Abstract
PURPOSES : To design a pre-heater for warm in-place recycling equipment, three different heating systems were evaluated to determine their thermal efficiency. METHODS: In this study, a $30cm{\times}30cm{\times}15cm$ wheel-tracking specimen was used to measure the inner temperature as a function of the heating system. The inner temperature of the specimen was measured with a data logger at the surface, and at depths of 1cm, 2cm, 3cm, 4cm, and 5cm. To evaluate the thermal efficiency, the researchers used three different types of equipment, namely, IR, a heating wire, and a gas burner. RESULTS: The IR heating system exhibits a higher level of performance than the others to achieve the target temperature at a depth of 5cm in the specimen. The gas burner system was capable of heating the surface to a temperature of up to $600^{\circ}C$. The other types, however, cannot heat the surface up to 600. The thermal efficiencies were measured based on the laboratory conditions. CONCLUSIONS: To find the most effective system for application to the development of a pre-heater for warm in-place recycling, various systems (IR, heating wire, gas burner) were examined in the laboratory. As a result, it was found that the hot plate of a gas burner system provides the highest temperature at the surface of the asphalt but, of all the systems, the IR system provides the best internal temperature increase rate. Furthermore, a gas burner can age the asphalt binder of the surface layer as a result of the high temperature. However, the gas burner cannot attain the target temperature at 5cm. The IR system, on the other hand, is effective at increasing the internal temperature of asphalt.
