Asphalt Emulsion
An asphalt emulsion is used to make an asphalt prime coat that is designed to bond two masses of asphalt pavement into a single, durable unit that will last over time. If the material is diluted with too much water, the total amount of applied asphalt goes down and reduces the durability of the bond.
RS-1
The specific asphalt emulsion we sell is called RS-1 which is a rapid set formulation. The rapid set formulation is so it will be easy to apply and will "break" so that is quickly ready to have the pavement installed. This formulation of tack is good for most paving applications were new and old asphalt needs to be bonded together. It is a formulation of asphalt blended with specialty chemicals and ground into fine particles so it will remain in suspension in water. The water helps control spread the thin film of bonding agent over the old asphalt. Then when the water evaporates the remaining asphalt bonding liquid is ready to be paved over.
How This Emulsion is Created
The trick is to overcome the thick stickiness of asphalt so a bonding agent can be created to hold two layers of hot mix asphalt together. To put it simply, very small particles are created and suspended in water so a thin bonding layer of asphalt can be created. By definition, an emulsion is a mixture of two unblendable liquids combined with a dispersant to keep the particles apart. It is a contradiction, but can be done with a colloidal mill.
Colloidal Mill
Making very small droplets of asphalt to create liquid asphalt is done with a colloidal mill. This equipment uses hydraulic shearing of the asphalt to create the particles that can be suspended in water, like fine silt stays in a pond. There needs to be the addition of soap-like emulsion to keep the particles from sticking back together in one mass. A colloidal mill uses speed and close tolerances to create these small particles.
Environmentally Inert
The emulsion method of creating tack coat is environmentally better than cutback asphalt. Cutback asphalt is made with a petroleum solvent in order to create a flowable material. When the cut back is applied, the solvent disperses to the atmosphere. With tack coat made out of an emulsion, the use of water and a dispersant keeps the asphalt particles from sticking together until the water evaporates. An additional environmental factor is, unlike cut back emulsion, tack coat does not have to be heated so this saves energy.
If you need asphalt emulsion for your asphalt pavement needs, please call (781)254-2773. We have tack available in 5 gallon pails or also sold by the pallet.
