Journal of Cleaner Production

Manuscript Draft

Manuscript Number: JCLEPRO-D-16-05575

Title: Utilization of steel slag as aggregate in asphalt mixtures for

microwave deicing

Article Type: Original article

Keywords: steel slag; aggregate; asphalt mixtures; microwave deicing;

utilization

Abstract: Under the dilemma of non-renewable natural resources shortage

and environmental pollution issues, as a novel aggregate used in asphalt
pavement, the application of steel slag is propitious to the improvement
of the environment and the enhancement of economics. Meanwhile, steel
slag has great potential for microwave heating as an excellent microwave
absorbing material, which can contribute to remove the ice layer on the
pavement. The primary objective of this work was to explore the
feasibility of the usage of steel slag as the aggregate of asphalt
mixtures for microwave deicing, and ascertain the most effective volume
and particle sizes for partial replacement of conventional aggregate. The
deicing mechanism of microwave heating pavement was firstly introduced.
Then, the microwave heating capacity of steel slag with different
particle sizes was tested, and the surface elements distribution of steel
slag was measured. Finally, the surface temperature, thermal conductivity
and heating uniformity of asphalt mixture containing different steel slag
content were tested. Results show that the particle sizes of 9.5mm,
2.36mm and 0.6mm are considered as the most effective sizes. The thermal
conductivity and microwave heating uniformity of asphalt mixtures
basically decrease with the increase of steel slag content; while the
surface temperature presents a contrary trend. Consequently, the
suggested steel slag volume content is 40% and 60%; and the particle
sizes of steel slag are selected as 9.5mm, 2.36mm and 0.6mm. The
comprehensive evaluation results on the supply sources, environmental
hazard and cost of steel slag show great feasibility of its utilization
in asphalt mixtures for microwave deicing, which is helpful to alleviate
the supply shortage of natural aggregates and improve the safety of road
traffic in winter.
Manuscript
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Utilization of steel slag as aggregate in asphalt mixtures
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16 for microwave deicing
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20 Jie Gao 1, 2, Aimin Sha1, Zhenjun Wang3, 4 *, Zheng Tong1, Zhuangzhuang Liu1
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25 1. School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China;
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27 2. National and Local Joint Engineering Materials Laboratory of Traffic Engineering and Civil
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29 Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, 400074, China;
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31 3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, China;
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33 4. Engineering Research Central of Pavement Materials, Ministry of Education of P.R. China,
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Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, P.R. China
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40 *Corresponding author: Zhenjun Wang, Ph.D., Professor
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4 Abstract: Under the dilemma of non-renewable natural resources shortage and
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7 environmental pollution issues, as a novel aggregate used in asphalt pavement, the
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9 application of steel slag is propitious to the improvement of the environment and the
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12 enhancement of economics. Meanwhile, steel slag has great potential for microwave
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14 heating as an excellent microwave absorbing material, which can contribute to remove
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17 the ice layer on the pavement. The primary objective of this work was to explore the
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19 feasibility of the usage of steel slag as the aggregate of asphalt mixtures for microwave
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21 deicing, and ascertain the most effective volume and particle sizes for partial replacement
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24 of conventional aggregate. The deicing mechanism of microwave heating pavement was
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26 firstly introduced. Then, the microwave heating capacity of steel slag with different
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29 particle sizes was tested and the surface elements distribution of steel slag was measured.
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31 Finally, the surface temperature, thermal conductivity and heating uniformity of asphalt
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34 mixture containing different steel slag content were tested. Results show that the particle
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36 sizes of 9.5mm, 2.36mm and 0.6mm are considered as the most effective sizes. The
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thermal conductivity and microwave heating uniformity of asphalt mixtures basically
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41 decrease with the increase of steel slag content; while the surface temperature presents a
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43 contrary trend. Consequently, the suggested steel slag volume content is 40% and 60%;
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46 and the particle sizes of steel slag are selected as 9.5mm, 2.36mm and 0.6mm. The
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48 comprehensive evaluation results on the supply sources, environmental hazard and cost
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51 of steel slag show great feasibility of its utilization in asphalt mixtures for microwave
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53 deicing, which is helpful to alleviate the supply shortage of natural aggregates and
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improve the safety of road traffic in winter.
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58 Key words: steel slag, aggregate, asphalt mixtures, microwave deicing, utilization
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5 1. Introduction
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7 In China, more than 90% expressways are constructed with hot-mix asphalt
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10 mixtures (HMA) (Chen et al., 2016; MOT, 2015). The increase of road construction
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12 imposes considerable pressure on raw building materials, especially on natural
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aggregates. Substitution for natural aggregates is urgently needed in order to alleviate
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17 the supply problem and help to save the dwindling natural resources.
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19 The steel industry has been the important part of the mainstay industries of China in
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22 the past decades. As a main solid by-product of iron and steel smelting industry, steel slag
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24 is accounting for about 10%-15% of the crude steel production. Currently, China is facing
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27 a challenge on more than one billion tons of steel slag accumulations due to its less than
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29 50% recycling rates (Guo and Shi, 2013). Consequently, a series of environmental issues,
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32 e.g. land occupation, water pollution and heavy metal pollution are caused. Obviously,
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34 recycling of steel slag in asphalt mixture is a promising way to save natural resources and
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reduce environmental pollution. The literature reviews demonstrate that the asphalt
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39 mixtures with steel slag possess not only higher stiffness and lower permanent
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41 deformation but also better fatigue, aging and abrasion resistance in contrast to
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44 conventional asphalt mixtures (Huang et al., 2012; Xie et al., 2013; Wen et al., 2016;
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46 Kanitpong and Bahia, 2003). However, as a kind of magnetic material, the microwave
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49 heating function of steel slag is totally neglected in pavement engineering.
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51 Microwave heating (MH) technology has numerous applications in various
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industrial processes; and it has also been used in the field of highway engineering as a
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56 technique of bituminous materials hot-recycling (Benedetto and Calvi, 2013). Nowadays,
