Bitumen plant

Minimum required elements

A bitumen plant is a facility used for receipt, storage,
blending and distribution of bitumen or its different types of
products. Custom blends of bitumen are produced with
specific properties to meet the requirements of various
construction and industrial applications. Some of these
products are :
- Bitumen: 35/50, 70/100
- Blended products: Cutback, emulsion.
Minimum required elements of a bitumen plant

Minimum required elements of a bitumen plant are :

1) Storage tanks
2) Pumping station
3) Heating system
4) Loading rack
5) Laboratory
6) Maintenance workshop
7) Administrative building
8) Safety and environment related facilities
9) Energy supplies
10) Product Receipt
1) Storage tanks
Different storage tanks are:
- Bitumen tanks: used to receive and storage bitumen –
connected to receipt line / hoses
- Solvant tanks: used to receive and storage solvants –
connected to receipt line / hoses
- Blending vessels: used to blend bitumen with solvants
and additives to obtain blended products
- Blended products tanks: used to store blended
products
2) Pumping station
Pumps are essential to:
- Transfer bitumen and blended products
from storage tanks to loading rack
- Transfer bitumen, solvants and additives to
blending vessels and recirculate them to
produce blended products
- Transfer blended products from vessels to
storage tanks
3) Heating Heating facilities are essential to maintain bitumen in a
workable / fluid state. Common heating method is with
system thermal oil heaters.
4) Loading
rack
A rack for loading bitumen products
onto trucks / should be designed for
efficient and safe handling.
5) Laboratory
A laboratory is essential for quality control. It
should be equipped with instruments for
testing bitumen properties, including
penetration, softening point, viscosity...
 6) Maintenance workshop

A workshop with tools and equipment for plant maintenance

to keep the facility running smoothly.
7)Administr Offices and administrative
buildings are needed for staff who
ative manage plant operations, logistics,
building and administrative tasks.
 8) Safety and environment related
facilities

Safety and environment are critical concerns in bitumen plants due to

the potential for fire, burns, chemical exposure, leaks, etc. Facilities
should include fire suppression systems, emergency showers, eyewash
stations, proper ventilation, water and exhaust treatment systems.
The environmental impact monitoring program should be implemented
to measure the impacts operational on site. It includes among others :
✓ Maintenance and technical control of installed equipment ;
✓ The commitment to the mastery of waste management by
procedures of quantification and monitoring of solid waste and
hazardous industrial waste ;
✓ The establishment of registers for the monitoring of waste
management.
9) Energy
supplies
Electricity and gas supplies are essential for the
operation of the plant. Backup power generators may
be necessary to prevent downtime during power
outages.
To cover its electrical energy needs, the unit should
be connected to the electrical network of the STEG.
It is recommended that the establishment also has a
generator with a power of 40 KVA.
10) Product receipt

Acceptance of pure bitumen

Reception is made in cargoes of 700 to 4,000 tons and unloading is carried out
at the level of the jetty
✓ A serving temperature = 145 to 150 °C;
✓ A maximum working pressure = 5 bar.
Bitumen storage tanks are connected to the unloading point by a pipe
8-inch heat-insulated. After each unloading of the product (pure bitumen), emptying
of the unloading line is done by flashing with compressed air from the
unloading.
 Bitumes
Tunis
plant as
an
example
The establishment is located on a land of 6,400 m2 located in
the delegation of Rades, of the Ben Arous governorate.

The plant consists of 10 business areas:

1. Pure Bitumen receipt
2. Storage Pure bitumen
3. Pumping station Pure bitumen
4. Manufacture of emulsion products
5. Manufacture of CUT-BACK products
6. Storage of Manufactured Products
7. Pumping station manufactured products
8. Loading station.
9. Weighbridge (60 TM).
10. Boiler rooms (2 gas boilers, 1250 kCal each)
11. Safety equipments
Storage
facilities
•Pure bitumen BP 35/50:

