Everything about Bitumen Definition and Types

Bitumen is a black solid or a viscous liquid derived from crude oil. More than 85% of the world’s bitumen production is used for road construction, 10% is used in other constructions and 5% is used in a variety of other industries, including insulation.

Read the rest of this article to know more about bitumen.

What is Bitumen? Bitumen Meaning & Definition

Bitumen is a viscous substance that exists in a liquid to a semi-solid phase. It has a blackish-brown color.

It is generally composed of asphaltene resin and other petroleum compounds.

Different compositions of bitumen result in different properties.

You can read the bitumen production process page to know more details about bitumen manufacturing.

Bitumen Chemical Composition

The chemical structure of bitumen is a complex mixture of organic compounds, mostly from the families of paraffinic, aromatic, and naphthenic hydrocarbons. In fact, bitumen is a mix of two types of components. The first type is a polar system made up of asphaltenes and resins. The second type is a non-polar system made up of saturated and aromatic chemicals (maltenes).

Generally, there is no unique bitumen chemical formula but It’s mostly consists of carbon (85%), hydrogen (10%), nitrogen (0% to 2%), oxygen (0% to 2%), sulfur (0 to 9%), and small amounts of metals like vanadium, iron, and nickel.