Asphalt

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Asphalt or or , also known as bitumen , is the sticky, black and highly viscosity|viscous liquid or semi-solid present in most crude petroleum s and in some natural deposits; it is a substance classed as a Pitch (resin)|pitch . Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used. Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)

The primary use of asphalt is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with construction aggregate|aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete . Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.

The terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English , asphalt (or asphalt cement) is the carefully refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen. Natural deposits terminology also sometimes uses the word bitumen, such as at the La Brea Tar Pits .

Naturally occurring asphalt is sometimes specified by the term "crude bitumen"; its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses . whilst the material obtained from the fractional distillation of crude oil is sometimes referred to as "refined bitumen".

Etymology

The word asphalt is derived from the late Middle English, in turn from French asphalte , based on Late Latin asphalton , asphaltum , which is the Latinisation (literature)|latinisation of the Greek language|Greek ?sfa?t?? ( ásphaltos , ásphalton ), a word meaning "asphalt/ bitumen / Pitch (resin)|pitch " which some derive from a- "without" and sf????, ( sfallo ), "to make fall". Note that in French, the term asphalte is used for naturally occurring bitumen-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads.
Another description has it that the term derives from the Accadian term asphaltu or sphallo , meaning "to split". It was later adopted from the Homeric Greeks as a verb meaning "to make firm or stable", "to secure". It is a significant fact that the first use of asphalt by the ancients was in the nature of a cement for securing or joining together various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. From the Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French ( asphalte ) and English ("asphaltum" and "asphalt").

The expression "bitumen" originated in the Sanskrit, where we find the words jatu , meaning "pitch," and jatu-krit , meaning "pitch creating", "pitch producing" (referring to coniferous or resinous trees). The Latin equivalent is claimed by some to be originally gwitu-men (pertaining to pitch), and by others, pixtumens (exuding or bubbling pitch), which was subsequently shortened to bitumen , thence passing via French into English. From the same root is derived the Anglo Saxon word cwidu (mastix), the German word Kitt (cement or mastic) and the old Norse word kvada .Abraham, Herbert (1938), p.1

Neither of the terms asphalt or bitumen should be confused with tar or coal tars .

Modern usage

In British English , the word 'asphalt' is used to refer to a mixture of mineral aggregate and bitumen (or tarmac in common parlance). The earlier word 'asphaltum' is now archaic and not commonly used. In American English , 'asphalt' is equivalent to the British 'bitumen'. However, 'asphalt' is also commonly used as a shortened form of ' asphalt concrete ' (therefore equivalent to the British 'asphalt' or 'tarmac'). In Australian English , bitumen is sometimes used as the generic term for road surfaces. In Canadian English , the word bitumen is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil , while asphalt is used for the oil refinery product used to pave roads and manufacture roof shingle s and various waterproofing products. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as dilbit in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen " Upgrader|upgraded " to synthetic crude oil is known as syncrude and syncrude blended with bitumen as synbit.

Bitumen is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or semi-solid form of petroleum. Bituminous rock is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada are a similar material.

Chemistry

The substance is completely soluble in carbon disulfide , and composed primarily of a mixture of highly condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon s; it is most commonly modelled as a colloid , with asphaltene s as the dispersed phase and as the continuous phase (though there is some disagreement amongst chemist s regarding its structure). One writer stated although a "considerable amount of work has been done on the composition of asphalt, it is exceedingly difficult to separate individual hydrocarbon in pure form", and "it is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of asphalt, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large".Muhammad Abdul Quddus (1992), p.99, in ch.5 pdf

Most natural bitumens contain sulfur and several heavy metals, such as nickel , vanadium , lead , chromium , mercury (element)|mercury , arsenic , selenium , and other toxic elements. Bitumens can provide good preservation of plants and animal fossils.

Background

Asphalt or bitumen can sometimes be confused with " coal tar|tar ", which is a similar black, thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal . During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced, tar was a readily available product and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of tar to macadam roads led to the word tarmac , which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, asphalt (bitumen) has completely overtaken the use of tar in these applications. Other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian tar sands . Pitch is another term mistakenly used at times to refer to asphalt/bitumen, as in Pitch Lake .

Natural deposits of asphalt include lake asphalts (primarily from the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Bermudez in Venezuela ), Gilsonite , the Dead Sea , bituminous rock and tar sands. Asphalt was mined at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia in the United States from 1852 to 1873. Bituminous rock was mined at many locations in the United States for use as a paving material, primarily during the late 1800s.

