Asphalt 404,

In the U.S. and elsewhere the term asphalt is commonly applied to the material known in Britain as bitumen or asphaltic bitumen. 

In industry, the elimination of asphaltenes from oil involves using propane or butane. The utilization of a lighter paraffin results in the heavier paraffins precipitating along with the asphaltenes thereby diminishing their aromatic character. The oil removed from its asphaltene fraction is known as deasphalted oil or DAO. The precipitated portion is called asphalt. 

Although distillation and elemental analysis of the fractions provide a good evaluation of the qualities of a crude oil, they are nevertheless insufficient. Indeed, the numerous uses of petroleum demand a detailed molecular analysis. This is true for all distillation fractions, certain crude oils being valued essentially for their light fractions used in motor fuels, others because they make quality lubricating oils and still others because they make excellent base stocks for paving asphalt. 

Asphaltic Paraffinic Less than 0.760 Greater than 0.975... 

In this chapter, we will discuss petroleum products used for energy purposes, that is, motor fuels and heating fuels. Chapter 6 will be devoted to other products such as special gasolines, lubricants, petrochemical bases, and asphalts. 

The term bitumen is used in France to designate petroleum products, as in Great Britain and Germany. In the United States on the other hand, the equivalent material is designated by the expression asphalt-cement . In France, asphalt is a mastic, a mixture of bitumen and powdered minerals, poured in place. This mixture can be either natural or reconstituted by an industriai process. Asphait (French meaning) is utilized on roads, particularly in urban centers as well as for sidewalk surfacing. 

Road paving. This includes bitumen, cutbacks and fluxed bitumen as well as emulsions. Each of these products is subject to very special application techniques. This list is completed by the use of poured asphalt, even though this product is better suited to smaller surfaces sidewalks, courts, etc., than to pavements. Since the middle of the 1980 s, air-blown bitumen is no longer used for road construction. 

Waterproofing, whether it has to do with protecting civil engineering structures or roofs or terraces. Poured asphalt, often placed in layers with kraft paper, oxidized bitumen or modified bitumen can be used, generally with copolymer. The modified bitumen are used for the making prefabricated multi-layer waterproofing composites. 

During storage, sediments decant with the water phase and deposit along with paraffins and asphalts in the bottoms of storage tanks as thick sludges or slurries (BS W). The interface between the water-sediment and the crude must be well monitored in order to avoid pumping the slurry into the refinery s operating units where it can cause serious upsets. 

The major portion of sait is found in residues as these streams serve as the bases for fuels, or as feeds for asphalt and petroleum coke production, the presence of salt in these products causes fouling of burners, the alteration of asphalt emulsions, and the deterioration of coke quality. Furthermore, calcium and magnesium chlorides begin to hydrolyze at 120°C. This hydrolysis occurs rapidly as the temperature increases (Figure 8.1) according to the reaction i. ... 

Vacuum distillation of the atmospheric residue complements primary distillation, enabli r.ecoyery of heavy distillate cuts from atmospheric residue that will un r o further conversion or will serve as lube oil bases. The vacuum residue containing most of the crude contaminants (metals, salts, sediments, sulfur, nitrogen, asphaltenes, Conradson carbon, etc.) is used in asphalt manufacture, for heavy fuel-oil, or for feed for others conversion processes. 

Asphalt makes up the residue of the deasphalting operation and concentrates the major portion of the impurities such as metals, sediment, 1 salts and asphaltenes. Asphalt fluidity decreases as the molecular weight of... 

Here again, this is not a refining process, properly speaking. Partial oxidation is one of the processes for the ultimate conversion of heavy residues, asphalts, coke and even coal. 

Loss on heating of oil and asphaltic compounds NF T 66-011 ASTM D 6 Weight after heating... 

Softening point for bitumen (ring and ball method) NF T 66-008 (future NF EN 1427) ASTM D 36 Temperature at which a ball passes through tin asphalt sample disk attached to a ring... 

The products could be classified as a function of various criteria physical properties (in particular, volatility), the way they are created (primary distillation or conversion). Nevertheless, the classification most relevant to this discussion is linked to the end product use LPG, premium gasoline, kerosene and diesel oil, medium and heavy fuels, specialty products like solvents, lubricants, and asphalts. Indeed, the product specifications are generally related to the end use. Traditionally, they have to do with specific properties octane number for premium gasoline, cetane number for diesel oil as well as overall physical properties such as density, distillation curves and viscosity. 

Simple conventional refining is based essentially on atmospheric distillation. The residue from the distillation constitutes heavy fuel, the quantity and qualities of which are mainly determined by the crude feedstock available without many ways to improve it. Manufacture of products like asphalt and lubricant bases requires supplementary operations, in particular separation operations and is possible only with a relatively narrow selection of crudes (crudes for lube oils, crudes for asphalts). The distillates are not normally directly usable processing must be done to improve them, either mild treatment such as hydrodesulfurization of middle distillates at low pressure, or deep treatment usually with partial conversion such as catalytic reforming. The conventional refinery thereby has rather limited flexibility and makes products the quality of which is closely linked to the nature of the crude oil used. 

Proceedings of the 1992 International Conference on Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery 40a Asphaltenes and Asphalts, I... 

CT was applied to various types of samples, such as a) concrete, b) asphalt c) wood and trees d) soil samples e) ceramic materials f) works of art. 

The CT-scanners have been employed to various industrial samples such as concrete, asphalt, wood, ceramics and so on. 

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