Study of Temperature Fields in Bitumen Storages and Dehydration Reservoirs - Paper

Sep 10, 2026

The paper analyzes methods to improve the efficiency of bitumen storage systems, comparing pit-type and ground-type storages. Temperature fields of stored bitumen during operation and in dehydration reservoirs are assessed. Heating pit-type reservoirs is shown to waste heat inefficiently due to the layout using a bottom intake to form pits for manufacturing. In contrast, adopted heating-element placement in ground reservoirs enables gradual warming of the entire stored volume. Recommendations for optimizing bitumen heating and identifying energy-intensive dehydration causes are provided.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

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ISSN: 0975-8585 Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences Study of Temperature Fields in Bitumen Storages and Dehydration Reservoirs. Evgenia Vladimirovna Uglova *, Yuriy Yakovlevich Nikulin, and Sergey Sergeevich Saenko. Rostov State University of Civil Engineering, Sotsialisticheskaya str., 162, Rostov-on-Don, 344022, Russian Federation. ABSTRACT The presented paper focuses on a search of ways to increase effectiveness of bitumen storages: pittype storages and ground type storages. An assessment of temperature fields of bitumen in a period of storages' operation, as well as for dehydration reservoirs was conducted. It was established that in a case of heating bitumen in pit-type reservoirs, a significant portion of heat is spent inefficiently, because of use of a bottom intake from a main storage compartment to a pit and form a pit to reservoirs, used in a manufacturing process. Adopted layout of heating elements placement and design of ground reservoirs result in a gradual warming up of bitumen to a sufficiently high temperature in a whole volume of stored bitumen. Recommendations for an optimization of a process of bitumen's heating in storage reservoirs are presented. Temperature fields of bitumen in reservoirs for dehydration were studied. Main causes of high energy intensity and duration of the process are identified. Keywords: bitumen, storage reservoir, heating, temperature, dehydration. *Corresponding author May – June 2016 RJPBCS 7 (3) Page No. 2530 INTRODUCTION In contrast to a case of use of bitumen directly from delivering transport (i. e., without long-term storage ) in asphalt-producing companies, in the Russian Federation many asphalt plants have their own storage facilities [3], [4] . Such an approach (an accumulation of bitumen in low season and a subsequent use in a period of active construction), which was formed in a conditions of plan-based economy of Soviet Union, is applicable in new economical conditions for two reasons: firstly, purchasing bitumen in winter due to a decrease of its price in that period of the year [1], [2], allows companies to be more flexible in a case of in making bids during contracts' tendering and specifying a final cost of road concrete mixes; secondly, the lack of logistics infrastructure for bitumen creates a possibility of plants shutdown, in a case of an improper execution of contracts by suppliers, that problem is virtually eliminated in a case of a company having its own stock of bitumen. Typically, such stocks may be 60-80, and sometimes 100% of a company's annual required volume of bitumen. Despite an active implementation of a ground bitumen storage technology in metal reservoirs, thereis still a large number of companies using pit-type storages [8] . Such storages are manufactured from concrete, reinforced concrete or, rarely, from metal and are equipped with steam, oil or electric heating systems. In a main storage compartment a pre-heating of bitumen (up to a liquid conditions, which starts, approximately, at 50-60 °С) is carried out, heating to a pumping temperature (80-100 ºC) is carried out in a pit – the deepest part of a storage, which is located in end or central part of a main storage compartment. Bitumen intake from a main storage compartment to a pit is conducted by gravity flow (due to a slope of a bottom of a main storage compartment) through a chute, which is a hole of an unconditioned size (as a rule, it doesn't exceed 1 m 2) in a wall of a pit near a bottom of a main compartment. An intake of bitumen from a pit after heating up to a pumping temperature is carried out by means of a bitumen gear pump through an intake pipe, which is usually located a few centimeters above heating elements of a pit. The primary disadvantage of a pit-type storage is a possibility of bitumen watering due to atmospheric precipitations (in a case of a poor hydraulic protection) or groundwaters (if they occur nearby), wh

FAQs

What bitumen storage systems are compared in the paper?

The paper compares pit-type storages and ground-type storages for improving storage efficiency and operational performance.

Why is heating in pit-type reservoirs considered inefficient?

A significant portion of heat is spent inefficiently because the system uses a bottom intake to form pits and route bitumen through the pit used in the manufacturing process.

What factors drive the high energy intensity and duration of bitumen dehydration?

The paper studies temperature fields in dehydration reservoirs and identifies the main causes of the process being energy-intensive and long in duration.

Sep 10, 2026

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