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59 the traffic safety in winter is becoming a prominent problem because of the pavement
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4 was covered with thick ice layer, which is difficult to be removed via the MH technology
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7 due to the considerably limited MH efficiency of conventional aggregate used in asphalt
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9 mixtures. Therefore, the surface temperature of asphalt mixture containing taconite under
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12 microwave radiation was carried out for the first time in 1989(Osborne and Hutcheson,
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1989). Then, the adoption of microwave absorbing materials to pavement materials has
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17 become the main methodological in this field. For example, Hopstock et al. (2003)
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20 measured the heat capacity, thermal conductivity and microwave absorption coefficient of
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22 taconite asphalt mixtures, and established microwave heating model of pavement.
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25 Utilization of taconite as aggregate in asphalt mixtures is practical now. (Zanko et al.,
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27 2009; Zanko et al., 2008; Oreskovich et al., 2008).
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30 In addition, Wang et al. (2014) studied the influence of carbon fiber content on the
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32 mechanical properties, microwave reflectivity and microwave deicing function of
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micro-surfacing asphalt mixtures. Besides, Wang et al. (2011) also conducted a series of
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37 experiments to investigate the effect of carbonyl iron powder on the microwave
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39 absorbing property of asphalt mixture. Increasing the self-healing rates of asphalt
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42 concrete is another application of MH. Gallego et al., (2013) presented the microwave
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44 heating test on steel wool asphalt mixtures and indicated that the surface temperature
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47 reached 140 °C after 120s microwave radiation. Liu et al. (2014) comparatively studied
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49 the MH self-healing rate of asphalt mixtures with different steel wool lengths and
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52 contents.
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54 Based on the above discussion, utilization of steel slag as aggregate for improving
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microwave deicing performance of asphalt mixtures has been paid few attentions.
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59 Therefore, a novel application of recycling steel slags for microwave deicing asphalt
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4 pavement is designed in this work, as shown in Fig.1. Specifically, the first purpose is to
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7 confirm the validity that the steel slag as the aggregate of asphalt mixtures has the vastly
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9 MH ability. On the other hand, as a bitumen-consumption aggregate owing to its porous
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12 characteristics (Xie et al., 2012), the second purpose is to ascertain the effective volume
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14 and particle sizes for replace conventional aggregate in asphalt pavement, which is
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17 helpful to remove the economic barriers of its application. Therefore, the deicing
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19 mechanism of MH pavement was illustrated. The MH capacity of steel slags with
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21 different particle sizes was measured to determine the most effective particle sizes for
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24 replacement. Meanwhile, the surface elements distribution of steel slag was measured to
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26 reveal the active ingredient. In addition, the surface temperature, thermal conductivity
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29 and heating uniformity of asphalt mixtures containing different steel slags content were
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31 tested to recommend the optimal steel slag content. Finally, the comprehensive feasibility
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34 of steel slag asphalt mixture was studied via jointly considering its sources distribution,
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36 ecological hazardous and cost performance.
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39 2. Methodology
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41 2.1. Materials
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44 Basic oxygen furnace slag was manufactured by crushing dense slag blocks selected
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46 from a Chinese Iron and Steel Group. Conventional aggregate was limestone aggregate,
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49 whose properties were tested in accordance with the Testing Procedures of Aggregate for
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51 Highway Engineering in China (JTG E42-2005) (Inspection and Quarantine of the
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People’s Republic of China. 2005), the results are summarized in Tab. 1.
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56 2.2 Sample preparations and tests
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58 2.2.1. Preparation of the specimens
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4 Aggregate gradation is shown in Fig.2. Due to the higher specific density in
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7 comparison with limestone, the principle substitution is to replace the limestone by
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9 volume with the most effective sizes of steel slags. Six replacement levels were
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12 designed from 0 to 100vol% (20vol% increment). Marshall tests were conducted to
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14 determine the optimal asphalt aggregate ratio. The alternative scheme for Marshall
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17 specimen is presented in Tab. 2.
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19 2.2.2 Microwave heating capacity and elements distributions test of steel slags
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21 The steel slag was sieved into 10 particle sizes (filler to 13.2mm) after the crush by
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24 using a jaw crusher. Each particle size is selected as a test group; ten groups of MH test
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26 samples were selected from steel slags with different particle sizes (filler to 13.2mm).
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29 The mass of each group was 160g and equivalent quartered for 4 duration of microwave
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31 irradiation (20s-80s), 20s increment each time. The MH device was microwave oven,
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34 whose power and microwave transmission frequency was 850 W and 2.45 GHz,
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36 respectively. To ensure the accuracy of the test, each test was conducted three times. In
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addition, elements distribution of steel slags was measured by electron probe micro
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41 analysis (EPMA).
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43 2.2.3 Thermal conductivity test of Marshall specimens
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46 The standard of determination of thermal conductivity – Parallel hot-wire method
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48 (GB/T 5990-2006) (Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China, 2006)
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51 was referenced in this work. Fig. 3 illustrates the frameworks of the system, which
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53 comprising laptop, data-taker, hot wire (HW) and temperature sensors (TS). Ni-Cr alloy
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56 hot wire with 4mm diameter, 50mm length and 60W power was used. The specifications
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58 of TS are 2mm diameter, 30mm length, 0.15 °C error and its working range is within
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4 -50 °C to -200 °C. Additionally, to improve the accuracy of test results, three TS were
