Prime Coat, Tack Coat

& Fog Seal

Sundaram Logaraj
Content

1. In many countries cutbacks are still used

• How they can be substituted with emulsions?

2. Prime coat emulsions without volatile

solvents
• Emulsions with Redicote E-7000
• Emulsions with Bio-solvents

3. Tack coat emulsions

4. Fog seal emulsions

Surface Chemistry 2
The main uses of cutbacks in paving

Prime coat
• Cutback used as there is need for penetration into the base
• The reactive material in the base breaks the emulsion on the surface
• Significant challenge when emulsions are used
• Nouryon (then AkzoNobel) have developed emulsion formulations without volatile
solvents

Tack coat
• Can be easily substituted with emulsions
• Emulsions available with better performance

3
Emissions from cutbacks – EPA Document
‘Asphalt Paving Operations – US Environmental Protection Agency, 1995’

Type of Cutback % solvent evaporated

1 Day 4 months
Slow Cure (SC) ~10 ~25
Medium Cure (MC) ~30 ~75
Rapid Cure (RC) ~70 ~95

Statement from the Asphalt Institute:

“---in a lot of areas air quality is of concern and the EPA has restricted or eliminated the use of
cutbacks. In such areas the use of emulsified asphalt is necessary”
Purpose of Prime Coat

• Penetrate and bind the granular surface

• Water proofing and protection from wind, water and traffic
• Bond between base and the next course
Current Emulsions used for Prime Coat

• SS-1, SS-1h, CSS-1, CSS-1h

• Emulsions with 5-15% volatile solvent are common

- Defeats the purpose of not using cutbacks

• Diluted on site – needs to be stable to dilution

• Without volatile solvents performance not good

Factors that affect performance*
– denser/harder to penetrate surfaces

• Some cases diluted emulsion can be applied without any preparation

• Top 50 to 150 mm scarified, mixed in and compacted
• Pre-wet water uniformly applied to the surface
- 2 to 12 hours before application
• Surfactant in pre-wet water further helps
• Multiple coats applied when needed

* Recommended Performance Guideline - AEMA

Penetrating Prime coat
emulsions without volatile
solvents

• Laboratory performance tests

• Field trials/applications
Factors that could affect the performance of
Prime coat emulsions
1. Aggregates Reactivity
• Surface area of aggregate – Depends are gradation and surface texture
• Composition – Silica, CaCO3 and other mineral content

2. Emulsion Reactivity
• Type of Emulsion and Emulsifiers – Anionic, non-ionic, cationic or combinations
• Dosage of emulsifiers
• Presence of solvent and other additives

3. Particle Size
• Mechanical parameter – Emulsification temperature, Mill Speed, Mill configuration
• Type of emulsifiers used
Emulsions for Prime coat emulsions

1. Formulate slow setting emulsions that can withstand reactive base material
• Type of emulsifier and dosage
• Use of Bio-solvents that do not contain VOCs
2. Emulsions with fine particle size distribution
Types of emulsion for evaluation

1. Anionic SS emulsions with some non-ionic emulsifiers

2. Anionic SS emulsions with some non-ionic emulsifier with Bio-solvents

3. Cationic SS emulsions with some non-ionic emulsifier with Bio-solvents

Anionic SS emulsion with non-ionic emulsifier
Redicote E-7000 and a non-ionic emulsifier

• Combination of anionic Redicote E-7000 and a non-ionic emulsifier

• 60% Emulsion which can be diluted with water
• Good resistance to hard water
• Very good wetting power
• Smaller than normal particle size
- Important criteria
Redicote E-7000 in Asphalt Emulsion Prime
PennDOT Test Procedure - Sand Penetration Test
Basic test method from PennDOT
Also used by IL, NM

Surface Chemistry | Title

Redicote E-7000
Sand penetration test results

Depth mm

Time sec

20

10

E-7000 MC-30
19
Typical prime coat application
Sub-base profiling and compaction

20
Emulsion application onto Sub-Base

21
Solvent Free Prime in New Mexico

22
Some observations
Lab tests and trials with E-7000 emulsion

1. Emulsion diluted to <40% for good penetration.

2. Best results with Redicote E-7000 along with non-ionic emulsifiers

3. If particle size bigger than the voids then penetration not good

4. Breaking up the surface helps

Surface Chemistry | Title 24

Precautions in handling anionic emulsions

1. Avoid contamination between anionic and cationic

2. Emulsion plant
• After cationic production rinse line with water
• Followed by rinse with anionic soap

3. Separate tanks and tank trucks for anionic emulsions

Cationic Asphalt Emulsion Prime (AEP)
with “Bio-solvents”

• Fuel oil replaced with “Bio-solvents”

• What are Bio-solvents?
• High boiling point, do not emit VOCs
• Renewable resources

• Soya Oil
• Soya methyl ester (Biodiesel)
• Redicote PR (Nouryon Bio-solvent)
AEP Formulations with “Biosolvents” and #2 Fuel Oil

