Method of making an asphalt composition containing ester bottoms

A method of making a modified asphalt composition, the method comprising:

• reacting methanol and dry oil to generate reaction products, the reaction products including at least methyl ester and glycerin, the dry oil being an oil that is at least partially dried to remove moisture therefrom;
• settling the glycerin from the reaction products;
• creating a distillation feedstock that has at least a portion of the glycerin removed from the reaction products;
• distilling the distillation feedstock;
• recovering distillation bottoms as ester bottoms;
• and
• adding the ester bottoms and an asphalt-modifying polymer to an asphalt to define a modified asphalt composition, the ester bottoms being between about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the modified asphalt composition, the asphalt-modifying polymer being between about 0 wt % to about 20 wt % of the modified asphalt composition, and the asphalt being between about 50 wt % to about 99.9 wt % of the modified asphalt composition.

A method of making a modified asphalt composition, the method comprising:

• reacting methanol with dry oil containing one or more of a vegetable oil or an animal fat to generate reaction products, the reaction products including at least methyl ester and glycerin;
• settling the glycerin from the reaction products;
• removing at least a portion of the glycerin from the reaction products to leave an ester phase;
• distilling the ester phase to separate purified methyl esters from ester bottoms;
• and
• blending the ester bottoms and an asphalt-modifier with an asphalt to define a modified asphalt composition, the ester bottoms being between about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the modified asphalt composition, the asphalt-modifier being between about 0 wt % to about 20 wt % of the modified asphalt composition, and the asphalt being between about 50 wt % to about 99.9 wt % of the modified asphalt composition.

A method of making a modified asphalt composition, the method comprising:

• reacting methanol with dry oil containing one or more of a vegetable oil or an animal fat to generate reaction products, the reaction products including at least methyl ester and glycerin;
• settling the glycerin from the reaction products;
• removing at least a portion of the glycerin from the reaction products to leave an ester phase;
• washing the ester phase with water to remove one or more of soap, methanol, catalyst or additional glycerin;
• drying the washed ester phase to define dried methyl esters;
• distilling the dried methyl esters to separate purified methyl esters from ester bottoms;
• and
• blending the ester bottoms and an asphalt-modifier with an asphalt to define a modified asphalt composition, the asphalt-modifier being selected from the group consisting of a polymer, a resin, polyphosphoric acid, gilsonite, lignin, and crumb rubber.

A method of making a modified asphalt composition that rejuvenates recycled asphalt, the method comprising:

• reacting methanol and dry oil to generate reaction products, the reaction products including at least methyl ester and glycerin, the dry oil including one or more of a vegetable oil or an animal fat that has at least some moisture removed therefrom prior to reaction with the methanol;
• settling the glycerin from the reaction products;
• removing at least a portion of the glycerin from the reaction products to leave an ester phase;
• distilling the ester phase to separate purified methyl esters from ester bottoms;
• and
• adding the ester bottoms to recycled asphalt to define a modified asphalt composition, the recycled asphalt being obtained from a milled road surface, the ester bottoms being between about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the modified asphalt composition and the recycled asphalt being between about 50 wt % to about 99.9 wt % of the modified asphalt composition.

A method of making a modified asphalt composition that resists moisture susceptibility, the method comprising:

• reacting methanol with dry oil to generate reaction products, the reaction products including at least methyl ester and glycerin, the dry oil including one or more of a vegetable oil or an animal fat that has at least some moisture removed therefrom prior to reaction with the methanol;
• settling the glycerin from the reaction products;
• removing at least a portion of the glycerin from the reaction products to leave an ester phase;
• washing the ester phase with water to remove one or more of soap, methanol, catalyst or additional glycerin;
• drying the washed ester phase to define dried methyl esters;
• distilling the dried methyl esters to separate purified methyl esters from ester bottoms;
• and
• blending the ester bottoms and an asphalt to define a modified asphalt composition that resists cracking, the ester bottoms being between about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the modified asphalt composition and the asphalt being between about 50 wt % to about 99.9 wt % of the modified asphalt composition.