•The chartered vessels have a capacity of around 4000 MT, the storage
capacities of the plant take into account this tonnage which is determined
based on a useful stock and the possibility of receiving cargoes of 3000 MT.
•4 vertical tanks with fixed roofs and large capacity are intended to receive
pure bitumen. They are interconnected to facilitate product transfer for the
purpose of optimization.
•Bitumen storage is provided by four vertical cylindrical tanks TK01, TK02,
TK03 and TK04 which are connected by a set of valves and pumps allowing
the transfer of bitumen pure:
•✓ Between the four (4) vertical tanks of pure bitumen.
•✓ To tanker trucks through tanker loading stations.
•✓ To 400/600 and 0/1 cut-back manufacturing and storage tanks.
•✓ To the bitumen emulsion manufacturing tank.
Storage
BTSA Storage capacity ( Tons)

140 70

facilities Bitume 35/50

Cutback 400/600
Cutback 01
Emulsion

BTSA Tanks capacities in Tons

5,000
Tank I Tank II

Bitume 35/50 2,900 2,100 5,000

Cutback 400/600 70 70 140

Cutback 01 70 70

Emulsion 35 35 70
The facility has the following retention basins:
Total Capacity in Tons 5,280 ✓ A basin contains the bitumen storage tanks.
✓ A bowl contains the storage tanks of cut-back
01, cut-back 400/600 and bitumen emulsion.
✓ A basin contains the kerosene storage tank.
Pumping
station

•1. A 400/600 cut-back brewing and

recirculating electro pump 70 m3/h
•2. An electro pump for stirring and
recirculation of cut-back 0/1 70 m3/h
•3. An electro pump for unloading and dosing
of kerosene for the manufacture of cut-back
20 m3/h
•4. An electro pump for emulsion of bitumen
20 m3/h
•5. Two pumps for loading and circulating
pure bitumen each with a flow rate of 70
m3/h
Manufactured
products cut-backs
0/1 & 400/600
•Among the products that are manufactured and marketed
by the plant are the 400/600 and 0/1 cutbacks. These
products are made from pure bitumen and kerosene
( petrole).
•The 0/1 cut-backs manufacturing is carried out by a
mixture of 60% bitumen 35/50 and 40% kerosene in a 50
m3 tank and then transferred and stored in a 75 m3 tank.
•For the manufacture of cut-backs 400/600 is carried out by
a mixture of 89% bitumen 35/50 and 11% kerosene in a 50
m3 tank then transferred and stored in two 75 m tanks.
•All these productions are carried out at a temperature of
around 110 ° C
Manufactured
products

Manufacture and storage of bitumen emulsions

•The manufacture of emulsion is done in batch
of 5 tons, by simple mixture of:
•➢ 63.23% pure bitumen,
•➢ 35% hot water at 40°C
•➢ 1.28% oil
•➢ 0.23% descaling (dilute hydrochloric acid),
•➢ 0.26% fatty amine.
•The bitumen emulsion is manufactured in two
tanks with a unit capacity of 30 m3 per
progressive mixing and product recycling.
 4 loading stations containing six loading arms per dome:

LOADING •- 1 cut-back 0/1 unloading arm : 30 m3/h

•- Two loading arms of pure bitumen 35/50 : 70 m3/h
STATION •- Two cut-back 400/600 loading arm : 30m3/h
•- 1 bitumen emulsion loading arm : 30 m3/h
 •For the management of the sale of bitumen products, the
Weighbridge plant has a bridge weighbridge with a capacity of 60 tons
(weighing of tank trucks at the entrance and exit).
Oil Boilers

• Two thermic oil boilers (one in service

and one in stand-by) Total power = 2.91
MWh
• An expansion tank of thermic oil
capacity 3 m3
• Two thermic oil circulation pumps. 16
m3/h
• A buried tank (CHT) of diathermic oil
capacity 10 m3
8) Safety and
environment

Water tank = 50 m3 Autonomy 2h 11mn.

Foam = 1 x 1000 litres.
2 Electro Pump fire fighting pump :
2x30m3/h
(« Hydrant ») : 4 + hoses 20m
3 Wash eyes.
Extinguisher 9kg & 50kg
Thank you for your interest