How is bitumen Produced?

Petroleum Bitumen, normally called “Bitumen” or “Asphalt” is produced by refining crude oil. Used as a
binder in road-building products, it is a very viscous, black or dark brown material.

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.

An alternative method of bitumen production is by precipitation from residual fractions by propane or

butane-solvent deasphalting. The bitumen thus obtained has properties which derive from the type of
crude oil processed and from the mode of operation in the vacuum unit or in the solvent deasphalting unit.
The grade of the bitumen depends on the amount of volatile material that remains in the product: the
smaller the amount of volatiles, the harder the residual bitumen.

Specialists in bitumen view bitumen as an advanced and complex construction material, not as a mere
by-product of the oil refining process.
Standard Bitumen Production Scheme
Typical Bitumen Production Scheme

Asphalt is a heavy, dark brown to black mineral substance, one of several

mixtures of hydrocarbons called bitumens. Asphalt is a strong, versatile
weather and chemical-resistant binding material which adapts itself to a
variety of uses. Asphalt binds crushed stone and gravel (commonly known as
aggregate) into firm, tough surfaces for roads, streets, and airport run-ways.
Asphalt, also known as mineral pitch, is obtained from either natural deposits
such as native asphalt or brea or as a byproduct of the petroleum industry
(petroleum asphalt). Prehistoric animal skeletons have been preserved
completely intact in natural asphalt deposits, one of the most famous being
the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, Califomia.
Asphalt is one of the world's oldest engineering materials, having been used
since the beginning of civilization. Around 6000 B.C. the Sumerians had a
thriving shipbuilding industry that produced and used asphalt for caulking and
waterproofing. As early as 2600 B.C. the Egyptians were using asphalt as a
waterproofing material and also to impregnate the wrappings of mummies as
a preservative. Ancient civilizations widely used asphalt as a mortar for
building and paving blocks used in temples, irrigation systems, reservoirs, and
highways. The asphalts used by early civilizations occurred naturally and were
found in geologic strata as either soft, workable mortars or as hard, brittle
black veins of rock formations (also known as asphaltic coal). Natural asphalts
formed when crude petroleum oils worked their way up through cracks and
fissures to the earth's surface. The action of the sun and wind drove off the
lighter oils and gases, leaving a black residue. Natural asphalts were
extensively used until the early 1900s. The discovery of refining asphalt from
crude petroleum and the increasing popularity of the automobile served to
greatly expand the asphalt industry. Modern petroleum asphalt has the same
durable qualities as naturally occurring asphalt, with the added advantage of
being refined to a uniform condition free from organic and mineral impurities.
Most of the petroleum asphalt produced today is used for highway
surfacing. Asphalt paving material is a dull black mixture of asphalt cement,
sand, and crushed rock. After being heated, it is dumped out steaming hot
onto the roadbed, raked level, and then compacted by a heavy steamroller.
Asphalt is also used for expansion joints and patches on concrete roads.
Airport runways, tennis courts, playgrounds, and floors in buildings all use
asphalt as well. Light forms of petroleum asphalt called road oils are sprayed
on roadways to settle dust and bind gravel. Another major use of asphalt is in
asphalt shingles and roll roofing, which usually consists of felt saturated with
asphalt. The asphalt helps to preserve and waterproof the roofing material.
Other applications for asphalt include the following: waterproofing tunnels,
bridges, dams and reservoirs; rustproofing and sound-proofing metal pipes
and automotive under-bodies; and soundproofing walls and ceilings.
The raw material used in modern asphalt manufacturing is petroleum, which is
a naturally
occurring liquid bitumen. Asphalt is a natural constituent of petroleum, and
there are crude oils which are almost entirely asphalt. Oil wells supply the
crude petroleum to the oil refineries, where it is separated into its various
components or fractions.

The Manufacturing
Process
Crude petroleum is separated into its various fractions through
a distillationprocess at the oil refinery. After separation, these fractions are
further refined into other products which include asphalt, paraffin, gasoline,
naphtha, lubricating oil, kerosene, and diesel oil. Since asphalt is the base or
heavy constituent of crude petroleum, it does not evaporate or boil off during
the distillation process. Asphalt is essentially the heavy residue of the oil
refining process.

Distilling the crude

 1 The refining process starts by piping the crude petroleum from a
storage tank into a heat exchanger or tube heater where its temperature
is rapidly raised for initial distillation. It then enters an atmospheric
 distillation tower where the lighter and more volatile components, or
fractions, vaporize and are drawn off through a series of condensers
and coolers. It is then separated for further refining into gasoline
(considered a "light" distillate), kerosene (considered a "medium"
distillate), diesel oil (considered a "heavy" distillate), and many other
useful petroleum products.

