the road never ends…… when you’re serious about bitumen 29 th road pavement forum the sports...
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THE ROAD NEVER ENDS…… WHEN YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT
BITUMEN
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM
THE SPORTS SCIENCE INSTITUTE OF SOUTH AFRICA12TH & 13TH MAY 2015
BITUMEN REACTOR
AUTHOR AND PRESENTER – PHIL CHIRNSIDE, COMMERCIAL MANAGER, SPRAYPAVE
ADVISORY – FRANK ALBRECHT, ALBRECHT SUPPLY CONCEPTS
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
UNTIL A CHEAPER, EQUALLY/MORE EFFICIENT MATERIAL IS DISCOVERED,
BITUMEN AS A BINDER WILL REMAIN IN HIGH DEMAND!!!
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
AT WHATEVER POINT IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN WE MAY BE, USERS OF BITUMEN IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION ARE EXPERIENCING EVER INCREASING CHALLENGES IN SECURING SUPPLY……
IN NO WAY UNIQUE TO SOUTH AFRICA : E.G. AUSTRALIA
WHAT OPTIONS DO WE HAVE?
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
OPTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTING FEEDSTOCK REQUIREMENTS……….
IMPORTATION
- INFLATED COST- CASH TRADE- STORAGE REQUIREMENTS- LEAD TIMES- QUALITY (UNCERTAIN)
ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
- EXPENSIVE- POSSIBLY UNPROVEN- STILL REQUIRE RELIABLE FEEDSTOCK
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – ENGINEERING BITUMEN
TO UNDERSTAND THE TECHNOLOGY ONE NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF BITUMEN AS A SUBSTANCE …………
- OVER 1,500 DIFFERENT CRUDE OILS IN EXISTENCE.
- BITUMEN YIELD RANGES FROM 60% TO PRACTICALLY 0%.
- BITUMEN ISN’T BITUMEN AS CRUDE OIL ISN’T CRUDE OIL
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – ENGINEERING BITUMEN
THE CHEMESTRY OF BITUMEN …..
- OVER 100,000 HYRDROCARBONS
- ESSENTIALLY A “WILD MIXTURE” OF DIFFERENT SUBSTANCE GROUPS. IN SHORT, S.A.R.A
- SARA: SATURATES, AROMATES , RESINS AND ASPHALTENES
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – ENGINEERING BITUMEN
IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY INSUFFICIENT TO DEFINE THE QUALITY OF BITUMEN BY IT’S PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ONLY
YOU HAVE A GOOD QUALITY BITUMEN IF THE SUBSTANCE GROUPS (SARA) ARE PRESENT IN THE RIGHT BALANCE TO EACH OTHER
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – ENGINEERING BITUMEN
ASPHALTENES ARE IMPORTANT AS THEY BUILD THE BACKBONE OF THE BITUMEN. A WELL BALANCED RATIO TO, AND EMBEDMENT BY, THE RESINS GIVES YOU A HIGH QUALITY BITUMEN.
THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ENGINEERING BITUMEN WITH THE BITUMEN REACTOR.
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – ENGINEERING BITUMEN
THROUGH THE CONTROLLED PROCESSES IN A BITUMEN REACTOR, UNDER THE ADDITION OF PRESSURE, HEAT AND AIR, IT IS POSSIBILE TO REARRANGE CHEMICAL STRUCTURES RESPECTIVELY TO CREAT ASPHALTENES.
IN A LOOP REACTOR THESE PROCESSES ARE CONTINUOUSLY INITIATED.
THE GENTLE PROCESS AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT ADDITION OF AIR, AND THEREFORE OXYGEN (AIR RECTIFICATION), PRESERVES THE HIGHLY POLAR AROMAT/RESIN FRACTION AND MINIMIZES THE COKE BUILD-UP.
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – THE BITUMEN REACTOR
ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MULTIGRADE BITUMEN IN THE FIJI ISLANDS IN 2008 (MULTIGRADE PLANT)
FOLLOWING FURTHER R&D IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE REACTOR WAS CAPABLE OF MANIPULATING BITUMEN ON A MOLECULAR LEVEL.
WITH ALL OF ITS APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS IT IS LOOSELY TERMED – THE SWISS ARMY KNIVES OF BITUMEN PLANTS
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – THE BITUMEN REACTORTHE FOLLOWING BITUMEN DEFICIENCIES CAN BE ADDRESSED THROUGH USE OF THE BITUMEN REACTOR:
1. ADHESION2. COHESION3. TOO HARD4. TOO SOFT5. PI TOO HIGH6. PI TOO LOW7. DUCTILITY TOO LOW8. POLYMER COMPATIBILITY
ESSENTIALLY ADDRESSING ANY CURRENT AND FUTURE ISSUES WITH LOCAL BITUMEN SUPPLY AS WELL AS MITIGATING QUALITY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPORTATION
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
THE TECHNOLOGY – THE BITUMEN REACTOR
CREATES ASPHALTENESPRESERVES HIGH POLAR AROMATICS/RESINS, THEREBY IMPROVING THE OVERALL BITUMEN COMPOSITIONOFFERS MULTIPLE FEEDSTOCK OPTIONS – BITUMEN, VACUUM RESIDUE/BOTTOMS, REFINERY SIDESTREAMS AND BLENDS THEREOFPRODUCTIONS CAN BE MADE TO MEASURE (WITH AND WITHOUT USING REAGENTS)SAME OR BETTER PRODUCT QUALITY COMPARED TO A CONVENTIONAL BLOWING PROCESSMINIMAL PRODUCT LOSS: 0.01% IN AVERAGECONTINUOUS PROCESS – NO BATCH LIMITATIONSA BITUMEN GRADE CHANGE (E.G. 70/100 TO 50/70) CAN BE ACHIEVED AT A CAPACITY OF ABOUT 20T/HRCAN ACHIEVE A SPECIFIC PI OF WITHIN 5 (E.G. 65/70)
CORNERSTONES………..
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
LAB SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTING
FUTURE STUDIES TO INCLUDE CHEMICAL FRACTIONATION AND RHEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PRODUCED BITUMEN AND FEED MATERIALS USING S.A.R.A ANALYSIS BY IATROSCAN.
IDENTIFYING CORRELATION BETWEEN S.A.R.A PROPERTIES AND PERFORMANCE OF BOTH INFERIOR AND SUPERIOR BITUMENS.
29TH ROAD PAVEMENT FORUM – BITUMEN REACTOR
QUESTIONS?
You can’t expect to meet the challenges of today with yesterday’s tools and expect to
still be in business tomorrow