MOL has successfully completed a project to build a rubber bitumen production plant at its Zala Refinery in Hungary. The plant utilises bitumen and rubber granulate from used tires to produce a road construction material with outstanding quality parameters. The rubber bitumen paving offers a solution for environmentally-friendly waste tire processing and provides longer-lasting roads with lower maintenance costs. The project was partly financed by MOL and partly by a HUF 128 million support grant. MOL is now working to promote the use of this high-quality road material throughout Hungary.
Zalaegerszeg – After two-and-a-half year research and development and project implementation works MOL has successfully closed the project titled „Road paving of the 21st century”, with the purpose to build a rubber bitumen production plant based on a proprietary patent, to optimise production and to introduce a new product into the market. The rubber bitumen produced at Zala Refinery is an extraordinary road construction material utilising bitumen and rubber granulate gained from used rubber tires. As the successful completion of the project, the most advanced production technology was introduced in the plant, and, as a result, the plan is able to produce a new road construction material with outstanding quality parameters.
MOL started to build in 2012 January a pilot rubber bitumen production plant at Zala Refinery. Focusing onto sustainable development, the rubber bitumen production can offer a solution for environmentally-friendly procession of waste rubber tires and their utilisation. At the same time, roads equipped with this rubber bitumen paving can provide longer life time and lower maintenance cost compared with roads with traditional bitumen paving, including higher load factor and lower chance for pavement rut. The new rubber bitumen-type asphalts can reduce the traffic noise and also shorten the stopping distance of vehicles.
The pilot plant started production in September 2012, and several experimental road sections were constructed using this new rubber bitumen material in order to obtain further experiences regarding the properties of the rubber bitumen asphalt paving. Based on these properties the technical regulations were prepared for rubber bitumen, as a new type of road construction material, and for incorporating it into the domestic road management system. Parallel with this work research and development works continued, and they enabled minimising energy and time required for rubber bitumen production and optimising the product quality. In addition, further projects were implemented in Zala Refinery in connection with this project and resulting in further improving the production technology and reducing the load onto the environment.
MOL financed the project partly from own funds and partly from the HUF 128 million support awarded by the 2010 Economy Development Operative Program (GOP).
„We have covered a long journey from the birth of the idea until its implementation. Today we have a plant that is able to produce 5000 ton/year rubber bitumen. We are continuously negotiating with the state organisations that are authorised for financing road reconstructions and the companies assigned for implementing such works as contractors in order that this product offering longer life time and high-quality roads can be more extensively applied all over Hungary.” – said Zsolt Pethő, Director of MOL Hungary Downstream.