Effects of crude oil on the performances of hard asphalt and its mixtures

ABSTRACT

The quality and performance of petroleum asphalt are determined by crude oil and the production process. The pavement performance using petroleum asphalt is consequently affected by crude oil and the production process. This study investigated the effects of three types of crude oil, namely BSK, MB, and MR, on the performance of hard asphalt and corresponding asphalt mixtures. Accordingly, Pen40/60 asphalts were fabricated using the distillation process, while Pen20/40 asphalts were produced using a combination of distillation and oxidation processes. The asphalt properties were then evaluated. Moreover, the relationships between the asphalt and crude oil performances were established. The test results validated the consistency of the effects of crude oil on the asphalt performance. A certain correlation was determined between the indices of crude oil and asphalt. Furthermore, crude oil was found to greatly influence the fatigue performance. Among the three types of crude oil, the BSK crude oil product of hard asphalt exhibited good rut resistance, fatigue performance, and water stability, depicting the best performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Crude oil
• hard asphalt
• asphalt mixture
• performance indices
• road performance
• production process

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the PetroChina Fuel Oil Co., Ltd. and Foshan Gaofu China petroleum fuel asphalt Co., Ltd. for their strong support throughout this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).