This study investigates the effects of a catalytic modifier based on manganese salts of natural petroleum acids on the performance of tar oxidation and the properties of the resulting bitumen product. It is demonstrated that, compared to noncatalytic tar oxidation, the proposed catalyst not only more than doubles the process intensity but also significantly improves the product quality. IR spectroscopy showed that an optimal catalyst loading (0.3 wt %) provides an appreciable increase in the degree of oxidation (>30%) and aromaticity (>10%) of the bitumen, while preserving its aliphatic components, which act as a plasticizer. The formation of polar carbonyl groups enhances the adhesive capacity of the product, whereas the increased aromaticity favors its thermal stability as a binder. The study results validate the effectiveness of the proposed catalytic approach for producing bitumen with improved performance characteristics.
Abbasov et al. (Wed,) studied this question.