Oxidation Process for the Production of Asphalt from Paraffinic Base Crude Oils

Abstract. Because of its favourable characteristics bitumen (i.e. asphalt) is a widely used building material especially for the road construction. However the production of bitumen requires specific crudes oils and thus is limited by the availability of these raw materials. Only aromatic/naphthenic or mixed base crude oils can be processed while the use of paraffinic crude oils has not proven successful. Long chain paraffins contained in the paraffinic crude oils cause cracking at low temperatures and permanent deformation at high temperatures and thus reduce the durability of the asphalt mix. Generally the production of bitumen is based upon an atmospheric distillation followed by a vacuum distillation and if required the application of an oxidation process. OMV has a long standing experience in processing bitumens by oxidation. The OMV Centre of Research and Development has been working on the development of a new oxidation process since the early sixties. In 1979 the BITUROX-process was patented. However the original BITUROX-Process is not susceptible to the use of paraffinic crudes, which tend to crack and consequently prevent the formation of high viscosity residues.