In general, bitumen is made in two types: “natural or mineral bitumen” and “oil or refinery”. Both forms of bitumen generally have similar forms, characteristics and properties, despite minor differences in structure. In a brief description, mineral or natural bitumen is bitumen that is readily extracted through mineral extraction or from lakes of natural bitumen. It is worth to know that petroleum or refinery bitumen is directly extracted in the process of crude oil processing. Using gilsonite, we can produce asphalt powder, which is a powdered lump of natural bitumen.
A handful of countries have bitumen and gilsonite mine , including Canada, Iraq, Australia, Russia and Venezuela. Fortunately, the rich nature of Iran has also benefited from this blessing and bitumen mines can be found in western and southern cities of Iran.
The Difference Between Bitumen and Petroleum
The two substances are almost identical in function; The difference is that there are small differences in the dose of the ingredients in them. For example, petroleum bitumen has less than one percent sulfur; However, the amount of sulfur in mineral bitumen is usually more than three percent. More specifically, California bitumen with 3.9 percent, Trinidad bitumen with 3.8 percent and Mexican bitumen with 3.2 percent sulfur are mined. Iran is rich in natural bitumen reserves in the world.
Another point about the difference between mineral bitumen and petroleum bitumen is their purity. We have already said that one of the signs of Gilsonite is that it is low in impurities. Mineral bitumen typically contains a variety of mineral impurities, including ash but this one has only about one percent ash. Also, the rate of acidification and saponification of petroleum bitumen is less than natural bitumen and finally petroleum bitumen oil is more than mineral bitumen.
Read More: What is Natural Asphalt
Mineral Asphalt Powder
After the discovery of bitumen with the advancement of technology done by gilsonite producers , it was used in different ways; Mineral bitumen powder is one of them. The substance itself is found in black with a hard and shiny surface and because of its fragility; It is also used as a dark brown and black powder. Powdered bitumen is available in different sizes for sale and distribution in the Iranian and world markets.
The manufacturing of micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder is hazardous and inefficient in terms of energy. Currently, crushing Gilsonite/ Natural asphalt lumps in mechanical milling equipment is a common method of producing micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder. Conventional milling outcomes are very reliant on significant energy usage, especially when very finely sized particles are obtained. As a result, it would be desirable from an economic standpoint if it were feasible to identify a way of producing micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder that used methods other than mechanical milling or a mechanical milling technique that required much less energy.
We can deliver a micronized Gilsonite powder product in which 95% of the particles in the Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder product are smaller than 75 microns. Aside from the unique technique of producing Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder disclosed herein, the micronized Gilsonite powder produced by the current invention marks a step forward in the manufacture of this product above the prior art. The micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder produced by the method of the present invention will be made up of particles of generally uniform size and a very small micron measurement. Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen particles with micronized sizes have substantial commercial utility and benefits.
Furthermore, the micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder of the present invention will have a higher grade or purity since milling equipment impurities will not be present. In addition to the present invention’s micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder, the intermediate micronized Gilsonite powder cake is a product that may have commercial application and is manufactured with much less energy and excellent quality than prior art products.
Mechanical milling of lump Natural Bitumen
Mechanical milling technologies have traditionally been used to produce Gilsonite powder in the past. Mechanical milling of lump Natural Bitumen, particularly where the desired effect is to mill the product to a powder with small particle size, has a number of drawbacks, including the process’s safety as well as the fact that mechanical milling consumes a lot of energy and is hard on the milling equipment.
The micronized Gilsonite powder recovered in the present invention procedure might be packaged or stored in this form for use, or it could be combined with other substances.
Blending of the micronized Gilsonite/Natural Bitumen powder in question with other ingredients depending on its end-use will be conventional technique or use conventional equipment as will be understood by one skilled in the art, and on that basis, the specifics of a blending step are contemplated within the scope of the present invention.
Finally, after being checked, a technical expert enters the packing system or tank of packing by two lines, where a technical expert selects the line big bag and or line packaging according to your order.
This product has been produced in different sizes using the best technologies of the day. Iran’s mines are one of the top centers for selling Gilsonite powder, which is made in modern methods of bagging, packaging and quality control. Customers can buy this valuable item.
To sum up, mineral bitumen powder and natural asphalt powder are the most important minerals from which hundreds of types of hydrocarbon derivatives (petroleum bitumen derivatives) are processed, produced and supplied to the bitumen market. The prices offered b different companies and producers might vary just like the gilsonite price according to the quality and the applied process.
Read more: How many types of asphalt do we have