Exhausted frying oil, what to do with it? The proposed solutions begin to be many. After the idea of using it as a fuel to power planes. the latest found comes from Haifang Wen, a professor of Civil Engineering at Washington State University, who devised a technology to produce asphalt using precisely such kitchen waste
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Used frying oil, what to do with it? The proposed solutions begin to be many. After the idea of using it as fuel to power planes, the latest gimmick comes from Haifang Wen, Professor of Civil Engineering at Washington State University, who devised a technology to produce asphalt using precisely such kitchen scraps.
Replacing the crude oil traditionally used for covering the road surface with the waste par excellence of the kitchens: the result was a bioasphalt sustainable which, according to its creator, has nothing to envy to its distant petroleum-based relative.
Less oil to use and a new way to dispose of "bulky" waste such as frying oil: dual benefits from the idea of prof. Wen, which is closer to reality than you can imagine. In the near future, motorists of Washington they may be the first to drive on roads and highways paved with cooking oil-based asphalt. "We are considering doing a road test by the summer of 2014, probably for at least a quarter of a mile (about 400 meters, Ed)", he said Wen.
In front of the rising oil prices, new environmental regulations and changes in the crude oil refining process, asphalt is increasingly becoming a rare and expensive commodity. Made from the residue left by the production of gasoline, plastics and other materials, asphalt still costs 700-800 dollars per ton (€ 509-582), according to estimates by Prof. Wen: “Every year in the United States, we use about 30 million tons of asphalt in the streets".
According to the expert, in the last decade the green asphalt industry has started to bear fruit. It happened in Iowa, where a team of scientists created a bioasphalt based on corn and the residue left over after the production of ethanol. In North Carolina, the same fate happened pig manure.
The bituminous binder, the sticky glue that holds crushed stone and sand to form the pavement, represents only about five percent of the final asphalt, which is distributed by the steamroller creating new lanes and avenues.
After four years of working with a chemist and "adjusting the recipe," Wen has finally managed to create his own green asphalt, equal to that made with petroleum. And his business was followed with interest by federal and state road agencies.
At least in the US, the asphalt could really be green.
Francesca Mancuso
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