COVID-19 Impact on Asphalt in Chemical and Materials Industry
INTRODUCTION
The black cementing agent known as asphalt has been used for road construction for centuries in all overall the world. Asphalt is black or brown petroleum-like material that has a consistency varying from viscous liquid to glassy solid. Although, asphalt is present in two types which are used in the natural deposits of asphalt and rock asphalt. Asphalt is obtained either as a residue from the distillation of petroleum or natural deposits. Natural asphalt which is also called Brea, and formed during an early stage in the breakdown of organic marine deposits into petroleum. Asphalt is produced from the constituent of most petroleum products which are isolated through the refining process of distillation. While production of the asphalt consists of compounds of hydrogen and carbon with minor proportions of sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen.
Since asphalt includes bitumen, which is a hydrocarbon substance soluble in carbon disulfate, asphalt is sometimes called a bituminous material. For the harmful distillation of acquired soft coal tar containing bitumen as well. Bituminous materials are known as both petroleum asphalt and coal tar. Petroleum asphalt consists entirely of bitumen, and the bitumen content in coal tar is relatively poor.
Asphalt has various properties that increase asphalt application in the construction industry. On the heading of the asphalt become elastic under a various heating temperature. Asphalt is more used as the binder or adhesive in construction activities. The principal application of asphalt is in road surfacing in which asphalt is used in a variety of ways. Asphalt is mixed with a variety of solid and liquid substances which help to build the hard surface. Small structure granular is added to an asphalt coat, and other materials for the road surface are mixed with the asphalt. The asphalt helps to bind the different materials which have a different chemical composition and increase the strength of the surface to hold more pressure.
Other important applications include linings of canals and reservoirs, dam faces, and other harbor and sea works; asphalt may be a sprayed membrane, thin, covered with soil for weathering and mechanical damage protection, or thicker surfaces, often containing riprap (crushed rock). Asphalt is also used for floor tiling, soundproofing, roofing, waterproofing coating, and other components of building construction.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE ASPHALT MARKET
Asphalt is the material that is more used in the construction industry as the asphalt is used as the adhesive for binding the material and increases the strength of the surface. Several types of equipment are used in the asphalt market such as cold bins for storage of graded aggregate, a dryer for drying and heating material which are required for mixing at a different temperature, a pug mill for combining the graded, heated aggregate and liquid asphalt cement according to specified mix formulas and tanks for storing the liquid asphalt.
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