Asphalt can be separated from the other components in crude oil (such as naphtha , gasoline and Diesel fuel|diesel ) by the process of fractional distillation , usually under vacuum conditions. A better separation can be achieved by further processing of the heavier fractions of the crude oil in a de-asphalting unit , which uses either propane or butane in a Supercritical fluid|supercritical phase to dissolve the lighter molecules which are then separated. Further processing is possible by "blowing" the product: namely reacting it with oxygen . This makes the product harder and more viscous.

Asphalt is typically stored and transported at temperatures around 150°C (300°F). Sometimes diesel oil or kerosene are mixed in before shipping to retain liquidity; upon delivery, these lighter materials are separated out of the mixture. This mixture is often called "bitumen feedstock", or BFS. Some dump truck s route the hot engine exhaust through pipes in the dump body to keep the material warm. The backs of tippers carrying asphalt, as well as some handling equipment, are also commonly sprayed with a releasing agent before filling to aid release. Diesel oil is sometimes used as a release agent , although it can mix with and thereby reduce the quality of the asphalt.

History

Geological origin

Naturally occurring deposits of bitumen are formed from the remains of ancient, microscopic algae and other once-living things. When these organisms died, their remains were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where they lived. Under the heat and pressure of burial deep in the earth, the remains were transformed into materials such as bitumen, kerogen , or petroleum . Deposits at the La Brea Tar Pits are an example.

There are structural similarities between bitumens and the organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites.Hayatsu etal., Meteoritics, Vol. 18, p.310 However, detailed studies have shown these materials to be distinct.Kim & Yang Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 163-174

Ancient times

The use of bitumen for waterproofing and as an adhesive dates at least to the fifth millennium B.C. in the early Indus Valley Civilization|Indus community of Mehrgarh , where it was used to line the baskets in which they gathered crop s.McIntosh, Jane. The Ancient Indus Valley. p. 57

In the ancient Middle East , the Sumer ians used natural asphalt deposits for mortar (masonry)|mortar between bricks and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship caulking , and for waterproofing. In some versions of the Book of Genesis in the Bible , the name of the substance used to bind the bricks of the Tower of Babel is translated as bitumen (see Gen 11:3). A one-kilometre tunnel beneath the river Euphrates at Babylon in the time of Queen Semiramis (ca. 800 B.C.) was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent. This must be regarded as legendary, but indicative that the concept was known. The Persian language|Persian word for asphalt is moom , which is related to the English word mummy . Asphalt was also used by ancient Egypt ians to embalm mummies. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon .Herodotus, Book I, 179

In the ancient Far East , natural asphalt was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher fractions, leaving a material of higher molecular weight which is thermoplastic and when layered on objects, became quite hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing, such as scabbard s and other items. Statuettes of household deities were also cast with this type of material in Japan , and probably also in China .

In North America , archaeological recovery has indicated asphalt was sometimes used to adhere stone projectile point s to wooden shafts.

Approximately 40 AD, Dioscorides described production of asphaltos (as distinguished from pissasphalt and naphtha): (1655 Goodyer translation). The 'Judaicum bitumen' is a famous deposit of native asphalt seeping through diapir s at the bottom of the Dead Sea, which comes occasionally to the surface through seismic activity in blocks of up to 100 tons in weight which are more than 99.99% pure. It was the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit, between the Seleucid s and the Nabateans in 312 B.C.

"The Judaicum Bitumen is better than others; that is reckoned the best, which doth shine like purple, being of a strong scent & weightie, but the black and fowle is naught for it is adulterated with Pitch mixed with it. It growes in Phoenice also, and in Sidon , & in Babylon , & in Zakynthos|Zacynthum . It is found also moyst swimming upon wells in the country of the Agrigento|Agrigentines of Sicily|Sicilie , which they use for lamps instead of oyle, and which they call falsely Sicilian oyle, for it is a kinde of moyst Bitumen." translated by Goodyer (1655) or (Greek/Latin) compiled by Sprengel (1829) p. 100 (p. 145 in PDF)

The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to bitumen found at Hasbeya .The organic geochemistry of the Hasbeya asphalt (Lebanon): comparison with asphalts from the Dead Sea area and Iraq Jacques Connan and Arie Nissenbaumb Organic Geochemistry Volume 35, Issue 6, June 2004, Pages 775-789 Pliny refers also to bitumen being found in Selenicë|Epirus .