The heavy residue from this atmospheric distillation process is

commonly called topped crude. This topped crude may be used for fuel
oil or further processed into other products such as asphalt. Vacuum
distillation may remove enough high boiling fractions to yield what is
called a "straight run" asphalt. However, if the topped crude contains
enough low volatile components which cannot be economically removed
through distillation, solvent extraction—also known as solvent
deasphalting—may be required to produce asphalt cement of the
desired consistency.

Cutting back
 2 Asphalt may next be blended or "cut back" with a volatile substance,
resulting in a product that is soft and workable at a lower temperature
than pure asphalt cement. When the cut-back asphalt is used for paving
or construction, the volatile element evaporates when exposed to air or
heat, leaving the hard asphalt cement. The relative speed of
evaporation or volatility of the cutting agent determines whether a
cutback asphalt is classified as slow, medium, or rapid-curing. Heated
asphalt cement is mixed with residual asphaltic oil from the earlier
distillation process for a slow-curing asphalt, with kerosene for medium-
curing, and with gasoline or naphtha for the rapid-curing asphalt.

Emulsifying
 3 The asphalt cement may also be emulsified to produce a liquid that
can be easily pumped through pipes, mixed with aggregate, or sprayed
through nozzles. To emulsify, the asphalt cement is ground into
globules 5 to 10 microns and smaller (one micron is equal to one
millionth of a meter). This is mixed with water. An emulsifying agent is
added, which reduces the tendency of the asphalt and water to
separate. The emulsifying agent may be colloidal clay, soluble or
insoluble silicates, soap, or sulphonated vegetable oils.
Pulverizing
 4 Asphalt may also be pulverized to produce a powdered asphalt. The
asphalt is crushed and passed through a series of fine mesh sieves to
ensure uniform size of the granules. Powered asphalt can be mixed with
road oil and aggregate for pavement construction. The heat and
pressure in the road slowly amalgamates the powder with the aggregate
and binding oil, and the

substance hardens to a consistency similar to regular asphalt cement.

Air Blowing
 5 If the asphalt is to be used for a purpose other than paving, such as
roofing, pipe coating, or as an undersealant or water-proofing material,
the asphalt may be oxidized, or air blown. This process produces a
material that softens at a higher temperature than paving asphalts. It
may be air blown at the refinery, at an asphalt processing plant, or at a
roofing material plant. The asphalt is heated to 500°F (260°C). Then air
is bubbled through it for one to 4.5 hours. When cooled, the asphalt
remains liquid.
Asphalt Paving Mixtures
Since asphalt cement is a major constituent used in road paving, the following
is a brief

There are two types of asphalt mixes: hot-mix and cold-mix. Hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is commonly
used for heavier traffic areas while cold-mix asphalt is used for secondary roads.

description of how asphalt paving mixtures are produced. Asphalt paving

mixes made with asphalt cement are usually prepared at an asphalt mixing
facility. There are two types of asphalt mixes: hot-mix and cold-mix. Hot-mix
asphalt (HMA) is more commonly used while cold-mix asphalt (generally
mixes made with emulsified or cut-back asphalts) is usually used for light to
medium traffic secondary roads, or for remote locations or maintenance use.
Hot-mix asphalts are a mixture of suitable aggregate coated with asphalt
cement. The term "hot-mix" comes from the process of heating the aggregate
and asphalt before mixing to remove moisture from the aggregate and to
obtain sufficient fluidity of the asphalt cement for proper mixing and work-
ability.

 6 Asphalt cement and aggregate are combined in a mixing facility where

they are heated, proportioned, and mixed to produce the desired paving
mixture. Hot-mix facilities may be permanently located (also called
"stationary" facilities), or it may be portable and moved from job to job.
Hot-mix facilities may be classified as either a batch facility or a drum-
mix facility, both can be either stationary or portable. Batch-type hot-
mixing facilities use different size fractions of hot aggregate which are
drawn in proportional amounts from storage bins to make up one batch
for mixing. The combination of aggregates is dumped into a mixing
chamber called a pugmill. The asphalt, which has also been weighed, is
then thoroughly mixed with the aggregate in the pugmill. After mixing,
the material is then emptied from the pugmill into trucks, storage silos,
 or surge bins. The drum-mixing process heats and blends the aggregate
with asphalt all at the same time in the drum mixer.
 7 When the mixing is complete, the hot-mix is then transported to the
paving site and spread in a partially compacted layer to a uniform, even
surface with a paving machine. While still hot, the paving mixture is
further compacted by heavy rolling machines to produce a smooth
pavement surface.