The emulsion is a rather specific material, requiring special attention and adherence to standards both at the stage of production, and transportation and storage. In storage the emulsion requires special temperature, protection from direct sunlight and monitoring of the material in storage.
Water-bitumen emulsion is a highly dispersed dark brown liquid, made by special plants (colloid mills, dispersers, homogenizers and mixers) by atomization of bitumen phase in water media with surfactant emulsifier.
Since water bitumen emulsion is an elastic binding material, its storage is complicated, because of the need for constant heating and stirring of the material is specially equipped vessels. Heaters are usually integrated into the walls of the storage tank and allow the material to stay in the required condition. Heating may be performed by steam, oil or low temperature electric heaters. Bitumen storage tanks can be horizontal or vertical. The most popular are vertical tanks, which are easier to use, more economical and take less space.
Bitumen emulsion is slightly aggressive, so the internal surface of the tank should be coated with anti-corrosion layer. The cylindrical metal vessel for storage should be thoroughly cleaned, remaining bitumen should be removed and the tank should be tightly closed to prevent contamination and evaporation.
Modern bitumen and water-bitumen emulsion tanks are reliable and feature advance design, which allows to observe the standards of material storage. Additional systems, automation and sensors simplify operation of the storage tanks.