Simulation-Based Estimation of Fuel Consumption and Emissions of Asphalt Paving Operations

Although energy saving and emission reduction are crucial for sustainable construction, asphalt paving operations are seldom evaluated in terms of fuel consumption and emissions. Current methods for estimating fuel consumption and emissions are difficult considering application characteristics and complexities in the asphalt paving operations. This paper presents a discrete-event simulation method for estimating fuel consumption and emissions from asphalt paving operations based on the estimation models for NONROAD equipment and an activity object-oriented simulation (AOOS) platform. The modeling environment is improved to model particular asphalt paving techniques, variations and randomness in load factors, and environmental information. The simulation strategy is incorporated with the estimation models for NONROAD equipment to implement calculations of fuel consumption and emissions during simulation experiments. A prototype of the proposed simulation method is developed according to the improved simulation mechanism. Case studies on an asphalt paving operation demonstrate that the proposed simulation method is capable of evaluating and planning asphalt paving operations with respect to sustainability.