Oxidized bitumen 150-5

Bitumen is manufactured during the distillation of crude oil.  Generally agreed that crude oil originates from the remains of marine organisms and vegetable matter deposited with mud and fragments of rock on the ocean bed. Oxidized bitumen 150/5 are used in applications to protect structures from water, such as roofing, pipeline coating and road construction applications.

The manufacture of oxidized bitumen 150-5

Most bitumen emulsions are manufactured by a continuous process using a colloid mill (a machine used to reduce the particle size of a solid in suspension in a liquid or to reduce the droplet size of a liquid suspended in another liquid). This equipment consists of a high-speed rotor that revolves at 1000– 6000 revs/min in a stator. The clearance between the rotor and the stator is typically 0.25–0.50 mm and is usually adjustable. Oxidized bitumen 150/5 and emulsifier solutions are fed separately but simultaneously into the colloid mill, the temperatures of the two components being critical to the process. The viscosity of the bitumen entering the colloid mill should not exceed 0.2 Pa.s (2 poise). Bitumen 150/5 temperatures in the range 100–1408C are used in order to achieve this viscosity with the penetration grade bitumens that are normally used in emulsions.

The uses of oxidized bitumen 150-5

The vast majority of bitumen is used by the construction industry, as a constituent of products used in paving and roofing. Excellent waterproofing characteristics and thermoplastic behaviour make it ideal for a wide range of applications. At elevated temperatures (typically between 100 and 2008C) it acts like a viscous liquid, and can be mixed with other components and manipulated and formed as required. Once cooled, it is an inert solid that is durable and hydrophobic (repels water). Various terms are used to describe conventional bitumen such as straight run, paving grade and penetration grade (or ‘pen grade’). When people use these terms they normally mean grades of bitumen 105/5 that can be produced at a conventional refinery in a relatively simple way.

Specification of bitumen 105-5