removal of bitumen

removal of bitumen with water jetting

bitumen, also called "earth pitch", is the name of a mixture of various organic materials which derive from natural resources as well as from vacuum distillation of mineral oil. bitumen is often used in the construction branch: for the construction of houses you need bitumen e.g. as roof membrane to seal the roof and as bitumen thick coating to seal cellars. for the construction of bridges you need bitumen to connect the coating of the bridge with the steel plate and to protect the steel plate against corrosion. for the construction of streets you need bitumen to bind the asphalt together with the aggregate.

when bitumen -for what reason ever- has to be removed, you face a difficult de-coating job. the high pressure water jetting technology is an established method for that. it achieves enormous success thanks to the possibility to be able to adjust work pressure, water amount and nozzle size individually and as needed.

so it is possible to remove bitumen from mineral surfaces as well as from metallic surfaces without residues. you can cover big surfaces by big water amounts. big surface coverage is particularly important for renovating streets and bridges in order not to disturb the traffic more than necessary. as far as the water jetting machine has a possibility to regulate the water pressure, you can use the same high pressure cleaner for solid/hard surfaces as well as for more sensitive ones, as cellar walls of old buildings, without damaging the walls or floors.

another plus of removing bitumen by water jetting technology results from the simple and cost-saving disposal of the loosened material. using simple filter techniques, you can collect the loosened bitumen and return it to the recovered substance cycle. so the high pressure water jetting represents an environmentally friendly method as pre-step to recycling by using pure water and filters.

in short: if you have to remove bitumen, there is no sensible alternative method to water jetting.

falch offers a wide range of high pressure water jetting machines with accessories as special floor- or wall cleaners scater and twister in order to solve difficult de-coating projects. our application engineers support you by consultancy via telephone hotline or practical demonstrations; on request also on-site.