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7 arranged.
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9 The vertical holes in the Marshall specimen for place HW and TS were made by a
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12 mini-type drilling machine with corresponding size drills. The hole for HW is located at
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14 central position of the upper surface of the Marshall specimen, and three holes for TS are
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17 equidistant (r = 2cm±5mm) to the center hole. The sealant was settled when HW and TS
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19 were addressed. In addition, the test begins when ambient temperature fluctuation is
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22 below 0.3 degrees within 2 minutes and the data-taker records the data once every 5
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24 seconds. According to the standard, the time-temperature graph can be drawn to calculate
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27 the thermal conductivity (k) by Eq. (1)
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31 Eq. (1)
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36 Where, Δθ(t) is the temperature difference after heating time t (s), °C; q is the
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38 heating wire power, W; l is the length of heating wire, m; α is the thermal diffusion
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41 coefficient, m2/s; k is the thermal conductivity, W/(m·K).
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45 When the value of is determined by acquired time-temperature graph, the
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49 value of can be found in the standard (GB/T 5990-2006). Thus, the k value
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can be calculated by Eq. (1).
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54 2.2.4 Surface temperature test
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56 The R500EX inferred camera was adopted to capture the surface infrared image of
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59 specimens. It possesses the properties of 640 × 480 image resolutions, 0.87 mrad spatial
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resolutions, 0.03 °C sensitivity and ±1 °C error ranges. The temperature capture setup is
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7 shown in Fig.4.
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10 To quantitatively evaluate the heating uniformity, the interested area was extracted
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12 from the initial infrared image by software (Inf Rec Analyzer) to export the matrix of
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14 temperature data. Then, the average temperature and temperature standard deviation can
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17 be acquired. The higher value of standard deviation (SE), the more inferior uniformity it
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19 is. The process is illustrated in Fig. 5.
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22 2.2.5 Microwave heating thawing time test
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24 In the preparation process of ice layer, the foam collar was mounted on the
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27 specimens, then the interspace between foam collar and specimen was filled with sealant.
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29 In addition, the top surface holes were sealed by thermally conductive silica gel to hold
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the water. Specimens were placed in a freezer after the injection of water to foam collar.
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34 In the MH thawing time test, the specimens were putted into the microwave oven, and the
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36 thawing time was recorded through observing that the ice layer was totally fell off from
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39 the specimen surface. The method of ice layer preparation and ice-thawing test is shown
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41 in Fig.6.
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44 3. Results and discussion
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3.1 Deicing process of microwave heating pavement
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49 Conventional deicing methods, e.g. ice-crushing vehicle, snow-blower are failure to
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51 perfectly remove the thick ice layer on the pavement resulting from the presence of
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54 freezing adhesion action on the interface between ice layer and pavement surface. As is
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56 well known (Zou et al., 2011), the freezing adhesion level of material is negatively
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59 correlated with atmospheric temperature, which means that the freezing adhesion
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4 interface can be efficaciously melted by increasing its temperature.
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7 Generally, two stages are involved in the process of MH dicing. Stage one is that the
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9 pavement surface temperature increases from negative temperature to 0 °C under the
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12 microwave irradiation, in which the freezing adhesion level is barely existed. In the
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14 following, both pavement and the water from melting ice are heated synchronously in the
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17 stage two. As a result, more ice layers are melted into water accompanied by the
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19 continued microwave irradiation. In conclusion, the best opportunity for deicing is
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21 between stage one and stage two. The reason is that the freezing adhesive interface is still
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24 having a high strength before the completion of the stage one; and the water melting from
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26 ice layer is highly intending to re-freezing under low-temperature atmosphere after the
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29 stage two. The pavement MH deicing draws support from external device, including the
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31 microwave generator and deicing vehicle. MH vehicles in China have been well
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34 developed, and their schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 7. In the process of the vehicle
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36 movement, the microwave unit plays the role of heating the pavement. After the melting
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of the freezing adhesion interface, ice layer is minced by the crusher and is pushed to the
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41 road side by the shovel.
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43 3.2 Microwave heating capacity of steel slags
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46 In order to determine whether the different sizes of steel slag have similarly MH
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48 performance, the steel slags with 10 different particle sizes (filler-13.2mm) were placed
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51 into microwave oven together and the infrared image was captured after 15 s radiation,
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53 the infrared image of their surface temperatures are shown in Fig.8.
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In Fig.8, the surface temperature difference between steel slags with different
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58 particle sizes can be clearly observed. It is known that steel slag is a
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4 bitumen-consumption aggregate for asphalt concrete due to its porosity, which certainly
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7 has significantly increased manufacturing cost. Therefore, particle size selection of steel
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9 slags is critical to enable the asphalt concrete with MH deicing function by using its
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12 minimum content. With the purpose to distinguish the MH performance of each particle
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14 size of steel slag more comprehensively and specifically, its surface temperature through
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17 different duration of radiation is shown in Fig.9.
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19 The results in Fig.9 support that the MH capacity of slags is highly related to its
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21 particle size. Evidently, the surface temperature of steel slags increases with the increase
