Soluble bitumen

Soluble bitumen is a mixture of bitumen and a suitable solvent (e.g. kerosene or gasoline). The type and quality of soluble bitumen depends on the quality of the original pure bitumen, the type of solvent and the amount of solvent. This bitumen is liquid at room temperature or liquefied with a little heat.
Soluble bitumen is used in various types of paving asphalts. The setting or hardening rate of this type of bitumen depends on the type of solution.
Lack of access to bitumen heating equipment, decomposition of bitumen at high temperatures, cooling of bitumen during operation, impossibility of its penetration into porous minerals, the need for workers’ safety, fire and time-consuming cause soluble bitumen to be used in some cases.
Soluble bitumen is used in road construction for surface coatings, infiltration, cold factory asphalt or on-site mixes.

Soluble bitumens are divided into the following 3 groups according to the setting speed and the type of solvent:

– Rapid Curing Bitumen (RC):
Due to the high rate of evaporation of gasoline, the bitumen dissolved in gasoline hardens faster. This bitumen is called rapid curing bitumen.

– Medium Curing Bitumen (MC):
Bitumen dissolved in kerosene are called medium curing bitumen, which has a slower and longer evaporation rate than gasoline.

– Slow Curing Bitumen (SC):
Graves that are dissolved in gas oil or furnace oil are called slow curing bitumen