A new experimental trial protocol for laboratory investigations of bitumen fumes : Influence of stirring and steamed water on emissions

Development of pavement bituminous materials using steamed water to foam bitumen has been recently observed. Besides, it is well known that stirred warm bitumen generates organic emissions. Although some methods already exist to generate and characterize bitumen fumes, no specific study has been published involving bitumen in the presence of steamed water. In order to fill this gap, LCPC has developped a test bench allowing to collect and to analyse the emissions of emitted Total Organic Compounds 'TOC(e)' from bitumen in temperature and stirring controlled conditions. The influence of bitumen stirring and steamed water addition on organic fumes were studied thanks to the development of an experimental trial protocol. This study highlights the influence of the stirring process on TOC emissions as well as their progressive exhaustion during long-term tests. The additions of steamed water to the bitumen leads to an increase of emitted Total Organic Compounds. These results can be interpreted as a stripping water chemical mechanisms