Use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography to Monitor Performance and Study Changes in Asphalt Cements

摘要

The report presents both chemical and physical test data on asphalts studied over a five-year time period. The chemical test data were obtained using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and consist of two different HPLC chemical test procedures. One of the HPLC chemical test procedures generically separates whole asphalt into the four generic fractions of asphaltenes, saturates, aromatics, and resins. The second HPLC chemical test determines the molecular size distribution of whole asphalt and splits that distribution into large, medium, and small molecular size divisions for convenience. The physical test values presented are from standard physical test procedures with the exception of the 77 F viscosity of asphalt cement, which is determined by a modified GDOT Cone Plate Viscometer Method. Both chemical and physical test data indicate that original asphalts are influenced by both crude sources and type of refining process and that asphalts changed over the five-year time period studied.