Early use in Europe

An 1838 edition of Mechanics Magazine cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in a variety of ways - "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusin of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross the brain of a Parisian of that generation". But it was generally neglected in France until the July Revolution|revolution of 1830 . Then, in the 1830s, there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann ( Bas-Rhin|BasRhin ), the Parc (l'Ain) and the Puy-de-la-Poix ( Puy-de-Dôme|Puy-de-Dome )", although it could also be made artificially.. Note: different sections of Miles' online work were written in different years, as evidenced at the top of each page (not including the heading page of each section). This particular section appears to have been written in 2000 One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835.

Photography and art

Bitumen was also used in early photographic technology. It was most notably used by France|French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the View from the Window at Le Gras|first picture ever taken . The bitumen used in his experiments were smeared on pewter plates and then exposed to light, thus making a black and white image. It was similarly used to print millions of photochrom postcard s.

Bitumen was the nemesis of many artists during the 19th century. Although widely used for a time, it ultimately proved unstable for use in oil painting, especially when mixed with the most common dilutents, such as linseed oil, varnish and turpentine. Unless thoroughly diluted, bitumen never fully solidifies and will in time corrupt the other pigments with which it comes into contact. The use of bitumen as a glaze to set in shadow or mixed with other colors to render a darker tone resulted in the eventual deterioration of a good many paintings, those of Eugène Delacroix|Delacroix being just one notable example. Perhaps the most famous example of the destructiveness of bitumen is Théodore Géricault 's Raft of the Medusa (1818-1819), where his use of bitumen caused the brilliant colors to degenerate into dark greens and blacks and the paint and canvas to buckle.

Early use in the United Kingdom

Among the earlier uses of asphalt in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's Polygraphice (1673) provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of mastic (plant resin)|mastic , and one ounce of asphaltum. By the fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources.

The first British patent for the use of asphalt was Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen' in 1834. Then on 25 November 1837, Captain R. T. Claridge|Richard Tappin Claridge patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement, Writer is replying to note or query from previous publication, cited as 9th S. xi. 30 having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with Frederick Walter Simms , who worked with him on the introduction of asphalt to Britain. Dr T. Lamb Phipson claims that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)". Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org) Indeed, mastic pavements had been previously employed at Vauxhall by a competitor of Claridge, but without success.

In 1838, Claridge obtained patents in Scotland on 27 March, and Ireland on 23 April, and in 1851 extensions were sought for all three patents, by the trustees of a company previously formed by Claridge. This was ''Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company'', formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France", Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org). Alternative viewing at: http://books.google.com/books? id=sQ5AAAAAYAAJ& pg and "laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall".Miles, Lewis (2000), pp.10.06.1-2 Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks,Comments on asphalt patents of R.T. Claridge, Esq (1904), p.18 "and subsequently on the space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and Marc Isambard Brunel|Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel|Isambard Brunel as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry". "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and the Bastenne company, were in production",Miles, Lewis (2000), p.10.06.2 with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order".

Indeed in 1838, there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity over asphalt, which had uses beyond paving. For example, asphalt could also used for flooring, damp proofing in buildings, and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths, with these latter themselves proliferating in the 19th century. (Enter "asphalt" into the search field for list of pages discussing the subject) On the London stockmarket, there were various claims as to the exclusivity of asphalt quality from France, Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France, with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England, "Claridge's was the type most used in the 1840s and 50s"

In 1914, Claridge's Company entered into a joint venture to produce Macadam#Tar-bound macadam|tar-bound macadam , with materials manufactured through a subsidiary company called Clarmac Roads Ltd. Two products resulted, namely Clarmac , and Clarphalte , with the former being manufactured by Clarmac Roads and the latter by Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co., although Clarmac was more widely used. However, the World War I|First World War impacted financially on the Clarmac Company, which entered into liquidation in 1915. The Law Reports: Chancery Division , (1921) Vol. 1 p.545. Retrieved 17 June 2010. The failure of Clarmac Roads Ltd had a flow-on effect to Claridge's Company, which was itself compulsorily wound up, The Law Times Reports (1921) Vol.125 , p.256. Retrieved 15 June 2010. ceasing operations in 1917, having invested a substantial amount of funds into the new venture, both at the outset, and in a subsequent attempt to save the Clarmac Company.

Early use in the United States

The first use of asphaltum in the New World was by indigenous peoples. On the west coast, as early as the 13th century, the Tongva people|Tongva , Luiseño people|Luiseño and Chumash people|Chumash peoples collected the naturally occurring asphaltum that seeped to the surface above underlying petroleum deposits. All three used the substance as an adhesive. It is found on many different artifacts of tools and ceremonial items. For example, it was used on rattle (percussion instrument)|rattle s to adhere gourds or turtle shells to rattle handles. It was also used in decorations. Small round shell beads were often set in asphaltum to provide decorations. It was used as a sealant on baskets to make them watertight for carrying water. Asphaltum was used also to seal the planks on ocean-going canoes.

