Bitumen is an oil based substance. It is a semi-solid hydrocarbon product produced by removing the lighter fractions (such as liquid petroleum gas, petrol and diesel) from heavy crude oil during the refining process. As such, it is correctly known as refined bitumen. In North America, bitumen is commonly known as “asphalt cement” or “asphalt”. While elsewhere, “asphalt” is the term used for a mixture of small stones, sand, filler and bitumen, which is used as a road paving material. The asphalt mixture contains approximately 5% bitumen. At ambient temperatures bitumen is a stable, semi-solid substance. Other names: Asphalt Cement, Asphaltum, Blacktop

BITUMEN Applications

The major bitumen produced in Middle East and the world known as Asphaltum is used in road construction. In road construction, It is used as a bonding agent for asphalt, and the use of it in the construction industry is ranked second as insulation. Estimates show that the annual amount of Egyptian bitumen in the world is about 102 million tons. Of this, about 85 percent of the Asphaltum is used in the road construction industry, and the 60/70 bitumen is most used. More than 10% of the bitumen produced in the world is used in the building industry and as insulation. And seagulls are used as sealing, insulating, pipe coating, etc ..

1. Surface coating
2. Intruding Macadam
3. Cold machine mixes
4. Suspended seals
5. Surface lining
6. Lining reinforcement consolidation of soil-in-situ
7. Dust Controlling
8. Oil mulch
9. Highways
10. Airport runways
11. Footways / Pedestrian Ways
12. Car parks
13. Racetracks
14. Tennis courts
15. Roofing
16. Damp proofing
17. Dams
18. Reservoir and pool linings
19. Soundproofing
20. Pipe coatings
21. Cable Coatings
22. Paints
23. Building Water Proofing
24. Tile underlying waterproofing
25. Newspaper Ink Production
26. And many other applications

Pipe Coating

Coating systems advanced and at the same time modified polymers on the basis of economic the result is a wide research and long-lasting oil companies shell and Phoenix are Denmark. the characteristics of the coating causing severe epidemics can be high adhesion and resistant top of that soil degradation and stresses cathodic. Has your unique restorative properties. An article for corrosion protection of steel pipes buried in soil for a long period of time, with an appropriate yield. This coating due to being economical and safe for the environment continues to be an option in the transmission lines projects.

Bituseal Coating System

The Bituseal Coating system which was jointly developed by Phoenix International A/S and Shell International Petroleum Co.
bituseal is a PMB pipe coating system which combines the ease of hot applied coating processes with a high degree of corrosion protection and offers both reliability and affordability to clients. In terms of its technical properties, Bituseal matches and even outperforms 3-layer polyethylene coating.Bituseal has an excellent record in gas, water, and offshore pipelines.

Bituseal Coating Field Joint Membrane

Joints are the weakest link in any pipeline. The Bituseal Field Joint Membrane is specifically designed for fast, easy application on-site and to afford the same level of corrosion protection both in pipelines and joints. Bituseal Membrane is to cover pipeline joints or repairing damaged sections of coatings. It can be supplied either in the form of rolls or patches. It is a unique form of cover from both technical and economical viewpoints and a superb substitute for heat shrinkable sleeve. Apart from Bituseal system, it is also applicable on several other coatings like 3-layer polyethylene, bitumen enamel and coal tar with great consistency.

Roll Sheet

WaterProofing Bitumen Membrane Sheet  (Here referred to as WPBS) are the best industrial outcome in the area of ​​waterproofing ever attained by scientific and technological advancement. These products enable us to prevent the adverse effects of rain and snow water penetration into structures from their foundation up to roof. Employing different polymers and synthetic fibers, WPBS pass through well-equipped labs to be amended for attaining resistance against, high and low temperatures, tearing tension, and penetration of water.
In addition to low weight and resistance against cold, heat, expansion and contraction, Huei Jie Oil WPBS show high endurance being produced in two aluminum-covered and polyethylene film-covered versions. There two types of base products: single layered (nonwoven Spunbond polyester), and double layered (stringed fiber gloss tissue and 110 gr polyester) giving the product higher tensile strength against vibrations of the structure. WPBS is used in waterproofing of roofs, water canals, the foundation of tunnels, dams, pools, sloped surfaces, and the like.
Also, Huei Jie Oil Bitumen membrane sheet reinforced by two layers of fiberglass and non-woven tissues with “needdle type” polyester. Azargum humidity polyester in spite of economic point of view possesses perfect utility qualities, therefore, resolves additional directional stability and ordinary surface replacements.

Types of Bitumen By Grade

There are different types of asphalt cement available with different properties, specifications and uses based on requirements of consuming industry.

