Frequently Asked Questions about Asphalt

Frequently Asked Questions about Asphalt

Bitumen is a dark brown complex mixture of hydrocarbons of different molecular weights and their non-metallic derivatives, mainly presented as liquid or semi-solid petroleum form, with a black surface, soluble in carbon disulfide, carbon tetrachloride. Bitumen is a kind of waterproof and moistureproof and anticorrosive organic cementitious material. As for the price of asphalt, it will be affected by market supply and demand, origin, quality and other factors, so it can not give a fixed price. You can refer to the relevant market report or consult the supplier for the specific price.

Bitumen has a wide range of uses, including but not limited to the following:

1. Construction: Asphalt is a key binder in construction, firmly bonding stones, sand, etc. together to form a solid building foundation. In paving, asphalt also acts as a binder, making the pavement smoother and more durable. In addition, asphalt is also used in the manufacture of waterproof coatings, industrial flooring and roofing materials.
2. Transportation: Asphalt is widely used to pave roads and bridges, which not only enhances the load-bearing capacity of the road surface, but also prevents the surface of the bridge from rusting, thus prolonging the service life of the bridge and enhancing safety. In addition, asphalt can also be used to manufacture automobile fire insulation screen.
3. Industrial field: asphalt can be used in the manufacture of petroleum asphalt animal preservatives, asphalt poles and asphalt lamps and so on. At the same time, asphalt is also used in the manufacture of foaming materials and mixtures.
4. Other fields: Bitumen is also used in the manufacture of ship coatings, which is an effective means of ship corrosion protection. In addition, bitumen can be used for traditional purposes such as the production of showers.

Overall, asphalt has a wide range of applications in various fields and is a very important industrial raw material.

1. How is bitumen produced?

Bitumen is produced mainly from petroleum processing. In petroleum processing, crude oil is distilled to separate light oil and heavy oil, of which heavy oil is the main raw material for asphalt. Through further refining and processing, asphalt products that meet the specifications can be obtained.

2. How is bitumen extracted?

The extraction methods of asphalt mainly include distillation, solvent precipitation and oxidation. In the distillation method, the crude oil is distilled at atmospheric pressure and reduced pressure to separate the light fraction and reduced pressure fraction oil, and the remaining residue is asphalt. The solvent precipitation method utilizes a solvent to extract the bitumen from the crude oil. The oxidation method is to make the non-hydrocarbon components in crude oil under the action of high temperature and oxygen to undergo oxidation reaction and generate asphalt.

3. How is bitumen formed?

The formation of asphalt is a complex geochemical process. In the long geological era, plant and animal remains in the ground through high temperature and high pressure, and gradually transformed into oil. After the light components of petroleum have been volatilized and distilled, the remaining heavy components are asphalt. In addition, bitumen can also be extracted through the pyrolysis process of oil sands and oil shale.

4. How is bitumen made?

The production of bitumen mainly involves the refining and processing of raw materials. First, bitumen feedstocks are extracted from crude oil by distillation, solvent precipitation or oxidation. These raw materials are then subjected to further treatment and processing, such as dehydrogenation, cracking, and removal of impurities, to obtain a pure asphalt base material. Finally, the asphalt base material is mixed with other auxiliary raw materials such as additives and stabilizers to improve the bonding and durability of the asphalt. 

5. How is asphalt transported? 

The transportation of asphalt mainly includes sea transportation, air transportation and land transportation. Sea freight is one of the common ways of transportation in asphalt export declaration, which can use ships to transport asphalt to various ports around the world. Airfreight is a fast and safe way of transportation, especially when the asphalt is needed urgently to reach its destination. Ground transportation plays an important role in moving bitumen from the plant to the port or from the port to the destination, and is usually carried out via a trailer service.