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24 of its particle sizes. To be specific, the surface temperature of steel slag is maintaining in
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26 a correspondingly high level when the particle size is larger than 0.6mm. On the other
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29 hand, the surface temperature of steel slags with smaller particle sizes is still much higher
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31 than that of limestone, though a significant decline in temperature is emerged in contrast
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34 to that of larger particle sizes of steel slags. Therefore, the particle sizes with the highest
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36 temperature at different duration are considered as the most effectively. In this case,
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particle sizes of 9.5mm (20 s), 2.36mm (40 s, 60 s) and 0.6mm (80 s) are selected to
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41 conduct replacement together.
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43 Previous studies (Xia and Pickles, 1997; Tinga, 1988; Wong, 1975) have a clearly
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46 conclusion on the microwave heating behavior of common metal oxides, as presented in
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48 Fig.10. These results were classified based on the heating rate into hyperactive (Fe3O4),
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51 active (Fe2O3 and FeS), difficult-to-heat (MaO and Al2O3) and inactive (SiO2 and CaO).
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53 It demonstrated that microwave energy could be more effectual into heat energy if
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minerals or inorganic compounds contain higher iron content.
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58 As is known, the main chemical compositions of steel slag are black calcium silicate
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4 phase (3CaO·MgO·2SiO2, 3CaO·SiO2, 2CaO·SiO2, 3CaO·2SiO2, CaO·SiO2), gray
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7 calcium-iron phase (CaO·Fe2O3) and white iron-magnesium phase (Fe2O3, MgO)
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9 (Kryvinska et al., 2005). To determine the existent form of iron in steel slag, the EMPA
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11
12 was carried out to investigate the elements distribution on the surface of steel slag. As
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14 shown in Fig.11 and Table 2, the main component of steel slag is gray calcium-iron phase
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17 with inadequate iron content (2.05%-4.33%). The white iron-magnesium phase possesses
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19 the highest iron content (43.60%-83.54%); while the black calcium silicate phase merely
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21 possesses 1.25%-4.21%. Thus, the most active ingredient for microwave heating existing
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24 in steel slag is the white iron-magnesium phase.
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26 3.3 Thermal conductivity of asphalt mixtures
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29 Fig. 12 presented the details of temperature-time (T-T) curves recorded by TS. As
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31 shown in Fig.12, the relationship between time and temperature is not linear resulting
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34 from the unstable current in the beginning of the measurement; and then the temperature
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36 is nearly linear with the time when the heat is transfer to the position of the sensors. This
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remarkable phenomenon can be observed in all time-temperature (T-T) curves.
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41 Theoretically, the slope of T-T curve essentially reflects the heating rate of material.
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43 Therefore, the slopes of three curves in the same specimen are basically consistent
44
45
46 despite the temperature data recorded by three sensors are slightly different, indicating
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48 that the thermal conductivity can be precisely determined by using parallel hot-wire
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50
51 method.
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53 In reference to the data provided by Fig.12, the thermal conductivity (k) of Marshall
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56
specimens with different content of steel slag can be calculated, which is illustrated in
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58 Fig.13. The k value of SS-20 and SS-40 is quite close and they decrease 5.16% and
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4 4.22% in comparison with SS-0, respectively. In addition, the k value is evidently
5
6
7 declined at SS-60 and SS-80; and their k values are decreased by 11.73% and 12.20%
8
9 compared with SS-0, respectively. More importantly, the k value of SS-100 is decrease
10
11
12 18.78% in contrast to that of SS-0. Obviously, the results in Fig.13 indicate that the k
13
14 value is significantly reduced with the increase of steel slag content. The above
15
16
17 phenomena resulting from that the steel slag is a typical porous material and it possesses
18
19 higher void fraction than limestone. Because the k value of solid components in the steel
20
21 slag is significantly higher than that of the air, the material with higher void fraction most
22
23
24 likely possesses lower k value. Accordingly, the void fraction is higher when more steel
25
26 slags are used in asphalt mixtures.
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28
29 3.4 Microwave heating uniformity
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31 Microwave heating uniformity is another key concern when the MH technology is
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34 introduced into the application phase. Technically speaking, the ice layer upon MH
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36 pavement will be incompletely removed if the surface of MH pavement possesses too
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39
much difference in heating ability. Fig.14 shows the difference of surface temperature
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41 distribution with different steel slag content under 20 s microwave radiation. One or
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43 several temperature peaks can be observed in each image, suggesting that the surface
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45
46 temperature distribution is not uniformity as expected.
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48 In order to quantitatively determine the level of steel slag content that can enable the
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51 asphalt mixture to have a desirable microwave heating uniformity, the standard deviations
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53 of surface temperature at R0 (20 s for common cold and 60 s for extremely cold) are
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calculated, as shown in Fig.15.
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58 In Fig.15, the standard deviations of surface temperature increase with the increase
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4 of the steel slag content. The specimen of SS-0 has optimum MH uniformity because it
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6
7 has the same aggregate composition with limestone. On the other hand, with the increase
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9 of steel slag content, the internal temperature distribution of asphalt mixture becomes
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12 more unevenly because of the huge difference of MH capacity between steel slag and
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14 limestone. Under the microwave radiation, the steel slags are firstly heated; the heat is
15
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17 transferred to the limestone aggregate via the asphalt mortar filled between limestone
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19 aggregate and steel slag; then the temperature of limestone aggregate begins to increase.
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21 As the heat continues to accumulate, the temperature difference between steel slag and
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24 limestone is shrinking until the whole specimen possesses a stable temperature. However,
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26 the heat transfer process needs an adequate time and this hysteresis of heat transfer
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29 eventually results in the non uniformity of MH pavement. It can be assumed that the MH
30
31 uniformity can be improved if the asphalt mixtures fully consist of steel slag. However,
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33
34 the heating uniformities of asphalt mixtures are in an acceptable range except SS-80 and