Roads in the US have been paved with asphalt since at least 1870, when a street in front of the Newark, NJ City Hall was paved. In 1876, asphalt was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial. Asphalt was also used for flooring, paving and waterproofing of baths and swimming pools during the early 20th century, following similar trends in Europe.

Modern use

Rolled asphalt concrete

The largest use of asphalt is for making asphalt concrete for road surfaces and accounts for approximately 85% of the asphalt consumed in the United States . Asphalt pavement material is commonly composed of 5% asphalt cement and 95% aggregates (stone, sand, and gravel). Due to its highly viscous nature, asphalt cement must be heated so it can be mixed with the aggregates at the asphalt mixing plant. There are about 4,000 asphalt mixing plants in the U.S.

Asphalt road surface is the most widely recycled material in the US, both by gross tonnage and by percentage. According to a report issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the United States Environmental Protection Agency , 80% of the asphalt removed each year from road surfaces during widening and resurfacing projects is reused as part of new roads, roadbeds, shoulders and embankments.

Asphalt shingle|Roofing shingle s account for most of the remaining asphalt consumption. Other uses include cattle sprays, fence post treatments, and waterproofing for fabrics.

Asphalt is widely used in airports around the world. Due to the sturdiness, it is widely used for runways dedicated to aircraft landing and taking off.

Mastic asphalt

Mastic asphalt is a type of asphalt which differs from dense graded asphalt ( asphalt concrete ) in that it has a higher bitumen ( binder (material)|binder ) content, usually around 7–10% of the whole aggregate mix, as opposed to rolled asphalt, which has only around 5% added bitumen. This thermoplastic substance is widely used in the building industry for waterproofing flat roofs and tanking underground. Mastic asphalt is heated to a temperature of and is spread in layers to form an impervious barrier about 20 millimeters (0.8& nbsp;in) thick.

Asphalt emulsion

A number of technologies allow asphalt to be mixed at much lower temperatures. These involve mixing the asphalt with petroleum solvents to form "cutbacks" with reduced melting point or mixtures with water to turn the asphalt into an emulsion . Asphalt emulsions contain up to 70% asphalt and typically less than 1.5% chemical additives. There are two main types of emulsions with different affinity for aggregates, cationic and anionic . Asphalt emulsions are used in a wide variety of applications. Chipseal involves spraying the road surface with asphalt emulsion followed by a layer of crushed rock, gravel or crushed slag. Slurry seal involves the creation of a mixture of asphalt emulsion and fine crushed aggregate that is spread on the surface of a road. Cold-mixed asphalt can also be made from asphalt emulsion to create pavements similar to hot-mixed asphalt, several inches in depth and asphalt emulsions are also blended into recycled hot-mix asphalt to create low-cost pavements.

Other uses

Thin bitumen plates are sometimes used by computer enthusiasts for silencing computer cases or noisy computer parts such as the hard drive. Bitumen layers are baked onto the outside of high-end dishwashers to provide sound insulation. Bitumen also is used in paint and marker inks by some graffiti supply companies (primarily Molotow) to increase the weather resistance and permanence of the paint and/or ink, and to make the color much darker.

Petroleum production, alternatives and bioasphalt

Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from " Oil sands ", currently under development in Alberta, Canada. Canada has most of the world's supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres (an area larger than England), giving it the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands is the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining , although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by in-situ#Petroleum| in situ methods. Because of oil price increases since 2003 , upgrading bitumen to synthetic crude oil has become highly profitable. As of 2006, Canadian crude bitumen production averaged about per day and was projected to rise to per day by 2020. The total amount of crude bitumen in Alberta which could be extracted is estimated to be about , which at a rate of would last about 200 years.

Certain activist groups have become increasingly concerned about the global peak oil and climate change problem in recent years due to byproducts released into the atmosphere. Most of the emissions are derived primarily from burning fossil fuel s. This has led to the introduction of petroleum alternatives, such as bioasphalt , that are more environmentally friendly and less toxic.

Bitumen can now be made from nonpetroleum-based renewable resources such as sugar, molasses and rice, corn and potato starch es. Bitumen can also be made from waste material by fractional distillation of used motor oil s, which is sometimes disposed by burning or dumping into land fills. Nonpetroleum-based bitumen binders can be made light-colored. Roads made with lighter-colored pitch absorb less heat from solar radiation, and become less hot than darker surfaces, reducing their contribution to the urban heat island effect.. From the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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