Hey everyone!
I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break. I don't think I took a spring break; in fact, I probably went to the lab more often than usual! As the title of the post indicated, this week I began the preparation for a new project. Selected participants of SCENE have to create a well-polished poster for the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair, in which the winners will continue to compete in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair. Since the results from the previous experiments came out inconclusive, I was advised by my on-site mentor, Professor Shane Underwood, to take on a new project that incorporated a biological and environmentally-efficient perspective.
THE NEW PROJECT:
Bioasphalt binder is an asphalt alternative made from non-petroleum based renewable resources. Examples of the renewable resources that are used to replace asphalt are sugar, molasses, rice, corn, or potato starches.
20 grams of bio-binder arrived from North Carolina State University. This bio-binder was made from rice husk ash, which smelled like really bad barbecue sauce..
Anyway, before we jumped to anything, we had create an experimental procedure. The main idea that we are focused on is figuring out if it is possible to replace asphalt with bio-binder that can still match the required conditions.
THE EXPERIMENT:
In this experiment, I have designed a control (0% bio-binder) and created an increase increments of bio-binder (1%, 2%, 10%). But since we only received twenty grams of bio-binder, we have to take into account that residue (since asphalt is sticky and clings to everything). Assuming that there is 50% residue, we need to make sure that there is at least 0.2 g of bio-binder is usable for testing.
Percent Bio-Binder Mass of Virgin Asphalt Mass of Bio-Binder
0% 5 g 0 g
1% 4.95 g 0.05 g
2% 4.9 g 0.1 g
10% 4.5 g 0.5 g
Then, these samples will be tested in the Dynamic Shear Rheumeter (DSR), which is a new machine that will characterize the viscous and elastic behavior of asphalt. It will measure the phase angle, the modulus, and the stiffness of asphalt. If the phase angle is between 50 and 90, it is a durable sample. If there is an increase in the G* modulus, this means the the phase angle is lower and the sample is stiffer.
Unfortunately, this is it for today.
See you next week!
Seerat Jajj
I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break. I don't think I took a spring break; in fact, I probably went to the lab more often than usual! As the title of the post indicated, this week I began the preparation for a new project. Selected participants of SCENE have to create a well-polished poster for the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair, in which the winners will continue to compete in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair. Since the results from the previous experiments came out inconclusive, I was advised by my on-site mentor, Professor Shane Underwood, to take on a new project that incorporated a biological and environmentally-efficient perspective.
THE NEW PROJECT:
Bioasphalt binder is an asphalt alternative made from non-petroleum based renewable resources. Examples of the renewable resources that are used to replace asphalt are sugar, molasses, rice, corn, or potato starches.
20 grams of bio-binder arrived from North Carolina State University. This bio-binder was made from rice husk ash, which smelled like really bad barbecue sauce..Anyway, before we jumped to anything, we had create an experimental procedure. The main idea that we are focused on is figuring out if it is possible to replace asphalt with bio-binder that can still match the required conditions.
THE EXPERIMENT:
In this experiment, I have designed a control (0% bio-binder) and created an increase increments of bio-binder (1%, 2%, 10%). But since we only received twenty grams of bio-binder, we have to take into account that residue (since asphalt is sticky and clings to everything). Assuming that there is 50% residue, we need to make sure that there is at least 0.2 g of bio-binder is usable for testing.
Percent Bio-Binder Mass of Virgin Asphalt Mass of Bio-Binder
0% 5 g 0 g
1% 4.95 g 0.05 g
2% 4.9 g 0.1 g
10% 4.5 g 0.5 g
Then, these samples will be tested in the Dynamic Shear Rheumeter (DSR), which is a new machine that will characterize the viscous and elastic behavior of asphalt. It will measure the phase angle, the modulus, and the stiffness of asphalt. If the phase angle is between 50 and 90, it is a durable sample. If there is an increase in the G* modulus, this means the the phase angle is lower and the sample is stiffer.
Unfortunately, this is it for today.
See you next week!
Seerat Jajj
Fascinating! So will your previous experiments/results potentially be drawn upon in the future?
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that "food" sometimes appears in our asphalt! Is this a longstanding practice? Now, I am going to visualize myself driving down a road of sticky molasses every time that I get in the car! :)
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ReplyDeleteIt sucks that your first project was inconclusive, but it's great that you were able to find a new project. I hope you get some good data to present at the science fair.
ReplyDelete