Tag Archives: bitumen emulsion equipment

GlobeCore’s UBV-1 Bitumen-Emulsion Equipment is the Best Solution to Today’s Road Construction Problems

It is has always been difficult to provide a competely effective road surface pavement because of the wide range of factors such as:

(1) short road construction seasons;

(2) unpredictable and unfavourable weather conditions;

(3) shortage of financial resources;

The situation had remained unchanged for a long period of time, but recent developments with bitumen emulsion products has made it possible to extend the service life of road surface pavements.  This construction material has been used all over the word for the last few decades.  Our experience has shown that bitumen emulsions are much more effective than bitumen for performing road construction projects.  The performance characteristics of bitumen emulsion allow the builders to apply the so-called ‘cold methods’ of roadway construction.

GlоbeCоre has designed universal bitumen-emulsion equipment designated as the UBV-1 line that produces cationic bitomen emuslsion as well as anionic bitumen emulsion with specified performance characteristics.  The final product is characterized by low viscosity and high adhesion that allow the builders to use it at low temperatures.  Additionally, it can be stored for a long period of time.

The process of bitumen emulsion production includes several stages. At the first stage, the water solution is prepared. The blending tank is supplied with hot water, acid, and an emulsifier.  The ready-made solution gets into the colloid mill which blends it with liquid bitumen.  When the process is completed, the final product is placed into the storage tank.

GlоbeCоre equipment fully complies with all international standards and regulations and is designed to meet all customers’ needs involved in the road-building enterprises or at bitumen-concrete production plants.

GlobeCore Model VBU-6P

One of the essential pieces of equipment that is being used more and more in modern industrial and developing nations is the “Bitumen Emulsion” production plant.

The use of bitumen emulsion has several advantages over simple bitumen or tar products in most or all applications.  Most important is that bitumen emulsion does not require constant heating thereby increasing the efficiency of industrial operations and lowering operating costs.

Bitumen emulsion has a more complex structure than tar and simple bitumen, and due to its lower costs, it has become more and more popular in the road construction industry.  Bitumen emulsion production equipment is now indispensable to the road construction and related industries.

The bitumen emulsion equipment by produced GlobeCore is the most up to date and efficient bitumen emulsion equipment in the industry today.  GlobeCore engineers remain leaders in their field and are always seeking to improve and upgrade the quality and efficiency of the GlobeCore equipment line.  That is why new GlobeCore equipment will never be outdated versions of yesterday’s models.

The GlobeCore universal bitumen model makes both anionic and cationic bitumen emulsions. Often, this kind of equipment is used by companies that produce asphalt mixes.  Bitumen emulsion of this type is most often used for the priming of old pavement before applying a new layer of asphalt.  It is also used in the preparation of cold asphalt mixes, for the surface treatment of existing road surfaces, for making thin protective coatings, and for patching roads.

One of the latest bituminous equipment developments by GlobeCore is the VBU-6P model designed for the production of bitumen emulsions.  The name of the new model reveals the main differences from the previous models with a production rate of 6.5m3/hr and the ability to work continuously without interruption.

The Globecore VBU6-P consists of two main parts, the  bitumen part and the base part.  The Bitumen part stands vertical and has a pump made ​​in Italy.  The base portion is where the emulsifier, acid and bio chlorine additive are mixed and then fed into the polypropylene container. Each component of the mixture pass through dosing pumps.  The pumps automatically measure the required amount of each component of the mixture.

The  VBU-6P system works by feeding bitumen from a reservoir into the bitumen part through a feed pipe and passes the bitumen through to a set of heating rings.   Water is supplied to the mixing cylinders and the dosing pumps then pump the emulsifier acid according to the product recipe.

The container, in which the mixing occurs, is equipped with volume level sensors.  When the amount of mixed fluid reaches the high-level indicators, the sensor signals the completion of the preparatory phase.  Next, the water valve opens and the unit starts to run the aqueous phase of the process.  The VBU-6P will continue to run unless the water supply is cut off, or until the operator turns it off

The VBU-6P is  fully automated.  The only manual control is for  the adjustment of the ratio of bitumen to water (a mix of 70% bitumen and 30% water will be made at the rate of 6m3 while a mix of 50% to 50% will be made at a rate of 9m3).