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36 SS-100.
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39
3.5 Microwave heating surface temperature
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41 Whether the MH deicing pavement can eventually access to the practical stage
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43 depends largely on the fact that whether it has sufficient operating efficiency, which
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46 means that its surface temperature should be increased to at least 0 °C with the shortest
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48 radiation time as possible. Therefore, the shortest radiation time is highly necessary
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51 instead of extremely high surface temperature. Two indicators are designed
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53 correspondingly, which are the moment to reach 0 °C for the first time (R0) and MH
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thawing time needed. And also, atmospheric temperature that MH pavement working
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58 cannot be ignored, thus 2 initial temperatures are set as the common cold (-5 °C) and
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4 extreme cold (-20 °C). The results of MH surface temperature are shown in Fig.16.
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7 In Fig.16, the none irradiation specimen was placed at room temperature with 180 s,
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9 the surface temperature of the specimen is increased approximately 3 °C, indicating that
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12 despite this test is carried out in room temperature instead of environmental chamber, but
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14 no significant error of results is caused. In general, the surface temperature basically
15
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17 increases with the increase of the steel slag content. It is noteworthy that the surface
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19 temperature of SS-100 is not as high as expected and the difference between SS-100 and
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21 SS-80 is more indistinctive than that of others. It may result in the lower k value, making
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24 the SS-100 possess lower efficiency to conduct heat produced by its own. In Fig.13 (a),
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26 when initial temperature condition was -5 °C, the R0 is 20 s except for SS-0 and SS-20,
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29 indicating that both of them present insufficient MH efficiency. In Fig.16 (b), when the
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31 initial temperature condition was -20 °C, the surface temperature of all specimens
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34 exceeded 0 °C at the 60 s, namely R0 is 60 s in this case. The results shown in Fig.16
35
36 suggest that the initial atmospheric temperature directly affect the MH efficiency,
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39
indicating the lower initial atmospheric temperature leading to the lower R0 after the
40
41 same radiation time. And also, after addition of steel slag, the ice layer upon the
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43 pavement can be easily removed by deicing vehicle in 20 s and 60 s under common cold
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46 and extremely cold condition, respectively. Additionally, a series of laboratory deicing
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48 experiments were conducted to verify the authenticity of the above conclusions and the
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51 results are shown in Fig.17.
52
53 Due to the limitation of test conditions, the MH thawing test for make exfoliation of
54
55
56
ice layer carried out in this research is fully dependent on the gravity of the ice layer
57
58 instead of any external force. As seen in Fig.17, the universal rule is that the MH thawing
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 time is reduced dramatically with the addition of steel slag. To be specific, when the
5
6
7 initial temperature condition is -5 °C, the MH thawing time can be reduced to
8
9 57.5%-67.3% in comparison with SS-0; namely MH efficiency increases about 2.3 - 3.1
10
11
12 times. Similarly, when the initial temperature condition is -20 °C, the MH efficiency is
13
14 increased about 2.1 - 2.6 times. It should be noticed that there is barely significant
15
16
17 correlation between steel slag content and thawing times. We speculate that it was caused
18
19 by the difference in the specimen’ surface texture or the limitations of used test method
20
21 for thawing time test because the absence of the external force application device.
22
23
24 Obviously, the deicing efficiency of MH pavement is not highly sensitive to the steel slag
25
26 content without the help of using external force. However, the practicability of steel slag
27
28
29 as microwave-absorbing aggregate for asphalt pavement microwave deicing has been
30
31 confirmed.
32
33
34 In addition, at the initial temperature conditions of -5 °C and -20 °C, the MH
35
36 thawing time of the specimens is 35s - 50s, which is longer than its R0. It indicates that
37
38
39
the external force, e.g. deicing vehicle for removing ice layer, is extremely essential.
40
41 Therefore, another hypothesis confirmed here is that if the ice layer is removed only by
42
43 continuous heating instead of using external forces, the ice layer can be constantly melted
44
45
46 into water as shown in Fig.18 and can be certainly re-freezing under severe cold
47
48 environment.
49
50
51 As shown in Fig.19, based on the discussion on the performances of (a) the moment
52
53 to reach 0 °C, (b) thermal conductivity, (c) temperature uniformity and (d) thawing time,
54
55
56
the recommended steel slag volume contents are 40vol% and 60vol% limestone
57
58 aggregate with 0.6mm, 2.36mm and 9.5mm particle sizes.
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 3.6 Comprehensive feasibility analysis
5
6
7 The current greatest challenges for MH pavement are the insufficient development
8
9 of microwave absorbing materials, higher construction cost but lower efficiency of
10
11
12 deicing. Therefore, the exploration of the microwave absorbing materials with
13
14 performance of the desirable MH ability, low cost and easy access has a decisive impact
15
16
17 on the development of the MH pavement. Obviously, after the feasibility of the steel slag
18
19 as the asphalt pavement microwave heating material has been proved, its practicability
20
21 should be analyzed to verify that it is suitable for MH pavement.
22
23
24 3.6.1 Sources of steel slag
25
26 According to the characteristics of highway construction, the supply of raw
27
28
29 materials especially mass freight supply, such as aggregate, sand and gravel, should
30
31 depend on local resources to reduce its construction cost. To the MH pavement, the
32
33
34 microwave absorbing material used should have a stable, extensive and easy available to
35
36 the sources of supply which making the construction of the MH pavement has a basic
37
38
39
feasibility. Fig. 20 shows that the crude steel productions are mainly distributed in North,
40
41 East and Northeast China where over 77% of the total annual outputs of China's crude
42
43 steel are produced (CIIN, 2016). Therefore, the steel slag reservation is enormously
44
45
46 abundant in these areas. Meanwhile, Fig.20 also showing that the average temperatures in
47
48 Winter in the areas of North and Northeast China are -6.7 ° C and -13.5 ° C (Zhang et al.,
49
50
51 2011 and He et al., 2013), respectively, which means that there is enough steel slag for
52
53 MH pavement in the cold regions (Northeast and North China). Therefore, the utilization
54
55
56
of steel slag as aggregate for MH pavement has a great feasibility resulting from the
57
58 intense demand for pavement deicing in cold regions and the wide distribution of steel
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 slag.
5
6
7 3.6.2 Ecological hazardous assessment
8
9 Steel slag is a kind of industrial waste containing trace heavy metal ions (eg. Pb, Hg,
10
11
12 Cd, Cr, As, Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn et, al). Therefore, when steel slag is used as aggregate for MH
13
14 pavement, the potentially damage influence of heavy metal ions, which are separated
15
16
17 from MH pavement under the rain-wash, on the groundwater, surrounding soil and
18
19 human health should be thoroughly evaluated.
20
21 Oluwasola et al., (2016) made a reliable conclusion which showing that the heavy
22
23
24 metal ions of copper, Cu; Chromium, Cr; Lead, Pb; Cadmium, Cd and Nickel, Ni
25
26 contained in the steel slag can be detected via toxicity characteristic leaching procedure
27
28
29 (TCLP). As the main heavy metal ions contained in the steel slag, the leaching amount of
30
31 lead ion in steel slag exposing in the natural environment is much higher than that of steel
32
33
34 slag was wrapped in asphalt concrete. Furthermore, previous studies conducted by
35
