Asphalt Emulsions. Asphalt is a standard in automobile road construction and repairs. Its application has a limitation: the viscosity of asphalt must be minimized. This can be achieved by one of the three different approaches:
- heating;
- mixing with petroleum based thinners;
- emulsification.
The first method found its use in production of hot mix with preheating of mineral materials. There are both advantages and disadvantages. The former are the production of strong asphalt concrete, required for road repair and construction, from highly viscous asphalt. The latter are the energy cost to heat the mineral material in production of hot mixes, limited time for application of the road layers as well as environmental concerns.
The method is quite costly due to the high price of thinners. Besides, their evaporation contaminates the environment, and poses a fire hazard.
Asphalt emulsions, on the other hand, require no heating. This material can be used with moist and cold mineral materials, reducing power consumption by 30-40% compared to technologies which require heating of the binder.
Among other advantages of asphalt emulsion are:
- the viscosity of asphalt emulsion at room temperature is significantly lower than that of asphalt. This allows emulsion to permeate even small pores and cracks;
- bitumen emulsion is highly adhesive to various surfaces, including metals, as well as acidic or basic minerals. This allows for strong and durable road construction;
- operation is possible at relatively low temperatures and high humidity due to increased adhesion of the emulsion to the treated surface. Strangely enough, moisture on the surface of the mineral materials plays a certain positive role;
- increased precision of binder material dosage and even distribution in even thinner layers due to low viscosity for material economy;
- fuel economy, since the mineral materials do not require heating. The process ensures the required quality in normal conditions, reducing the amount of energy consumption;
- reduced emissions into the environment.
Asphalt emulsion are currently coming into wider use, pushing hot bitumen from the stage. In the general case, the use of asphalt emulsions improves road quality, increases labor efficiency; besides, emulsion can be used in cases where hot asphalt is inefficient.
One of the priority directions of GlobeCore is the design and production of the modern UVB-1 asphalt emulsion plants.
The GlobeCore asphalt emulsion plants feature the following advantages:
- emulsion product fully meets ASTM D 2397-98 and D977-98 standards;
- improved safety (emergency stop and safety interlocks);
- dilution of blended chemicals with water inside the unit;
- capability to make all types of emulsions, such as CRS, CMS and CSS-1,2, as well as anionic emulsion of the corresponding types, including sub-type h;
- production of high quality asphalt emulsion regardless of initial asphalt quality by adding plasticizers, adhesion modifiers and thinners;
- compact size;
- simple operation and servicing.