What Is Bitumen ?
Bitumen is a black or dark-colored (solid, semi-solid, viscous), amorphous, cementitious material that can be found in different forms, such us rock asphalt, natural bitumen, tar and bitumen derived from oil, which is referred to as petroleum bitumen.. A mixture of hydrocarbons occurring as a residue from petroleum distillation. Soluble in carbon disulfide. Combustible.
Bitumen is a mixture of Hydro carbons and thermoplastic material having
strong tarry odour. It stiffness is dependent on temperature. The
temperature-vs-stiffness relationship of bitumen is dependent on the
source of crude oil and the method of refining. It also known as Asphalt
and Mineral Pitch.
What’s the difference between Bitumen and Asphalt? Should I use Bitumen or Asphalt?
Bitumen is actually the liquid binder that holds asphalt together.
The term bitumen is often mistakenly used to describe asphalt.
A bitumen-sealed road has a layer of bitumen sprayed and then covered
with an aggregate. This is then repeated to give a two-coat seal.
Asphalt is produced in a plant that heats, dries and mixes aggregate,
bitumen and sand into a composite mix. It is then applied through a
paving machine on site as a solid material at a nominated or required
thickness, relative to the end use. Asphalt results in a smoother and
more durable surface than a bitumen-sealed road.
Bitumen is applied in construction and maintenance of:
- Highways
- Airport runways
- Footways / Pedestrian Ways
- Car parks
- Racetracks
- Tennis courts
- Roofing
- Damp proofing
- Dams
- Reservoir and pool linings
- Soundproofing
- Pipe coatings
- Cable Coatings
- Paints
- Building Water Proofing
- Tile underlying waterproofing
- Newspaper Ink Production
- And many other applications
Manufacturing Process:
The crude oil is pumped from storage tanks, where it is kept at about 60°C,
through a heat exchanger system where its temperature is increased to typically
200°C by exchanging heat gained from the cooling of newly produced products
in the refining process. The crude is then further heated in a furnace to
typically 300° C where it is partly vaporized into an Atmospheric
Distillation Column. Here the physical separation of the components occurs.
The lighter components rise to the top and the heaviest
components (the atmospheric residue) fall to the bottom of the column
and pass through a second heat exchanger prior to treatment in a vacuum
distillation column. Finally, Bitumen is obtained by vacuum distillation
or vacuum flashing of atmospheric residue from the vacuum distillation column.
This is "straight run bitumen”. This process is called bitumen production
by straight run vacuum distillation.
SPECIFICATION OF PENETRATION GRADE BITUMEN
PROPERTY
|
RANGE
|
STANDARD
|
||
BITUMEN 80/100
|
BITUMEN 60/70
|
BITUMEN 40/50
|
ASTM / AASHTO
|
|
| Specification Gravity @25/25 °C | 1.01/1.06 | 1.00/1.05 | 1.00/1.05 | D-70 |
| Penetration @ 25 ° C | 80/100 | 60/70 | 40/50 | D-5 |
| Softening Point ° C | 45/52 | 49/56 | 52/60 | D-36 |
| Ductility @ 25 ° C CMS | 100 MIN | 100 MIN | 100 MIN | D-113 |
| Loss on Heating (wt)% | 0.5 MAX | 0.2 MAX | 0.2 MAX | D-6 |
| Drop in Penetration After Heating % | 20 MAX | 20 MAX | 20 MAX | D-6 & D-5 |
| Flash Point °C | 225 MIN | 250 MIN | 250 MIN | D-92 |
| Solubility in CS@ (wt)% | 99.5 MAX | 99.5 MAX | 99.5 MAX | D-4 |
| Spot Test | NEGATIVE | NEGATIVE | NEGATIVE | |
| Density @25° C | 1.01/1.06 | 1.00/1.05 | 1.00/1.05 | D70 |
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