatively. The work used the results of a numerical and physical experiment. Determination of gas concentration was carried out by chromatography and photo-calorimetry methods; dust content was estimated by the gravimetric method and by external filtration. The dispersed and elemental composition of dust was established by X-ray spectral microanalysis with visualization of samples of captured dust. In this paper, we use an alternative method for calculating the dispersion of flare emissions based on the Reichard theory. Such calculation results agree better with experimental data. The calculation is carried out according to the model developed in the work, taking into account the initial rise of the jet, which is most accurately estimated by the method of M. E. Berlyand. The results of the refined calculation allow us to improve the process of preparing asphalt concrete and make it environmentally friendly.