What is the significance of analyzing petroleum bitumen for production and application?

What is the significance of analyzing petroleum bitumen for production and application?

1).  Petroleum asphalt takes three inspection items of penetration, ductility and softening point as the main quality indicators. These indicators can explain the viscosity of asphalt, surface hardening, elasticity and its softening temperature, but the requirements of these three indicators in the specification have a certain proportional relationship. Therefore, when judging the quality of asphalt, the three indicators should be considered together, and it is impossible to judge the quality of asphalt only by looking at one indicator;

2).  Penetration is the standard for grades;

3).  Ductility is used to indicate the viscosity and fluidity of asphalt, self-healing ability after cracking, and the ability to deform without damage after being subjected to mechanical stress. The greater the ductility, the greater the fluidity of the asphalt, and the better the self-healing ability after cracking;

4).  The softening point is used to identify the heat resistance of asphalt. The higher the softening point, the better the heat resistance;

5).  The heating loss and the change in penetration after heating indicate the volatilization and aging speed of the asphalt. The smaller the change, the better;

6).  Asphalt flash point is the safe temperature for surface asphalt construction heating. The higher the flash point, the less likely it is to catch fire and the safer it is;

7).  The moisture content of the asphalt should not be too much, otherwise a large amount of foam will be easily formed when heated, causing the volume to suddenly expand several times. , causing an accident;

8).  In the production process of oxidized asphalt, the blowing process is usually controlled according to the change of penetration or softening point;

9).  The higher the heating temperature and the longer the heating time of the asphalt, the more intense the evaporation process and oxidation of the volatile components of the asphalt, and the influence on the properties of the asphalt can be seen from the changes of the following indicators: Penetration changes. Small, especially  rapid in the early stage of heating; ductility decreases; softening point increases; flash point increases slightly.

ASTM D5 Asphalt standard penetration test equipment:

ASTM D36 automatic softening point tester:

Ductility testing machine astm d113: