US2087400A

US2087400A - Bituminous emulsion

Info

Publication number: US2087400A
Application number: US628113A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr William Francis Fair
Original assignee: Barrett Co Inc
Current assignee: Barrett Co Inc
Priority date: 1932-08-09
Filing date: 1932-08-09
Publication date: 1937-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 1954-07-20

Description

products is attempted, heavy undesirable sludges are formed. This invention permits the simultaneous application of such immiscible or incompletely miscible bituminous materials with the resultant formation of a substantially homogeneous coating or binder, since the coal tar and asphalt may be dispersed in one and the same aqueous mgiiium even though they are incompletely mis- Cl e.

It will, of course, be understood that the saponifying agent, aqua ammonia, employed for saponifying the oleic acid in the example cited may be added in two successive stages; that is, part to the water used in producing the initial emulsion and part to the initial emulsion itself, instead of adding all of the aqua ammonia to the water, if so desired, and a preferred soap may be used instead of soap-forming materials if preferred.

The term coal tar, as used in the specification and claims, includes raw coal tar, dehydrated coal tar, and stripped coal tar from which a portion of the volatile constituents have been removed.

While I have described my invention herein with particular reference to the emulsification of heavy coal tars and have referred specifically to asphalt flux oil as a bitumen suitable for use in producing the primary emulsion to which the coal tar is added, it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the use of these specific materials or to the preferred forms of my invention recited herein by way of illustration, but may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

1. The method of producing a stable emulsion of coal tar and asphalt flux oil, the disperse phase of which emulsion contains a predominant amount of coal tar, which comprises adding 15 parts by weight of oleic acid to 250 parts by weight of asphalt flux oil, heating the mix to about 100 C., adding the same to 750 parts of water to which have been added 34 parts of aqueous ammonia whereby an emulsion of the asphalt flux oil which has a viscosity substantially greater than that of water is produced, thereafter adding 1500 parts by weight of coal tar which has a specific gravity of about 1.18 or more heated to a temperature of about 70 C. to which has been added 45 parts of oleic acid, vigorously agitating said tar with the emulsion of asphalt flux oil, and subjecting the resulting mixed emulsion to intensive mechanical disintegration, as for example by passage through a colloid mill.

2. A stable asphalt-coal tar emulsion comprising from to 34 per cent asphalt, 36 to 60 per cent coal tar, 28 to 43 per cent water, and a small amount of a salt of a. higher fatty acid as the emulsifying agent.

3. A method of producing a stable emulsion of coal tar and petroleum asphalt, the disperse phase of which emulsion contains a predominant amount of coal tar, which comprises mixing from 1.25 to 2.5 parts by weight of oleic acid with about 8 parts by weight of petroleum asphalt having a melting point of from 105 to 120 F. (ring and ball method), adding this mixture while stirring to about 30 parts by weight of hot water containing ammonia in an amount more than sufiicient to neutralize the oleic acid, thus forming an emulsion of asphalt in water, and gradually adding to this emulsion about 60 parts by weight of liquefied coal tar having a melting point of approximately 80 F.

4. A bitumen emulsion comprising from 10 to 34 per cent of easily emulsifiable asphaltic bituminous material, from 36 to 60 per cent of coal tar having a specific gravity of about 1.15 or higher at 25 C., from 28 to 43 per cent of water, and a small amount of a salt of a higher fatty acid as the emulsifying agent.

5. The method of producing a substantially stable dispersion containing as the disperse phase a relatively large amount of tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar of a specific gravity of at least 1.15 and a smaller amount of asphalt, which comprises producing an initial dispersion containing an aqueous medium, soap and a relatively small amount of asphalt and thereafter dispersing tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar in amount greater than the amount of asphalt directly in said initial dispersion.

6. A substantially stable dispersion of asphaltic bitumen and tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar in an aqueous medium, the disperse phase of said dispersion containing a minor proportion of asphaltic bitumen and a major proportion of tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar, said dispersion containing at least about 28 percent of water and an emulsifying agent.

7. The process of producing a stable dispersion, the disperse phase of which is constituted predominantly of tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar, in an aqueous medium, comprising producing an initial emulsion containing a relatively small amount of asphaltic bitumen in an aqueous dispersing medium, and an emulsifying agent, and adding an amount of tar of the group consisting of coal tar and water gas tar greater than the amount of said asphaltic bitumen to said initial emulsion to form the said stable dispersion, the disperse phase of which is predominantly constituted of said tar.

