Crude petroleum is separated into its various fractions through a distillation process at the oil refinery. After separation, these fractions are further refined into other products which include asphalt, paraffin, gasoline, naphtha, lubricating oil, kerosene, and diesel oil. Since asphalt is the base or heavy constituent of crude petroleum, it does not evaporate or boil off during the distillation process. Asphalt is essentially the heavy residue of the oil refining process.
Distilling the crude


1 The refining process starts by piping the crude petroleum from a storage tank into a heat exchanger or tube heater where its temperature is rapidly raised for initial distillation. It then enters an atmospheric distillation tower where the lighter and more volatile components, or fractions, vaporize and are drawn off through a series of condensers and coolers. It is then separated for further refining into gasoline (considered a "light" distillate), kerosene (considered a "medium" distillate), diesel oil (considered a "heavy" distillate), and many other useful petroleum products.

The heavy residue from this atmospheric distillation process is commonly called topped crude. This topped crude may be used for fuel oil or further processed into other products such as asphalt. Vacuum distillation may remove enough high boiling fractions to yield what is called a "straight run" asphalt. However, if the topped crude contains enough low volatile components which cannot be economically removed through distillation, solvent extraction—also known as solvent deasphalting—may be required to produce asphalt cement of the desired consistency.

Cutting back
2 Asphalt may next be blended or "cut back" with a volatile substance, resulting in a product that is soft and workable at a lower temperature than pure asphalt cement. When the cut-back asphalt is used for paving or construction, the volatile element evaporates when exposed to air or heat, leaving the hard asphalt cement. The relative speed of evaporation or volatility of the cutting agent determines whether a cutback asphalt is classified as slow, medium, or rapid-curing. Heated asphalt cement is mixed with residual asphaltic oil from the earlier distillation process for a slow-curing asphalt, with kerosene for medium-curing, and with gasoline or naphtha for the rapid-curing asphalt.

Emulsifying
3 The asphalt cement may also be emulsified to produce a liquid that can be easily pumped through pipes, mixed with aggregate, or sprayed through nozzles. To emulsify, the asphalt cement is ground into globules 5 to 10 microns and smaller (one micron is equal to one millionth of a meter). This is mixed with water. An emulsifying agent is added, which reduces the tendency of the asphalt and water to separate. The emulsifying agent may be colloidal clay, soluble or insoluble silicates, soap, or sulphonated vegetable oils.

Pulverizing
4 Asphalt may also be pulverized to produce a powdered asphalt. The asphalt is crushed and passed through a series of fine mesh sieves to ensure uniform size of the granules. Powered asphalt can be mixed with road oil and aggregate for pavement construction. The heat and pressure in the road slowly amalgamates the powder with the aggregate and binding oil, and the substance hardens to a consistency similar to regular asphalt cement.

Air Blowing
5 If the asphalt is to be used for a purpose other than paving, such as roofing, pipe coating, or as an undersealant or water-proofing material, the asphalt may be oxidized, or air blown. This process produces a material that softens at a higher temperature than paving asphalts. It may be air blown at the refinery, at an asphalt processing plant, or at a roofing material plant. The asphalt is heated to 500°F (260°C). Then air is bubbled through it for one to 4.5 hours. When cooled, the asphalt remains liquid.

Asphalt Paving Mixtures
Since asphalt cement is a major constituent used in road paving, the following is a brief description of how asphalt paving mixtures are produced. Asphalt paving mixes made with asphalt cement are usually prepared at an asphalt mixing facility. There are two types of asphalt mixes: hot-mix and cold-mix. Hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is more commonly used while cold-mix asphalt (generally mixes made with emulsified or cut-back asphalts) is usually used for light to medium traffic secondary roads, or for remote locations or maintenance use. Hot-mix asphalts are a mixture of suitable aggregate coated with asphalt cement. The term "hot-mix" comes from the process of heating the aggregate and asphalt before mixing to remove moisture from the aggregate and to obtain sufficient fluidity of the asphalt cement for proper mixing and work-ability.

6 Asphalt cement and aggregate are combined in a mixing facility where they are heated, proportioned, and mixed to produce the desired paving mixture. Hot-mix facilities may be permanently located (also called "stationary" facilities), or it may be portable and moved from job to job. Hot-mix facilities may be classified as either a batch facility or a drum-mix facility, both can be either stationary or portable. Batch-type hot-mixing facilities use different size fractions of hot aggregate which are drawn in proportional amounts from storage bins to make up one batch for mixing. The combination of aggregates is dumped into a mixing chamber called a pugmill. The asphalt, which has also been weighed, is then thoroughly mixed with the aggregate in the pugmill. After mixing, the material is then emptied from the pugmill into trucks, storage silos, or surge bins. The drum-mixing process heats and blends the aggregate with asphalt all at the same time in the drum mixer.

7 When the mixing is complete, the hot-mix is then transported to the paving site and spread in a partially compacted layer to a uniform, even surface with a paving machine. While still hot, the paving mixture is further compacted by heavy rolling machines to produce a smooth pavement surface.

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