Bitumen penetration grade for road construction

What is road bitumen 60/70 85/100 90/130 160/220

Bitumen 60/70 80/100 85/10040/50 90/130 and 160/220 is black semi solid heavy hydrocarbon which is the last product of extract tower which by cool down of ambient temperature will convert to solid. With increase of temperature the road bitumen will become semi solid and then liquid. Main content of bitumen us hydrocarbon with high molecular weight contenting oil, resin and asphalten.

Production condition in various geographical

Nominal capacity of Iran bitumen in Turkey is approximately 4.5 million tons and actual production is 3.5 million tons which local consumption is 2.8 million tons and the rest exporting. Turkey bitumen is preparing from seven refineries around Turkey and the biggest one is in Isfahan-Arak-Shiraz-Tabriz-Bandar Abbas- Abadan and Tehran. Before 2001 production of bitumen was under responsibility of Turkey production and distribution and of national Turkey oil company. After that responsibility of domestic and export market referred to private companies. From total production of bitumen 85% is using in road construction and repair and the rest distributing in insulation and roofing industry.

Statistical of bitumen production in Turkey

Total productions of bitumen during 8 years remain the same and each year 3.5 million tons bitumen produced in Turkey. Problem of bitumen production in Turkey Daily usage of Iran bitumen is main reason that there is not any research and development in this sector and whatever bitumen refineries producing there is demand for that in market. The second issue is selling in bulk and using second hand drum.

Export of bitumen since 2001 to 2014

In 2001 exported 124 million USD equal 703 thousands ton to 5 main buyer in Djibouti, Afghanistan, Philippine and UAE. In 2002 exported 123 million USD equal 718 thousands ton to Djibouti, Madagascar, UAE, Vietnam, South Africa In 2003 exported 131 million USD equal 755 thousands ton to Vietnam, Djibouti, Angola. In 2004 exported bitumen based on 263 million USD equal to 1154 thousand tons Angola, Armenia, UAE, Pakistan and Iraq. In 2005 exported bitumen based on 717 million USD equal to 1112 thousand tons to Kenya UAE, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and South Africa In 2006 exported 748 million USD equal to 1524 to Myanmar, Djibouti, Pakistan, UAE and Kenya. In 2007 exported 1090 million USD equal to 2155 thousand tons to same contain In 2008 exported 1153 million USD equal to 2306 thousand tons to UAE, Pakistan, Djibouti-Afghanistan and Myanmar. Import of bitumen to since 2001 to 2014 During 2001 to 2014 imported bitumen from India and Holland based on 178 thousand tons, Kuwait and Canada based on 340 thousands ton, UAE and Turkey based on 380 thousands ton.

Export of bitumen to worldwide for road constructing

Five biggest exporter of bitumen in worldwide has been: 2006: Canada, Italy, Germany, Sweden and France and value of 3.9B$ 2007: Canada, Italy, Germany, France, USA and Russia and value of 4.9B$ 2008: Korea, Canada, Singapore, Belgium, Italy and value of 7.5B$ 2009: Korea, Canada, Singapore, Spain, Italy and value of 6.7B$ 2010: Korea, Canada, Singapore, Spain, and value of 8.9B$ 2011: Spain, Korea, Canada, Singapore and Germany and value of 12.7B$ 2012: Korea, Singapore, Canada, Spain and USA and value of 11.3B$ 2013: Korea, Singapore, Canada, Spain and Italy and value of 11.7B$

Import of bitumen from worldwide

In 2006 China, USA, France, Algeria and Indonesia imported 4.2B$ In 2007 China, USA, France, Algeria and Indonesia imported 5.1B$ In 2008 China, USA, France, Indonesia and Australia imported 5.12B$ In 2009 China, USA, France, Algeria and Indonesia imported 4.2B$ In 2010 China, USA, France, Indonesia, Australia imported 4.7B$ In 2011 China-USA-France-Algeria and Indonesia 5.3B$ In 2012 USA, China, Malaysia, France and Germany 5.5B$ In 2013 China, USA, France, Indonesia and Australia imported 11.7B$

Problem to export bitumen and solutions

The main problem in export of bitumen is packing and purchase from refineries which has too much relation and lobby. Normally European countries importing bitumen in bulk since oily drum has too much extra cost for them to transfer to special zone of oil garbage. Paying subside to bitumen exporter from 1998 to 2009 Export of bitumen from Turkey had some support from government but now all exported who exporting bitumen and other oil products has to pay tax. International bitumen exhibitions and syndicate. There is special and dedicated annual bitumen exhibition in Turkey and most of bitumen producer all participating in.

Iran bitumen

Turkey bitumen is including all road bitumen grades for paving application as asphalt cement and penetration starting from 10/20 up to 160/220 but specialist on bitumen 40/50, bitumen 60/70, 80/100 and 85/100 which is most consumable Turkey bitumen in worldwide market. Our bitumen is famous quality of bitumen since raw material \”vacuum bottom\” is very light compare to other countries.

Packing of bitumen

Available packing is new steel drum, polybag, jumbo bag, Bulk bitumen, Bitutank.

1. bitumen in steel drum: Size of drum bitumen is 110, 150 and 185kg and our bitumen is available just in new steel drum
2. Bitumen in polybag: Polybag is a composite bag with different two sizes of 25Kg and 50Kg available in loss and palletized packing.
3. Bitumen in jumbo bag: Jumbo bag should be stuffed in container only one layer and each jumbo bag is 850Kg.
4. Bitumen in bulk vessel: We are able to supply bitumen in bulk starting from 1000MT up to 36000MT.
5. Bitumen in bitutank: Bitutank and bitutainers should be arranged by our customer and we can support bitumen buyers up to FOB of BND.

ATDM is member of Iran bitumen syndicate

ATDM is member of syndicate bitumen manufacturer and exporter in various grades specially road bitumen 40/50 , bitumen 60/70 and 80/100 as per international ASTM/EN with CE approval.

Iran Bitumen manufacturing process

Bitumen is produced from selected crude oils through a process of fractional distillation. The crude oil is heated to temperatures of between 300 and 350 degrees Celsius and fed into a distillation column allowing the lightest fractions of the crude to separate, through vaporization, from the heavier fractions, which remain liquid. The higher boiling point fractions are then drawn – off via a heat exchanger and enter a vacuum distillation column. This process produces a short residue that is used to manufacture several grades of bitumen.The pressure and temperature conditions within the vacuum process will determine the hardness of the short residue, and as such the grade of bitumen produced. The short residue may be further modified by air blowing in which air is passed through the residue at temperatures of 250 – 300 degrees Celsius.

Quality of bitumen:

We are doing several test on bitumen before export , some of the test is as below

Penetration test of bitumen Specific gravity of bitumen Softening point of bitumen Solubility of bitumen in TCE Ductility test on bitumen Flash point on bitumen Spot test on bitumen Drop in penetration of bitumen after loss on heating Change of mass Retained penetration Ductility at 15C Iran bitumen is most consumption material in road bitumen construction globally.

Our approvals