FRANCIS FAIR, JR.

Patented July 2Q, 1937 PROCESS OF MAKING BITUMINOUS EMULSIONS William F. Fair, J12, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Barrett Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 9, 1934,

No Drawing.

Serial No. 710,533

2 Claims.

This invention relates to emulsions or dispersions of bituminous materials, and more particularly, to coal tar emulsions and methods for producing the same.

5 Heretofore, emulsions of asphalts have been made and used for surfacing roads, curing concrete, protecting iron Work, etc. In some instances, light tars have also been emulsified. Heavy coal tars, that is coal tars having a specific 10 gravity of from 1.18, or even as loW as 1.15, to

1.25 or higher 'at'25 C. have not been successfully used in producing emulsions prior to the invention of my copending application Serial No.

628,113, filed August 9, 1932, for the reason that 15 emulsions of such tars when produced by processes such as are used in producing asphaltic emulsions are relatively unstable so that the tar soon settles out of suspension.

Coal tars generally are of higher specific gravity than asphalts and this property may account, in part at least, for the comparative instability of emulsions or dispersions of coal tars as heretofore produced. Among the factors which influence the stability of emulsions and tend to cause settling out of the material dispersed are differences in density of the disperse phase and the continuous phase and differences in viscosity of the two phases or a combination of these factors with others. It has been pro- 30 posed to increase the stability of emulsions or dispersions of bituminous materials by (1) increasing the density of the aqueous phase and (2) by decreasing the density of the disperse phase.

Method (1) has been practiced heretofore by J adding clay or the like to the aqueous phase prior to the dispersion of the bituminous material.

However, the resulting dispersion then contains undesired inert inorganic material. Method (2) has been used by cutting back the bituminous 40 material with a sunicient amount of a light organic solvent to reduce the density and viscosity of the material dispersed. This method, it will be noted, requires the use of substantial amounts 1 of relatively expensive solvents and changes the 45 physical properties of the bituminous phase.

Among the objects of this invention are to produce bituminous emulsions of improved stability, and particularly, coal tar emulsions or dispersions of improved stability; to provide an in- 50 expensive and simple method by which such emulsions or dispersions can be made and to produce such emulsions Without incorporating objectionable inert inorganic materials therein. These and other objects of this invention will appear 55 from the following description thereof.

In my copending application, hereinabove referred to, there is disclosed a procedure of making coal tar emulsions involving the formation of an initial emulsion by dispersing a relatively small amount of a suitable easily-emulsifiable 5 bituminous material, such as asphalt, in an aqueous medium and then adding to this initial emulsion relatively heavy coal tar or water gas tar. Asphalts, asphalt flux oil, petroleum, fuel oil, or other asphaltic or petroleum bitumens may be employed as the bituminous material for the disperse phase of the initial emulsion. Preferably, asphalt having a penetration at 77 F. of

from 100 to 220 tenths of a millimeter (determined by A. S. T. M. Standard Method D5-25) is utilized. A relatively heavy coal tar having a specific gravity of not less than 1.15 at 25 C. and a viscosity of not less than approximately 60 seconds for 100 c. c. at 199 C. or a relatively heavy water gas tar having a viscosity of not less than approximately 60 seconds per 100 c. c. at 100 C. is dispersed in the initial emulsion. Heavier and more viscous coal tars, including coke oven, vertical and horizontal retort tars, Water gas tar, or other relatively heavy bituminous material of different characteristics from that forming the disperse phase of the initial emulsion may be added to the initial emulsion.

In producing such emulsions, preferably a soap or saponaceous material is employed as a dispersing agent to aid in the production of both the initial and the final emulsion. The soapforming materials may be added to the aqueous medium and to the bituminous material to be dispersed so that a reaction between the soapforming materials which results in the formation of soap takes place during the emulsification of the bituminous material. Preferably, the basic constituent of the soap is added to the aqueous medium in which it is readily soluble and the acidic constituent is added to. the material to be dispersed, although, if desired, the soap emulsifier, as such, or soap-forming constituents may be added to the emulsion during its formation or immediately after the addition of the bituminous material to the aqueous medium and during the agitation of the mixture. Ammonium or sodium soaps of fatty acids or mixtures of fatty acids, sodium resinate, the reaction product of sodium silicate and oleic acid, the sodium salts of sulfonated coumarone resin and associated sulfcnated coumarone-like compounds or the sodium salts of other sulfonated benzene derivatives may be employed as dispersing agents.

Emulsions of asphalts and readily emulsifiable 5