Bitumen - Indian Laws - General

Word Bitumen In the Concise Oxford English Dictionary- as a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation, used for road surfacing and roofing . Bitumen appears to be a residual product in the petroleum refineries and it is usually used in road construction which is also probabalised by the fact that the appellant was to deliver the bitumen to the Road Construction Department of the State. Bitumen is sold in bulk ordinarily. Bitumen may be found in small quantities or large quantities. M/S. D.N. SINGH VERSUS CIT, - 2023 (5) TMI 746 - SUPREME COURT According to Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology, bitumen means:- Bitumen Geology and naturally occurring flammable substance mainly of a mixture of hydrocarbons such as petroleum or asphalt. Materials 1. Originally, a type of asphalt occurring naturally in Asia Minor. 2. Any similar black, sticky mixture of hydrocarbons occurring naturally or pyrolytically in the atmosphere and completely soluble in carbon disulfide: obtained mainly from natural oxidized petroleum products or from a petroleum distillation process. The McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science Technology (Third Edition) defines bitumen as under:- Bitumen A term used to designate naturally occurring or pyrolytically obtained substances of dark to black color consisting almost entirely of carbon and hydrogen with very little oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur. Bitumen may be of variable hardness and volatility, ranging from crude oil to asphaltites and is largely soluble in carbon disulfifde. Bitumen emulsion, as per Indian standards ICS 293.08.0.20 published by the Bureau of Indian Standards is a destruction of very fine particles in an aqueous medium. Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur, in its report dated 11.4.2008 states that:- The components derived from fractional distillation of petroleum, at various temperature levies, are (I) Gas (II) Naphtha, (III) Kerosene, (IV) Diesel and lubricating oil, (V) Bitumen and furnace oil, and (VI) residue. This bitumen is known as penetration grade bitumen because the specification, by which it is designated, is obtained from the penetration test. There could be two other forms of Bitumen: Namely (I) Emulsion and (II) Cutback. In the emulsion, bitumen is in the suspension from as small globules in water, whereas in cutback, the bitumen is dissolved in suitable solvent. In bituminous construction, the choice between penetration grade bitumen and the bitumen emulsion is made depending upon the factors like, weather conditions, availability, economy and available construction time. The said report discussing about its composition explicates:- Bitumen is basically a hydrocarbon with 10% by weight of atoms of sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen, attached to hydrocarbon molecules. The carbon content in bitumen is 80-87%. Three basic components of bitumen are (I) asphaltene, (II) maltene and (III) carbine. The chemical bonds in bitumen are weak and break when heat is applied. When it is cooled, it comes back to its original structure, but not necessarily the same as before. About the characterization of the bitumen, report states:- Bitumen materials have certain characteristics such as (I) waterproofing (II) durability, (III) resistance to strong acids and (IV) cementing properties. At normal temperature, bitumen is semi-solid and takes time to flow. At higher temperatures, it behaves like a viscous liquid, whereas at very low temperature, is brittle as glass. Bitumen is believed to behave viscoelastically at the standard operating temperature at highways. COMMISSIONER OF COMMERCIAL TAX, U.P. VERSUS M/S. A.R. THERMOSETS (PVT.) LTD. - 2016 (9) TMI 410 - SUPREME COURT