Bitumen Testing and Inspection

State of the art bitumen sampling and testing

Bitumen can suffer deterioration while stored in tanks or loaded into trucks, therefore it is vital companies ensure the quality of their bitumen remains stable and the specification of the product remains unchanged.

Intertek can offer state of the art independent bitumen inspection and testing facilities to clients across Europe. The Intertek Bitumen laboratory in the UK is managed in accordance with ISO 9001, 17025, 14401, OSHAS 18001 certifications and can provide services covering bitumen, and polymer modified bitumen and emulsion inspection and testing.

The capabilities cover the testing of bitumen to BS EN 58, BS EN 13924-2, BS EN 12591 and BS EN 13808 specifications. This fully covers the testing requirements for standard bitumen.

Intertek’s bitumen testing capabilities are complemented by bitumen inspection capabilities.

Testing Methods

• Visual and odour (BS EN 1425) pH (BS EN 12850)
• Penetration (BS EN 1426) Efflux time (BS EN 12846)
• Softening point (BS EN 1427)
• Breaking value via mineral filler method (BS EN 13075)
• Determination of water content in emulsions (BS EN 1428)
• Viscosity using a rotating spindle apparatus (BS EN 13302)
• Residue on sieving and determination of storage stability (BS EN 1429)
• Elastic recovery of modified bitumen (BS EN 13398)
• Determination of residual binder and old distillate from bitumen emulsions by distillations (BS EN 1431)
• Storage stability of modified bitumen (BS EN 13399)
• Solubility (BS EN 12592)
• Tensile properties of bituminous binders by the tensile method (BS EN 13587)
• Fraass breaking point (BS EN 12593)
• Cohesion of bituminous binders with pendulum testing (BS EN 13588)
• Kinematic viscosity (BS EN 12595)
• Tensile properties of modified bitumen by the force ductility method (BS EN 13589)
• Dynamic viscosity (BS EN 12596)
• Adhesively with reference aggregate (BS EN13614)
• Resistance to hardening under the influence of heat and air (BS EN 12607)
• Dynamic viscosity of modified bitumen- cone and plate method (BS EN 13702) COC flash (BS EN 22592)
• Deformation energy (BS EN 13703)
• PM flash (BS EN 22719)
• Staining tendency of bitumen (BS EN 13301)
• Density (BS EN ISO 3838)
• Loss in mass after heating (BS EN 13303)
• Determination of settling tendency of emulsions ( BS EN 12847)
• Cleveland (BS EN 22593)

Inspection capabilities and expertise

• International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT)
• Petroleum liquids- manual sampling (ISO 3170)
• API Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (Chapter 17)
• Sampling bituminous binders (EN 58)