Removal of Exhaust Gas with Advanced Solar Photocatalytic Asphalt Applications

• Published in: KSCE journal of civil engineering Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 13 - 24
• Main Authors: Tosun, Hümeyra Bolakar, Alver, Alper, Baştürk, Emine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Korean Society of Civil Engineers 2022; Springer Nature B.V; 대한토목학회
• Subjects: Acid rain; Additives; Air pollution; Asphalt; Asphalt pavements; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Civil Engineering; Condensates; Developed countries; Dosage; Electron microscopy; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Environmental impact; Exhaust gases; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Greenhouse effect; Health problems; Heat treatment; Heat treatments; Humidity; Industrial areas; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Nitrogen compounds; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen oxides; Outdoor air quality; Photocatalysis; Photochemicals; Physical characteristics; Public health; Removal; Scanning electron microscopy; Solar radiation; Spraying; Titanium dioxide; Urban areas; X-ray diffraction; 토목공학; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen oxides; Air quality; Titanium dioxide; Asphalt photocatalyst
• ISSN: 1226-7988; 1976-3808
• DOI: 10.1007/s12205-021-0654-0

Air pollution in developing and developed countries, especially in urban and industrial areas, is one of the biggest problems of the world. Air pollution can lead to various adverse outcomes such as condensation of the greenhouse effect, acid rain and public health problems. The most significant source of environmental pollution in urban areas is road transportation. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of solar photocatalytic asphalt materials in reducing the air pollution problem (NOx-nitrogen oxides) caused by the vehicles. The photocatalytic asphalt material, which can be enhanced by solar rays, was produced by applying nano titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) to asphalt pavements under suitable heat treatment using the spraying and direct additive methods. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses were performed to determine the physicochemical and morphological characteristics of the material. Following the characterization study, the photocatalytic activity capacities of the asphalt material produced by both methods was determined. Experiments on NOx removal were carried out under different conditions including catalyst dosage, humidity, temperature, initial NOx concentration and contact time. According to the results, conventional asphalt pavements and TiO 2 photocatalytic asphalt pavements were compared in terms of NOx removal efficiency. The optimum conditions were determined as follows: catalyst utilization method = spraying modification, catalyst dosage = 1.5 g/L, humidity = 35%, temperature = 25°C and, initial pollutant concentration CO = 2,500 ppm, NO = 750 ppm, NO 2 = 75 ppm and NOx = 825 ppm. In conclusion, it was determined that photocatalysts can be used functionally to solve environmental problems and the solar radiation could be used for the removal of nitrogen and oxide derivatives successfully.