It is also possible to manually adjust the amount of emulsifier that needs to be fed into the process. For fast decaying emulsions, emulsifiers of 0.25% are used.  For slow decaying emulsions – 2% are used.  Acid is added automatically through the acid probe found on the dosing pump.  It is responsible for regulating the engine speed and the feed rate and volume of the acid.

The GlobeCore VBU-6P bitumen emulsion processing unit is a high quality product that leads the industry.  It is both durable and highly resistant to delamination and corrosion.  The VBU-6P’s automated process of mixing the various components combined with a versatile design make the GlobeCore VBU-6P unit the most advanced bitumen emulsion processing unit in the industry today.

Dry road bitumen emulsion

Powder emulsions has been known for a long time. I am sure most of us remember powdered milk. What if it is possible to apply this technology to make bitumen emulsion used in road construction then it will revolutionize the bitumen emulsion industry. It will be add convenience bitumen transportation to remote areas and it will add convenience in use.

To make dry road bitumen emulsion you a special polymer must be present. The polymer allows encapsulation and water elimination. Some companies are working to solve this problem since 1995 and have achieved considerable success in areas of agricultural chemistry and pharmacology. The developed technologies and processes may apply to the production of dry road bitumen emulsion.

It is possible to achieve this using a typical bitumen emulsion. A required extra step introduces an aqueous polymer into the mix and then dries the substance until capsule-like particle is formed. The polymer resembles each capsule contains a liquid droplet.

Long-term study of the physicochemical emulsion properties suggests synthesis of a hydrophilic polymer polyacrylate that has a low viscosity. It consists of hydrophobic substances, which do not inhibit the water solubility. Polyacrylate was the material that helped in making dry road bitumen emulsion production.

During the drying process, it is important to maintain minimal ratio of 10 between the granule size and emulsion droplet size.

It should be noted that the drying process has little or no effect on the bitumen emulsion properties in fact in some cases they actually improve. For example, the stability of the dry emulsion increases because the encapsulation process prevents its decay.

Another advantage of these materials is the possibility of mixing two or three emulsions that under normal conditions are not compatible with each other.

The general principle behind obtaining the dry road bitumen emulsion can be described as follows: first, the polymer is added directly to typical emulsion, then it is dried by one of available methods (e.g., dry spay), and the resulting powder is collected and stored. It at any time the powder may be dispersed in water, and restored to the original emulsion condition for later use.

Composition of bitumen emulsion

Composition of bitumen and tar emulsion depends on the type of emulsifier used and the surface on globules will form. Direct emulsions are characterized by adsorption of emulsifier particles on the outer surface of the globules, and the reverse – on the inside.

Small emulsifier concentration leads to a disperse phase, but at the same time it also promotes destabilization of the emulsion over time. Increase in emulsifier concentration can achieve lower surface tension, which leads to the formation of an adsorption layer on the globules.

In addition, reduction in the emulsifier concentration leads to a reduction in the price of bitumen emulsion.

In order to achieve a strong bond between bitumen film and mineral material, its concentration in the emulsion should range from 55-70%. When working with stone materials the surface is pre-treated with hydrated lime, which promotes better adhesion of extracted bitumen from the emulsion.

Tar-bitumen emulsion is composed of bitumen and tar at 80:20 ratio and 2% kerosene. The ratio of binder to alkali solution is 70:30.

Bitumen composition also depends on the manufacturer. For example, bituminous emulsions manufactured by Kharkov plant consists of 48-52% of bitumen type BN-II and 52-48% aqueous emulsifier. Latter consisted from lie treated wood pine resin. This recipe provides a fast-disintegrating emulsion.

Groznenskiy oil plant proposed this emulsion composition 49% petroleum tar, 49% sodium hydroxide solution and 2% emulsifier. As the latter consisted of fat that formed soap.

Typical emulsion ingredients are bitumen or bitumen mixture with a solvent like diesel fuel.

New type of bitumen emulsion was developed to simplify the treatment of stone surfaces like reverse type: 60 % tar brand D-2, 40 % of bitumen brand BN-II, 2% kerosene. Tar-bitumen emulsion contains 70-75% of binder mix and 30-25% of aqueous sodium hydroxide.

Emulsion formation is significantly influenced by the brand and method of bitumen production. The ingredients used in the preparation process can affect the dispersion property of the emulsion from high to low. Some bitumen brands tend not to emulsify.