36 Onuaguluchi and Eren, (2012), Nikolić, et al. (2016) also indicate that the incorporation
37
38
39
of steel slag into asphalt concrete is nontoxic for ecological environment. Therefore, the
40
41 MH pavement would exert no hazardous effects on the groundwater, surrounding soil and
42
43 human health instantly or chronically.
44
45
46 3.6.3 Cost performance analysis
47
48 Asphalt concrete can possess the microwave heating capacity through the addition
49
50
51 of microwave absorbers, such as effective absorption materials (e.g. carbon fiber,
52
53 carbonyl iron powder or steel fiber) and some composites (e.g. steel slag or magnetite).
54
55
56
However, the cost of effective absorbers for MH pavement is enormously high. After the
57
58 investigation and summary of the research results reported by Wang et al. (2014), Wang
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 et al. (2011), Guo and Sha, (2012) and Liu et al. (2010), the raw materials cost increment
5
6
7 of asphalt concrete caused by the incorporation of microwave absorbing materials into
8
9 MH pavement and their heating efficiency were shown in Tab.4. Microwave absorbing
10
11
12 materials are costly resulting from its highly commercial value and versatile applications.
13
14 However, preparation for uniform asphalt mixtures with absorbing materials is a
15
16
17 challenging work where special equipments and sophisticated techniques are needed due
18
19 to the highly viscosity of asphalt (such as the mixing process of carbonyl iron powder and
20
21 asphalt). In spite of this, the microwave heating rate of MH pavement with absorbing
22
23
24 material shows no significantly higher than those of steel slag or low-grade magnetite.
25
26 Another notable feature is that the cost increment caused by incorporation of steel
27
28
29 slag is negative, which indicates that the construction cost of MH pavement can be
30
31 reduced by the incorporation of steel slag; while the addition of other microwave
32
33
34 absorbing materials can result in the cost increase of the MH pavement in different
35
36 degrees.
37
38
39 4. Conclusions
40
41
42 In this work, the feasibility of simultaneously using steel slags aggregate and
43
44 conventional limestone aggregate in asphalt mixtures for pavement microwave deicing
45
46
47 application was evaluated. Based on the results discussed above, the following
48
49 conclusions can be drawn:
50
51
52 The thick ice layer removal is considered as a technological difficulty resulting from
53
54 the presence of freezing adhesion action on the interface between ice layer and pavement
55
56
57
surface. With the assistance of microwave deicing vehicle, the best opportunity for
58
59 microwave deicing is when the pavement surface temperature reached 0 °C to remove the
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 freezing adhesive interface while prevent the water melting from ice layer to re-freezing
5
6
7 under low-temperature atmosphere.
8
9 In contrast to limestone aggregate, steel slag possesses much higher MH capacity
10
11
12 resulting from the higher hyperactive (Fe3O4) and active (Fe2O3 and FeS) content
13
14 contained in steel slag. The surface temperature of steel slag maintains in a
15
16
17 correspondingly high level when the particle size is larger than 0.6mm, showing that the
18
19 microwave heating capacity of steel slag varies with its particle sizes. The most effective
20
21 particle sizes are selected as 9.5mm (20 s), 2.36mm (40 s, 60 s) and 0.6mm (80 s).
22
23
24 The parallel hot-wire method is suitable for determine the asphalt mixture thermal
25
26 conductivity (k) conveniently and precisely. The thermal conductivity of asphalt mixtures
27
28
29 significantly decreases with the increase of steel slag content due to the porous
30
31 characteristics of steel slag, the k value of SS-20, SS-40, SS-60, SS-80 and SS-100 are
32
33
34 decreases 5.16%, 4.22%, 11.73%, 12.20% and 18.78% compared with SS-0, respectively.
35
36 Microwave heating uniformity plays important role to deicing efficiency of MH
37
38
39
pavement. The standard deviations of surface temperature increases with the increase of
40
41 the steel slag content, and the heating uniformities of asphalt mixtures are in an
42
43 acceptable range except for SS-80 and SS-100.
44
45
46 The microwave thawing efficiency is directly affected by its initial atmospheric
47
48 temperature. The R0 for common cold and extremely cold condition are 20 s and 60 s,
49
50
51 respectively. After the addition of steel slag, the MH thawing efficiency of specimens is
52
53 increased about 2.3 - 3.1 times and 2.1 - 2.6 times in contrast to the SS-0 under common
54
55
56
cold and extremely cold condition, respectively.
57
58 Finally, the steel slag as aggregate for asphalt pavement microwave deicing has the
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4 advantages of wide sources, eco-friendly and lower construction cost in comparison with
5
6
7 other microwave absorbers such as carbon fiber, carbonyl iron powder, low-grade
8
9 magnetite and steel fiber. The utilization of steel slag for MH pavement is a novel
10
11
12 application for recycling steel slags, which can alleviate the supply shortage of natural
13
14 raw materials and improve the safety of road traffic in winter.
15
16
17 Further study
18
19 This study has made a preliminary study of utilization of steel slag as aggregate in
20
21
22 asphalt mixtures for microwave deicing to exploring its feasibility. Although the obtained
23
24 conclusions are desirable, but there are several concerns should be further studied. Firstly,
25
26
27 the bond interface of steel slag and asphalt can be melted since the temperature of steel
28
29 slag increased sharply under microwave irradiation. The corresponding damage caused
30
31
32 should be carefully evaluated. In the winter, the MH pavement may experience cyclic
33
34 heating repeatedly for deicing operation, the long-term performance of MH pavement
35
36
should be further investigated to prevent its performance degradation.
37
38
39 Acknowledgements
40
41
42 This work was jointly supported by the National and Local Joint Engineering
43
44 Materials Laboratory of Traffic Engineering and Civil Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong
45
46
47 University (No: LHSYS-2016-002), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
48
49 Universities (No. 310831153504 and 310831163113), and National Science and
50
51
52
technology support program in 12th Five-Year (2014BAG05B04). Additionally, the
53
54 writers also express their thanks to Dr. Liqun Hu, Dr. Wei Jiang, Dr. Liang Zhou of
55
56 Chang’an University for their valuable assistance. Finally, the authors are grateful to Miss
57
58
59 Ruiqing Liu of New Oriental School for English revision.
60
61
62
63
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2
3
4
5 References
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7 Benedetto, A., Calvi, A., 2013, A pilot study on microwave heating for production and
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43 Tinga, W.R., 1988, Microwave dielectric constants of metal oxides, part 1 and part 2.
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48 Wen, H., Wu, S., Bhusal, S., 2016, Performance evaluation of asphalt mixes containing
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9 characteristics of asphalt mixes with carbonyl iron powder. Progress in
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14 Wong, D., 1975. Microwave dielectric constants of metal oxides at high temperature.
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17 M.Sc. thesis, University of Alberta.
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19 Xie, J., Chen, J., Wu, S., Lin, J., Wei, W., 2013, Performance characteristics of asphalt
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21 mixture with basic oxygen furnace slag. CONSTR BUILD MATER 38, 796-803.
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24 Xie, J., Wu, S., Lin, J., Cai, J., Chen, Z., Wei, W., 2012, Recycling of basic oxygen
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26 furnace slag in asphalt mixture: Material characterization & moisture damage
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31 Xia, D.K., Pickles, C.A., 1997, Applications of microwave energy in extractive
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34 metallurgy, a review. Cim Bulletin 90, 96-107.
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36 Zanko, L.M., Fosnacht, D.R., Hopstock, D.M., 2009. Construction aggregate potential of
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41 pp. 252-274.
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43 Zanko, L.M., Niles, H.B., Oreskovich, J.A., 2008, Mineralogical and microscopic
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46 evaluation of coarse taconite tailings from Minnesota taconite operations. REGUL
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48 TOXICOL PHARM 521, S51-S65.
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51 Zhang Yichi, Wu Kai, Yu Jingjie, Xia Jun., 2011, Characteristics of precipitation and air
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53 temperature variation during 1951-2009 in North China. Journal of Natural
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58 Zou, M., Beckford, S., Wei, R., Ellis, C., Hatton, G., Miller, M.A., 2011, Effects of
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Table

