Transporting bitumen safely in cold form.

The ZERO Waste Solution

01 · The product

BituDrum comes in two versions

“Standard” for secure transportation“Plus” for secure transportation & conversion to a PMB.

With both versions the packing material becomes part of the final product at melt-down. The important distinction is the casing thickness and the amount of polymer it carries.

Thin casing

Standard

BituDrum Standard

The casing is made from the same grade of bitumen being packed, plus polymer. It is a thin, hard PMB casing designed not to change the contained bitumen’s specification when the complete package is melted.

Thicker master-batch casing

Value enhancing

BituDrum Plus

A thicker casing acts as a bitumen-polymer master batch. After the complete package is melted and mildly agitated, it is designed to create a polymer-modified bitumen meeting the required specification.

02 · BituDrum Plus

Create PMB at melt-down

Polymer-modified bitumen degrades when stored hot and without agitation for an extended period. BituDrum Plus is designed to move the master batch in cold form and complete the blend at destination.

The master batch is drawn directly from the mixing tank.
The casing is formed, filled, sealed and rapidly cooled.
Rapid cooling is intended to prevent polymer segregation.
Unlike steel drums, the process is designed to avoid polymer segregation during the cool-down period.
Only mild mixing is required at melt-down because the polymer is already incorporated in the master-batch casing.

03 · For refineries

A refiner's dream come true

Draw directly from refinery storage, releasing storage capacity, pack it for cold transportation or store it in solid form until market conditions are right.

The ZERO Waste Solution

Cold-form storage and conventional cargo handling.

04 · Strategic Partnership

A refinery hosted partnershipClose to a secure bitumen supply

Eastern Petroleum Services takes responsibility for operating the production line. The preferred arrangement is a strategic partnership with a host refinery, with the packing plant located close enough to draw bitumen directly into the BituDrum process tanks.

Creating added value

EPS produces the packing material using the refinery’s bitumen and by adding polymers, then forms, fills, seals and cools each BituDrum ready for cold-form transportation.

05 · Utilization

Utilization of BituDrums

Non-enhancing BituDrums can be melted in any traditional drum decanter or open heated tank.
For enhancing BituDrums with high polymer content, it is recommended that the melting unit should be coupled to a homogenizer to ensure integration of the polymer.
EPS can provide specially designed melting units of basically any configuration. Highlighted is one such design.

The ZERO Waste Solution

06 · Research and development

Physical BituDrum prototypes in Curaçao

BituDrum prototypes produced at the Eastern Petroleum Services research centre in Curaçao.

Actual BituDrum prototype development.

07 · Contact

Talk directly with Eastern Petroleum Services

This website is intended to introduce the BituDrum operating model to refinery heads, project-rights holders and organisations able to support a deployment.

Eastern Petroleum Group
Nieuwe Haven Commercial Park 07, Willemstad, Curaçao
+599 9 6696887
info@bitudrum.com