Use of Biofuel Co-product for Pavement Geo-materials Stabilization

Lignocellulosic biomass contains abundant cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Ethanol production, which utilizes cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions of the lignocellulosic biomass, is obtained from the transformation of fermentable sugar. In this case, other fiber portions of biomass like lignin can be considered as byproducts during the conversion process, and these byproducts generally are used to produce octane booster fuels, bio-based products, and chemical productions.For reduction of soil stabilization costs, utilization of lignin-based BCPs (biofuel co-products) as an alternative to stabilize pavement subgrade soil is an innovative idea, and satisfies the needs of sustainable development of construction.This study aims to investigate the utilization of biofuel co-products (BCPs) containing lignin in pavement geo-materials stabilization. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of BCP addition on shear strength performance for a wide range of soils encountered in Iowa. The unconsolidated undrained direct shear test (DST) was used to evaluate shear performance.The results of this study indicate that Biofuel Co-Products are beneficial in the soil stabilization of low quality materials for road construction use.