Table 1. Basic physical performance of steel slag and limestone

Table 2. Alternative scheme for Marshall specimens

Table.3 The element distributions on the surface of steel slag

Table.4 Properties of MH pavement with different absorbing materials

Table 1

Basic physical performance of steel slag and limestone

Apparent Soaking
Water Crushing Los Angeles
Aggregate specific gravity swelling ratio
absorption (%) value (%) abrasion (%)
(g/cm3) (%)
steel slag 3.276~3.341 0.9~1.1 1.2~2.6 14.2 12.7
Limestone 2.772 0.4 0.71 20.4 18.4
Criteria in China ≥2.5 ＜2 ≤3 ≤22 ＜26
 Table 2

Alternative scheme for Marshall specimens

Sieve size (mm)

Replacement 9.5 2.36 0.6

16 13.2 4.75 1.18 0.3 0.15 0.075 filler A/C ratio
LS BOF LS BOF LS BOF

SS-0 0 59 219 0 279 190 0 124 89 0 65 41 47 71 4.7%

SS-20% 0 59 175.2 51.6 279 152 44.8 124 71.2 21 65 46.2 47 71 4.6%

SS-40% 0 59 131.4 103.2 279 114 89.6 124 53.4 42 65 46.2 47 71 4.5%

SS-60% 0 59 87.6 154.9 279 76 134.4 124 35.6 62.9 65 46.2 47 71 4.5%

SS-80% 0 59 43.8 206.5 279 38 179.2 124 17.8 83.9 65 46.2 47 71 4.4%

SS-100% 0 59 0 258.1 279 0 223.9 124 0 104.9 65 46.2 47 71 4.3%

Note: LS is representing for limestone; SS is representing for steel slag.

Table.3

The element distributions on the surface of steel slag

O Si Ca Fe Mg
No.
Mass% Mass% Mass% Mass% Mass%
Black calcium silicate phase
01 39.51 9.54 31.66 1.25 0.65
02 15.19 0.91 4.09 4.21 0.64
03 25.86 10.35 35.72 1.88 0.47
Gray calcium-iron phase
04 32.81 11.71 44.96 2.05 1.98
05 33.34 8.12 42.72 2.75 2.12
06 31.78 11.63 43.07 4.33 2.57
White iron-magnesium phase
07 24.00 0.24 1.44 46.04 19.70
08 20.22 1.17 5.77 43.60 20.48
09 7.23 0.39 2.51 83.54 4.12
10 17.63 0.35 4.17 59.40 11.62
Table.4

Properties of MH pavement with different absorbing materials

Initial Heating Temp. Heating Cost

Content
Base material Absorber temp. time increment rate increment
/%
/℃ /s /℃ s/℃ m3/Yuan
- - -24 342 24 0.07 0
100 -10 7 10 1.42 90
Low-grade 67 -10 10 10 1.00 50
magnetite 44 -10 13 10 0.77 33
38 -10 20 10 0.50 28
Carbonyl
iron 0.29 20 60 80 1.33 348
Asphalt powder
mixture 4 25 30 9 0.3 15
Steel fiber 8 25 30 28 0.93 30
1.2 25 30 41 1.36 45
9 -5 20 19 0.97 -30
19 -5 20 22 1.11 -63
Steel slag 28 -5 20 22 1.09 -94
37 -5 20 25 1.25 -124
45 -5 20 24 1.24 -151
0.12 -10 150 25 0.17 144
Micro-surfacing Carbon
0.36 -10 120 25 0.21 432
asphalt mixture fiber
0.60 -10 200 25 0.12 720

Note：The absorbing materials content is the mass fraction of the composite; The heating test conditions were 100

kW/m2 power and 2.45 GHz frequency, except for that of steel fiber (70KHz); The unit price of the absorber is

investigated in the Chinese market (March 2016th).

Figure

Fig.1 The process of recycling steel slags for microwave deicing asphalt pavement

Fig.2 Gradation curve for AC-13

Fig.3 Thermal conductivity test system

Fig.4 The setup for capture surface temperature image

Fig.5 The process of Surface temperature test

Fig.6 The process of ice layer preparation and ice-thawing test

Fig.7 Working mechanism of MH vehicle

Fig.8 Thermal image of particles (after 15s radiation)

Fig.9 Surface temperature of 10 particle sizes with different radiation duration

Fig.10 Microwave heating behavior of common metal oxides

Fig.11 The micrographs of steel slag

Fig.12 Details of k calculation and temperature-time curve

Fig.13 The results of thermal conductivity

Fig.14 Surface temperature of Marshall samples after microwave heating

Fig.15 The results of thawing time

Fig.16 Ice melting into water under microwave radiation

Fig.17 3D image of surface temperature

Fig.18 Standard deviations of surface temperature

Fig.19 Comprehensive comparison on performance with different steel slag contents

Fig.20 The proportion of crude steel output in different regions of China and the

average temperature of producing areas in Winter

Fig.1 The process of recycling steel slags for microwave deicing asphalt pavement
 100 Lower limite
Uper limite
Mid-value (used)
80
Passing rate (%)

60

40

20

0.1 1 10
Sieve size (mm)

Fig.2 Gradation curve for AC-13

Fig.3 Thermal conductivity test system

密封胶画上
Fig.4 The setup for capture surface temperature image
Fig.5 The process of Surface temperature test

Target area
Fig.6 The process of ice layer preparation and ice-thawing test
Fig.7 Working mechanism of MIH vehicle
Fig.8 Thermal image of particles (after 15s radiation)
 400
limestone 13.2mm 0.6mm
350 9.5mm 4.75mm
2.36mm 1.18mm
0.6mm 0.3mm 2.36mm
300
Temperature(℃)

0.15mm 0.075mm
250 Filler
2.36mm
200
9.6mm
150

100

50

0
0s 20s 40s 60s 80s
Heating time(s)

