Kornelius Sofinner Ndruru shows an overview of his research results in the form of asphalt solids that have been added with encapsulated cigarette filters.

Kampus ITS, ITS News — Paparan panas sinar matahari dan beban kendaraan berlebih menyebabkan kemampuan aspal dalam menahan beban menjadi tidak maksimal, sehingga jalan aspal cepat mengalami kerusakan. Mengatasi permasalahan tersebut, mahasiswa Departemen Teknik Infrastruktur Sipil (DTIS)Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) memanfaatkan limbah filter rokok untuk mengurangi dampak kerusakan jalan aspal.

In his final project research, Kornelius Sofinner Ndruru used the high cellulose acetate content in cigarette filters to be used as an asphalt road polymer. The addition of polymers to the asphalt road mixture itself acts as a binder between asphalt and aggregate. “In addition to its content, cigarette filter was also chosen because of its abundance,” he said.

In the application process, cigarette filters need to go through several stages before being mixed with other asphalt road aggregates. First, the cigarette filter is cleaned and dried so that the bacteria and water content are gone, and the voids in the cigarette filter are reduced and closed. At this stage, the filter will shrink in size and become stronger.

Kornelius Sofinner Ndruru presenting his research on the utilization of cigarette filter waste as an asphalt road mixture for his final project.

In the next stage, the young man from Nias, North Sumatra, explained that the cigarette filter that has been dried and stiffened will be coated with asphalt or referred to as the encapsulation process. At this stage, the student who is usually called Kornel uses a measure of asphalt as much as 20 percent of the total weight of the cigarette filter used. “This encapsulation process serves to coat and close the cavity in the cigarette filter,” he added.

After the cigarette filter is perfectly encapsulated, the result will be mixed with asphalt and other aggregates as an asphalt road mixture. However, Kornel emphasizes that to achieve a stable asphalt road quality, the right amount of cigarette filter is required. “The hollow characteristics of cigarette filters need to be considered because it will affect the amount of asphalt used,” said Kornel.

Asphalt solids that have been added with encapsulated cigarette filters from the research of Kornelius Sofinner Ndruru, a student of the ITS Civil Infrastructure Engineering Department.So, in research for his Final Project (TA) entitled Analysis of the Effect of Using Encapsulated Cigarette Filter Waste as an HRS-WC Asphalt Mixture on Marshall Stability Values, Kornel conducted asphalt encapsulation tests on eight variations in the number of cigarette filters for two different methods. “This test aims to determine the most optimum percentage of cigarette filters for the performance of asphalt road mixtures,” said the prospective graduate at the upcoming 130th ITS Graduation ceremony.

Furthermore, Kornel explained, the percentage variations of cigarette filters tested were 0.625 percent, 1.25 percent, 2.5 percent, and 5 percent of the total weight of the asphalt mixture. Each percentage of cigarette filter was encapsulated using the amount of asphalt from inside and outside the optimum asphalt content (KAO) value. Through the testing phase, Kornel found that the use of asphalt and the ability of the asphalt mixture to accept the most optimum load was obtained at a variation of 0.625 percent.

Display of cigarette filter waste that has passed the encapsulation stage with asphalt from the research of ITS student Kornelius Sofinner Ndruru

Through his research, Kornel concluded that the addition of cigarette filters as an asphalt road mixture cannot be done in excess. This is because the hollow characteristics of cigarette filters allow the absorption of asphalt, so that the use of asphalt will increase and cause losses.

Kornel hopes that this research can overcome the adverse effects of cigarette filter waste by utilizing it optimally. On the other hand, Kornel also expressed his hope that this research can continue to a higher stage. “This research can be used as a reference in determining the asphalt content when carrying out the encapsulation process,” concluded Kornel. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Ahmad Naufal Ilham