Main features of the technological process of aging of bitumen obtained from the residues from Ukrainian crude oil processing

Abstract

The effects of the technological process of aging of bitumen obtained from the residues from processing of Ukrainian crude oil on the bitumen’s operational characteristics, structural-group composition, and thermal stability have been studied. The aging of bitumen with a thickness of 2 mm has been conducted under laboratory conditions at a temperature of 1630C for 5 and 10 h. Two types of bitumen, oxidized bitumen BND 60/90 and distillation bitumen BD 130/200, have been examined. It has been found that the bitumen quality worsens due to the technological process of aging, e.g. the bitumen hardness and refractoriness increase whereas the elasticity and frost resistance decrease. It has also been shown that, because of the technological process of aging, the content of resins in the bitumen decreases, the content of asphaltenes increases, and the content of oil components does not change significantly. The structural type of the oxidized bitumen changes thereat from a "sol–gel" type to a "gel" type. For the distillation bitumen, the structural type does not change. The derivatographic analysis has revealed that the bitumen thermal stability increases due to the technological process of aging. The reason for this is a decrease in the content of paraffinic ingredients in the bitumen along with the bitumen structure compaction due to the aging.

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