Fig.9 Surface temperature of 10 particle sizes with different radiation duration

 1200 Reported by Wong and Tinga
Heating rate reported(°C/min)

Reported by Xia and Pickles

1000 Hyperactive
Active
800
Difficult to heat
600 Inactive

400

200

MaO Al2O3 SiO2 CaO Fe2O3 FeS Fe3O4

Compound

Fig.10 Microwave heating behavior of common metal oxides

Fig.11 The micrographs of steel slag
 Δθ(t) Δθ(2t) Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t)
40 Δθ(t) Δθ(2t) Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t) E k 40 No.1 12.85305 35.17561 2.73675
E
0.1816
k
1.7096
No.1 14.63203 34.58881 2.36391 0.2742 2.2675
No.1 13.53567 33.95467 2.50853 0.2325 2.0784 No.2 14.93275 36.51615 2.44537 0.2491 2.01846
No.3 17.01245 37.85669 2.22523 0.328 2.33288
35 No.1 10.8536 29.55436 2.723 0.1834 2.04461 35 mean k
mean k
2.02031
2.13017
30 30

25 25 Δθ(2t)
Δθ(t) Δθ(t)
Δθ(°C)

Δθ(°C)
Δθ(℃ )
20 20
Δθ(2t)
15 15

10 10
No.1 No.1
5 No.2 5 No.2
0 No.3 0 No.3

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Heating time(s) Heating time(s)

(a) SS-0 (b) SS-20

40 No.1
Δθ(t)
7.03884
Δθ(2t)
22.84081
Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t)
3.24497
E
0.1139
k
1.95798
40 Δθ(t) Δθ(2t) Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t) E k
No.1 5.05203 18.19942 3.6024 0.0862 2.06456
No.2 5.35955 19.5163 3.64141 0.0838 1.89191 No.2 5.89286 20.98104 3.56042 0.0888 1.82336

35 No.3 8.15957 23.81975 2.91924

mean k
0.1523 2.25849
35 No.3 4.48244 17.94132 4.00258
mean k
0.0656 1.77082

2.03613 1.88625

30 Δθ(2t) 30
Δθ(2t)
25 25
Δθ(°C)

Δθ(°C)

20 20

15 Δθ(t) 15 Δθ(t)
10 10
No.1 No.1
5 5
No.2 No.2
0 No.3 0 No.3

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Heating time(s) Heating time(s)

(c) SS-40 (d) SS-60

Δθ(t) Δθ(2t) Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t) E k

40 No.1
Δθ(t)
4.73798
Δθ(2t)
18.04532
Δθ(2t)/Δθ(t)
3.80866
E
0.0749
k
1.91282
40 No.1 4.73798 18.04532 3.80865 0.0749 1.91282
No.2 4.28608 16.92806 3.94954 0.0682 1.92535 No.2 4.77488 18.74759 3.9263 0.0691 1.75106
No.3 5.05237 20.42234 4.04213 0.0639 1.53035
35 No.3 4.88988 18.86259 3.85748
mean k
0.0724 1.79154
35 mean k
1.87657 1.73141

30 30
Δθ(2t)
25 Δθ(2t) 25
Δθ(°C)

Δθ(°C)

20 20

15 15
Δθ(t) Δθ(t)
10 10
No.1 No.1
5 No.2 5 No.2
0 No.3 0 No.3

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Heating time(s) Heating time(s)

(e) SS-80 (f) SS-100

Fig.12 Details of k calculation and temperature-time curve

 2.3

2.2
2.13
Thermal conductivity

2.1 y = -0.3714x + 2.129

2.02 2.03 R2 = 0.9364
2.0

1.9 1.88 1.87

1.8
1.73
1.7

1.6

1.5
SS-0 SS-20 SS-40 SS-60 SS-80 SS-100

Fig.13 The results of thermal conductivity

(a) SS-20 (b) SS-40

(c) SS-60 (d) SS-80

(e) SS-100

Fig.14 3D image of surface temperature

 60 St.d (-5°C,20s) 300
St.d (-20°C,60s)
50 250
y = 98.313x2 - 5.0848x + 95.254

St.d (-20°C,60s)
St.d (-5°C,20 s)

R2 = 0.9676 200
40
y = 14.325x2 + 0.7157x + 12.001
30 R2 = 0.6675 150

20 100

10 50

0 0
SS-0 SS-20 SS-40 SS-60 SS-80 SS-100
Volume replacement/%

Fig.15 Standard deviations of surface temperature

 80
No radiation 6

Temperature/℃
70 SS-0 4
2
SS-20 0
60 SS-40 -2
-4
SS-60
Temperature/°C

-6
50 SS-80 20
Heating time (s)
SS-100
40
30
20
10
0
-10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Heating time (s)

(a) under common cold condition (-5 °C)

70
No radiation
60 SS-0
SS-20
50 SS-40
SS-60
Temperature/°C

40
SS-80
30 SS-100

20
10
0
-10
-20

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Heating time (s)

(b) under extremely cold condition (-20 °C)

Fig.16 Surface temperature of Marshall samples after microwave heating

 280
under -20°C
240 under -5°C
R0 under -20°C
y = 294.2x2 - 396.63x + 221.61
R2 = 0.7609 R0 under -5°C
200
Thawing time(s)

160 y = 268.3x2 - 367.02x + 174.96

R2 = 0.8546
120

80

40

BOF-0 BOF-20 BOF-40 BOF-60 BOF-80 BOF-100

Volume replacement

Fig.17 The results of thawing time

Fig.18 Ice melting into water under microwave radiation
 Room temperature
-5°C
C
0° -20°C
c h
ea
or
tt ity
en tiv
om uc
e m
ond
Th a lc ity
m m
er f or
Th u ni
p. e
m tim
Te
i ng
haw
T
SS-0 SS-20 SS-40 SS-60 SS-80 SS-100
Volume replacement

Fig.19 Comprehensive comparison on performance with different steel slag content

 East China
40
30
Northeast region North China
20
10
0
-10
-20

Northwest Region Central China

Southwest region South China

Average minimum temperature in Winter/°C
Proportion of crude steel productions/%

Fig.20 The proportion of crude steel output in different regions of China and the

average temperature of producing areas in Winter