Bitumen Application

The vast majority of refined bitumen is used in construction: primarily as a constituent of products used in paving and roofing applications. According to the requirements of the end use bitumen is produced to specification. This is achieved either by refining process or blending.

It is estimated that the current world use of bitumen is approximately 102 million tonnes per year. Approximately 85% of all the bitumen produced is used as the binder in asphalt for roads. It is also used in other paved areas such as airport runways, car parks and footways. 

 Source: The Bitumen Industry - A Global Perspective, 2008

Heavy duty pavings, Urban roads paving, rural roads paving, main roads paving, industrial uses.Heavy duty paving is used in Airports, ports and railways require paving solutions that can withstand extremely heavy loads and high pavement stress. These pavements are subject to sustained loads, often in channels such as loading bays which can lead to rutting.

In the past, bitumen was used to Waterproof Boats, and even as a coating for buildings with some additives. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon. It is also possible that the city of Carthage was easily burnt due to extensive use of bitumen in construction.

Vessels for the heating of bitumen or bituminous compounds are usually subject to specific conditions in public liability insurance policies, similar to those required for blow torches, welders, and flame-cutting equipment.

Bitumen was also used in early photographic technology. It was most notably used by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the first picture ever taken. The bitumen used in his experiments were smeared on pewter plates and then exposed to light, thus making a black and white image.

Thin bitumen plates are sometimes used by computer enthusiasts for silencing computer cases or noisy computer parts such as the hard drive. Bitumen layers are baked onto the outside of high end dishwashers to provide sound insulation.

sources: engineerstoday.blogspot.com , eurobitume.eu , shivamtarproducts.com

P.S: Gildatar Bitumen is proud to make possible the supply of Middle East bitumen in multiple grades 60/70, 80/100, 85/100, 85/25, 40/50, and 30/40.

Bitumen Production Process

Refined Bitumen is produced from selected crude oils through a process of Fractional Distillation. The crude oil is heated to temperatures of between 300 and 350 degrees Celsius and fed into a distillation column allowing the lightest fractions of the crude to separate, through vaporization, from the heavier fractions, which remain liquid. The production is a specialist activity and is not carried out in all oil refineries. Bitumen requires crude oils with specific characteristics and only some crude oils are suitable. There are 94 oil refineries in Europe (EU15) of which 63 produce bitumen.

Bitumen is an engineering material and is produced to meet a variety of end-use specifications based upon physical properties. Bitumen may be customised for special road applications and hundreds of grades have also been developed for the non-road industrial segment, including roofing and sound-proofing.

source: trencome.com

P.S: Gildatar Bitumen is proud to make possible the supply of Middle East bitumen in multiple grades 60/70, 80/100, 85/100, 85/25, 40/50, and 30/40.

Fluxed Bitumen

Fluxed bitumens are bitumen preparation where the viscosity of the binder has been reduced by the addition of relatively non-volatile oils.

The added oil is called a fluxing agent and the resulting product fluxed bitumen. Fluxed bitumen is used where traffic and climatic conditions make slow curing of the binder desirable. The fluxing agent prolongs the period before serious hardening of the binder affects its performance. It is desirable that the binder remains as soft as possible, consistent with its ability to hold aggregate under the required conditions of traffic.

source:goda02.com

P.S: Gildatar Bitumen is proud to make possible the supply of Middle East bitumen in multiple grades 60/70, 80/100, 85/100, 85/25, 40/50, and 30/40.

Road Recycling Methods

Purpose

Roads are rehabilitated to correct deficiencies such as rutting, cracking, oxidation, brittleness, irregular shrinkage, and aggregate stripped of asphalt.

Methods

The following methods of roadway rehabilitation recycle old pavement into new:

Cold, In-Place Recycling. The pavement is removed by cold planing to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. The material is pulverized, sized, and mixed with an additive. Virgin aggregate may be added to modify RAP characteristics. An asphalt emulsion or a recycling agent is added, then the material is placed and compacted. An additional layer is optional, such as a chip seal, or 1 to 3 inches of hot-mix asphalt.

A 3-piece "train" may be used, consisting of a cold planing machine, a screening/crushing/ mixing unit, and conventional laydown and rolling equipment. This "train" occupies only one lane, thus maximizing traffic flow. Caltrans has used cold in-place recycling in over 25 projects in California.

According to the Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association, cost savings can range from 20 to 40 percent over conventional techniques. Because no heat is used, energy savings can be from 40 to 50 percent.

Hot Recycling. At a central plant, RAP is combined with hot new aggregate, and asphalt or a recycling agent to produce AC, using a batch or drum plant. The RAP is usually obtained from a cold planing machine, but could also be from a ripping/crushing operation.

Hot, In-Place Recycling. The pavement is softened by heating, and is scarified or hot milled to a depth of 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches and mixed. New hot mix material and/or a recycling agent is added in a single pass of the machine. A new wearing course may also be added with an additional pass after compaction.

Hot Mix--Remixing. The road is heated to 1-1/2 to 2 inches, and the existing AC is removed to that depth. It is then mixed with virgin mix and/or rejuvenating agents and laid as a single course.

Hot Mix--Repave. This method is the same as remixing, but it is overlaid with new hot mix.

Hot Mix--Heater Scarification. This method is appropriate for roadways that have a stable and structurally adequate base. The road is heated, scarifiers scrape and loosen the pavement, rejuvenating agent is applied, and the surface is leveled in preparation for the addition of a final, thin, wearing course.

Full-Depth Reclamation. All of the asphalt pavement section and a portion of the underlying materials are processed to produce a stabilized base course. The materials are crushed and additives are introduced; the materials are then shaped and compacted, and a surface or wearing course is applied.

source:calrecycle.ca.gov

P.S: Gildatar Bitumen is proud to make possible the supply of Middle East bitumen in multiple grades 60/70, 80/100, 85/100, 85/25, 40/50, and 30/40.

Polymer-Modified Bitumen

Polymer-modified bitumen or modified bitumen (MB) sheet membranes were developed in Europe in the early 1960s and have been in use in the U.S. since the mid 1970s. Polymer-modified roof membranes are composed of reinforcing fabrics that serve as carriers for the hot polymer-modified bitumen as it is manufactured into a roll material. MB roof system membranes are composed of multiple layers, much like BUR membranes. MB roof systems typically are installed as a two-ply system and almost always are fully adhered.

There are two types of MB roofing membranes:

SBS polymer-modified bitumen membranes commonly are installed in hot moppings of asphalt (similar to BUR systems) or cold adhesive. Some SBS modified membranes are self adhering; that is, they contain an adhesive backing.

APP polymer-modified bitumen membranes typically are heat-welded or torch-applied. Consumers should be cautioned that Rain-tite does not recommend torch-applying a modified bitumen membrane sheet directly to a wood deck.

Generally, APP modifiers impart a “plasticized” quality to asphalt, and SBS modifiers impart a “rubberized” quality to asphalt. MB membranes and EPDM, a thermoset membrane, often are confused by consumers because of colloquialisms used by roofing contractors. MB and EPDM membranes are sometimes called “rubber roofs.”

Surfacings for MB membranes include aggregate surfacing, mineral surfacing, metal foil-laminate surfacing and smooth liquid-applied surfacing.

A roof system composed of a built up roof membrane with 2 plies or 3 plies and a polymer-modified bitumen membrane cap sheet is commonly referred to as “hybrid” system. This type is widely considered to be a polymer modified bitumen membrane system.

source: rain-tite.com

P.S: Gildatar Bitumen is proud to make possible the supply of Middle East bitumen in multiple grades 60/70, 80/100, 85/100, 85/25, 40/50, and 30/40.