Reduction of asphalt fumes in roofing kettles

The addition of polymers to asphalt in small quantities is shown to reduce the asphalt fumes from built up roofing kettles. Built up roofing asphalt (BURA) with up to 1% of a blend of polymers was tested for its fuming characteristics in roofing kettles in a Pilot Plant setting and also at several job sites. The addition of polymer forms a steady-state surface layer that reduces the release of fumes from the asphalt. Once equilibrated, the layer remains constant in thickness since as new polymer is added some of the layer dissolves in the asphalt. At least 0.32% polymer in the BURA material was necessary to get good fume reduction. A detailed Pilot Plant experiment is described which demonstrated statistically significant reductions of from 55 to 95% in both opacity and in benzene soluble particulate with this technology. These reductions were seen not only in area monitoring near the asphalt kettle but also in limited personnel monitoring of worker fume exposure in the BURA kettle area. Follow up testing...