Introduction
Bitumen is a black or dark-colored (solid, semi-solid, viscous), amorphous, cementitious substance that comes in a variety of types, including rock asphalt, natural bitumen, tar, and petroleum bitumen (bitumen derived from oil). Bitumen can be found in a variety of forms in nature, including rough, easily crumbled bitumen found in rock asphalt and softer, more viscous material found in tar sands and asphalt ‘lakes.’ Bitumen may also be obtained by petroleum processing; in this case, bitumen is simply the residue left over after a petroleum distillation operation. While natural bitumen exists, the world currently relies on petroleum for all purposes. This is how the content has been made for over a century.
Related Project: Production of Bitumen (Polymer Modified Bitumen, Bitumen Emulsion, Cutback Bitumen)
Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB) is a form of specially designed and engineered bitumen that is used to make pavement, heavy-duty roads, and home roofing solutions that can withstand severe weather. PMB is bitumen with a polymer applied to it, giving it added resilience, cohesion, and resistance to fatigue, stripping, and deformations, making it a good choice for infrastructure.
Bitumen Emulsion is a combination of fine bitumen droplets and water. However, since bitumen is a petroleum product, it does not mix with water and is sticky, it is difficult to disintegrate into fine droplets. An emulsifier is used to solve this problem. A surface-active agent is what an emulsifier is. By preventing the bitumen from mixing with other droplets, the emulsifier holds it in its fine droplet state. Since the droplets are so tiny, they float in water. “As a result, bitumen emulsion is a dispersed substance made up of three components: water, bitumen, and emulsion.”
Cutback Bitumen: Bitumen that has been dissolved in a solvent is known as cutback bitumen (liquid bitumen). Naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, white spirit, and other solvents are popular. The form of solvent determines the curing time, while the volume determines the Cutback Bitumen’s viscosity. Depending on the solvent used, cutbacks are classified as either Rapid-Curing (RC) or Medium-Curing (MC). They’re also given a number that shows the cutback’s minimum kinematic viscosity (fluidity).
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Uses
The building industry uses the most processed bitumen. It is primarily used in the paving and roofing industries. Bitumen is used as a binder in asphalt for highways, runways, parking lots, and foot paths, accounting for 85 percent of all bitumen generated. Gravel and crushed rock are combined with dense bitumen to keep it together before being added to roads. Because of its waterproofing properties, bitumen is used in the roofing industry for 10% of all bitumen used worldwide. In different construction materials such as carpet tile backing and paint, 5% of bitumen is used for sealing and insulating purposes. Bitumen has a variety of secondary applications in addition to these primary ones. Soundproofing, explosives, mildew safety, a briquette binder, a mirror backing, shoe soles, fence post coating, and soil stabilization are some other examples.
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Production Process
Distillation
The fractional distillation of crude oil produces bitumen. Distillation is usually performed in two stages. The crude oil is first heated to 300-350°C before entering an atmospheric distillation column. At different heights in the column, lighter fractions such as naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil are isolated from crude oil. Heavy residue refers to the heaviest fractions remaining at the bottom of the column. The long residue is heated to 350-400 degrees Celsius before being poured into a vacuum distillation column. Since the equivalent temperature (temperature under atmospheric conditions) is much higher when using reduced pressure, it is possible to distil lighter products from the residue further. Thermal decomposition/cracking of the heavy residue would occur if the second distillation was carried out under atmospheric conditions and the temperature was raised above 400°C. The short residue at the bottom of the column is used as a feedstock for the production of bitumen.
Propane De-Asphalting
Bitumen can also be made by propane deasphalting, but the properties of propane deasphalted bitumen vary from those created by vacuum distillation from the same feedstock Propane deasphalting may also reduce a residuum even further, resulting in a bituminous product with lower viscosity, higher ductility, and higher temperature susceptibility than other bitumen, though such properties are likely to be crude oil based. Low-bitumen-content crude oils, which are typically different in form and source from those refined by distillation of higher-yield crude oils, are traditionally subjected to propane deasphalting.
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Air Blowing
In batch and continuous processes, air blowing can change the properties of bitumen. The preparation of bitumen in liquid form by blending (cutting back) bitumen with a petroleum distillate fraction, on the other hand, is common and is usually done in tanks with air agitation coils, a mechanical stirrer, or a vortex mixer. At the bottom of a blowing column, air is heated to 150–250°C and introduced. It then migrates to the top of the column via the bitumen. Bitumen with a different combination of molecular structures results from the chemical reactions. This process can be influenced by catalysts.
Visbreaking
Heavy products, such as bitumen, have a lower market value than light products. Visbreaking is a technique for converting heavy products (such as crude oil distillation residue or even very heavy crude oils) into lighter ones. To do so, heat the crude oil or residue to 450 degrees Celsius and hold it there for 1 to 20 minutes. A large number of molecular structures are broken down into smaller structures during this period. The visbreaking process’s output (VB product) is usually distilled further.
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Market Outlook
Major grades such as paving, oxidized, cutback, emulsion, PMB, and others make up the commodity category. From 2019 to 2026, PMB is expected to develop at a rate of over 4.5 percent. Because of their superior quality and longevity, PMB are commonly used in road construction as well as building and construction. To change the properties of bitumen, different materials are added, such as thermoplastic elastomers like styrene polymers and rubber, thermoplastic polymers like ethylene copolymers, polyethylene, and polypropylene, and thermosetting polymer resins.
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The addition of these polymers in trace amounts, either mechanically or chemically, increases the elasticity and tensile strength of the material, extending its fatigue life. Despite the fact that PMB is a newcomer to the bitumen industry, it will take a long time for it to gain traction. Because of increasing construction and road maintenance all over the world, particularly in Asia Pacific, the paving segment contributed significantly to the overall market and will maintain its share. Because of the type of manufacturing technique and the properties that result, various bitumen types find a broader application in the building and industrial sectors.
Market Research: – Market Research Report
Penetration graded bitumen products are what paving is known as. It’s made from carefully chosen crude oils and refining processes that are meticulously controlled. Asphalt cements and liquid asphalts are the two main types of paving bitumen available on the market. Cement paving grades are semi-solid asphalts that can also be heated into a fluid state. After that, the fluid type is sprayed or combined with other substances. Annual global vehicle sales reached 96.8 million units in 2017 and are projected to rise to 125.5 million units by the end of the forecast period, necessitating the construction of more and better roads. As a result, the market for paving products for roadway applications will be high and will continue to grow in the future.
Profile- Project Reports & Profiles
Few Indian Major Players:
- Pure Bitumen
- ASIAN BITUMEN COMPANY
- Fondement Bitumenous Industries Pvt Ltd
- Apilux Paint Factory in Howrah, Kolkata, West Bengal
- S N CHEMICALS
- New Zeal Constructions
- Kudrat Enterprise
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