Oxidized Grade

Blown bitumen grades or Oxidized Bitumen are produced by passing air through the penetration grades. This process gives the bitumen more rubbery properties than its original formula and they are simply harder bitumen. Hard asphalt under controlled temperature conditions is widely used as an anti-slip layer compound in the piling industry, for manufacture of roofing felts, the roofing and waterproofing industries, for sound dampening felts and under carriage sealant in the automotive industry, electric cable joint protection, joint filling compound, sealant compound and many others. Also used in sealing saw cuts and joints where expected movements are minimum. It is also used in the manufacturing of bituminous marine mastic for the oil & gas pipeline joints.

Penetration Grade

Graded Bitumen is classified by the depth to which a standard needle will penetrate under specified test conditions. This “pen” test classification is used to indicate the hardness of bitumen, lower penetration indicating a harder bitumen. Specifications for penetration graded bitumens normally state the penetration range for a grade, e.g. 50/70. Other tests are used to classify the bitumen for specification purposes, such as softening point, solubility, flash point etc.

Performance Grade

Performance Grade (PG) bitumen is Asphaltum which is graded based on its performance at different temperatures. The Long-Term Pavement Performance(LTPP) has given certain algorithm to calculate the temperature of the pavement based on the temperature of the air above. From this, the highest and the lowest temperatures of the pavement is calculated and the bitumen that performs well in that temperature range is selected.

Viscosity Grade

Viscosity Grade Bitumen (Asphalt) is a standard grade Asphaltum usually used as a Paving Grade Bitumen suitable for road construction and for the production of asphalt pavements with superior properties. This grade of Asphaltum is mainly used in the manufacture of hot mix asphalt for bases and wearing courses, and possesses characteristics and qualities unique sand quite different from other agents. They achieve very flexible and tenacious connections with other materials due mainly to viscoelastic response of Asphaltum, which behaviour depends on how fast charges are applied.

Polymer Modified

Polymer modified bitumen (PMB) is one of the specially designed and engineered Asphaltum grades that are used in making pavement, roads for heavy duty traffic and home roofing solutions to withstand extreme weather conditions. PMB is a normal bitumen with the added polymer, which gives it extra strength, high cohesiveness and resistance to fatigue, stripping and deformations, making it a favorable material for infrastructure.

Other Types of Bitumen

Cutback Bitumen

Cutback or Liquid Bitumen is asphaltum that is dissolved in a solvent. Typical solvents include Naphtha, gasoline and kerosene, white spirit etc. The type of solvent controls the curing time while the amount determines the viscosity of the Cutback Bitumen. Bitumen is ‘cutback’ by adding controlled amounts of petroleum distillates such as kerosene. This is done to reduce the viscosity of the asphaltum temporarily so it can penetrate pavements more effectively or to allow spraying at temperatures that are too cold for successful sprayed sealing with neat Asphaltum. The materials used to cutback bitumen will evaporate after application to leave the remaining material similar in hardness to the original asphaltum.

Blown Bitumen

It comes from hot air blown to pure asphaltum in the last stage of refining. In this process, hot air having 200-300 degree centigrade temperature is blown to bitumen container with porous tubes. In this process, hydrogen atoms in Asphaltum hydrocarbon are combined with oxygen in the air and by forming water, polymerization happens. Compared with pure Asphaltum, blown asphalt has a low penetration rate and a high softness point. This kind is used in making roof sheets, automobile battery, and coating.

Natural Bitumen

Natural bitumen or native asphalts are a class of Asphaltum which have been naturally produced due to climate conditions in the course of time, and are used without the need to be processed in distillation ways; they are very varied regarding their composition and properties.

Coating Bitumen

Bitumen coating compositions having substantially improved application and drying properties and producing coatings of improved properties including resistance to ultraviolet rays and alligatoring resulting therefrom said coating compositions comprising volatile solvent solutions of a bitumen coating material having softening point between 110 F To 250 F. The bitumen coating are also characteristically non-viscous materials which are not thixotropic and are therefore ordinarily applied as thin films. It’s compositions may also contain filler materials which tend to settle from the non-thixotropic compositions after storage for only a short time. It has been proposed in the past to add inert colloidal fillers such as silica to obtain thixotropic properties and thicker films on the application of the compositions. However, even such inert fillers tend to affect only solution properties and generally exist in the finished coating as an expensive additive which does not benefit other properties of the coating.

Bitumen Emulsion

This is a mixture of water & asphaltum. Hey wait, we know that asphaltum is a oil product and it cannot be mixed with water. That is why we add an emulsifier (a surface active agent) with water before adding asphaltum. Addition of emulsifier with water facilitates breaking of asphaltum into minute particles and keeps it dispersed in suspension.Therefore we can say that a bitumen emulsion is a liquid product consisting of three things, (ie water + Emulsion + Asphaltum) where droplets of asphaltum are suspended in water.