Formulation #2 Fuel Oil Soya Oil Biodiesel Redicote PR

Asphalt Content (PG 64- 35 35 35 35

22)
Biosolvent 0 15 15 15

#2 Fuel Oil 15 0 0 0

Redicote E-11 HF-1 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0

pH of Emulsion 5.4 4.9 5.3 5.6

Median particle size 4.9 2.9 5.0 3.4

microns
Cement mix Test/Residue Pass/Nil Pass/Nil Pass/Nil Pass/Nil

27
Sand Penetration Test
with Silica Sand + 5% Cement - MC30 cutback

28
Sand Penetration Test
with Silica Sand + 5% Cement - Soya Oil

29
Sand Penetration Test
with Silica Sand + 5% Cement - Biodiesel

30
Sand Penetration Test with Silica Sand

Time sec Depth mm

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
MC30 #2 Fuel Oil Soya Oil Biodiesel Redicote PR

32
Sand Penetration Test
Silica Sand with 5% Portland Cement
Time sec Depth mm
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
MC30 #2 Fuel Oil Soya Oil Biodiesel Redicote PR

33
AEP Cationic Emulsion Formulations
with “Bio-solvents”

Penetration Test Results

• Better results with Bisolvents compared to MC30 and Fuel Oil emulsions
• Better penetration in shorter time
• Soya oil, Biodiesel & Redicote PR gave comparable results
• Bio-solvent content can be further optimized
• Further testing with materials from the field

34
Why chemically stable prime coat emulsions
can perform better than cutback?
1. Cutbacks are a continuous film over porous surface

2. Emulsions are small asphalt droplets suspended in water

3. Good penetrating prime coat emulsions are chemically stable

• Do not coalesce
• Small asphalt droplets can penetrate the porous surface better

35
Testing with base material from the field and field performance

Type of Base Anionic + Anionic + Non- Cationic + Non- Comments

Material Nonionic SS ionic SS Emulsion ionic CSS
emulsion with Bio-Solvent Emulsion with Bio-
Solvent
Sand with 5% NA Good Good Laboratory tests
cement

Less reactive Base Good NA NA Successful field

Material Successful field application in New
application Mexico
More reactive NA Good Good Commercially used in
Base Material Successful field Successful field Latin America
application application
Difficult more NA Further testing Not Good results Further work with
reactive Base planned anionic emulsions and
Material Bio-solvents
Emulsion Formulation Recommendations

Cationic:
• 1% Redicote E-11 and 1% Redicote E-47 NPF at their natural pH
• Bio-solvent : Asphalt binder blended in the ratio of 10-30%: 90-70%
• 50% emulsion (Including Asphalt binder and Bio-Solvent)

• 0.2 to 1% Redicote E-11 and 0.5% to 1% Redicote E-620 at their natural pH

• Bio-solvent : Asphalt binder blended in the ratio of 10-30%: 90-70%
• 50% emulsion (Including Asphalt binder and Bio-Solvent)

Anionic:
• 1.5% Redicote E-7000 and 1% Redicote E-47 NPF at pH 11.5
• Bio-solvent : Asphalt binder blended in the ratio of 10-30%: 90-70%
• 50% emulsion (Including Asphalt binder and Bio-Solvent)

37
Tack Coat
Emulsions
Purpose of Tack Coat

• Create a good bond between new asphalt overlay and

existing asphalt or concrete pavement
• Prevent slippage between layers

Hot Mix Overlay

Tack Coat
Asphalt/Concrete
Granular Base Layer

Soil
Tack Coat Emulsion

1. SS-1, SS-1h, CSS-1, CSS-1h

2. Other kinds of emulsions used including rapid set

- Care should be taken diluting CRS emulsions

3. Diluted on site – needs to be stable to dilution

4. Tack coat sticks to the tires of vehicles

5. Trackless tack emulsion can be formulated

40
Trackless Tack Coat Emulsion
• Average take coat takes about 45 minutes to dry
• Formulations are available that dries within 5 minutes during day
and <10 minutes at night
• No tracking when vehicles pass
• Melts and bonds to hot-mix overlay
• Harder asphalt with special emulsifier
• Patented application

41
State of cutbacks in various areas

1. North America either eliminated/more and more restricted

• Some states are more strict than others

2. In Mexico and Argentina no cutbacks used (As far as we know)

3. Similar trend in rest of the world

5. Reasons for eliminating cutbacks/volatile solvents

• Personal Safety
• Environmental pollution
• Cost of the solvents

42
Fog Seal
• Light application of dilute cationic or anionic
emulsions
- With or without rejuvenating agents
- Can be polymer modified depending on the
application
• Inexpensive, only a distributor truck is
required in most cases
• Life shorter compared to other treatments
• If applied heavily could be slippery and
hazardous
• Application rate carefully controlled to
prevent over application
• Allowed to completely cure before letting
traffic
• Application of sand when needed

43
 Fog Seal on Chip seal

• Several states are now routinely use fogging on chipseal

47
Recommended Emulsifiers for Fog Seal

Cationic Slow Set

• Redicote E-11 E

Cationic Rapid and Quick Setting Emulsions

• Redicote C-471
• Redicote E-4900, E- 4819
• Redicote EM-44A

Anionic
• Redicote E-7000

Nonionic
• Redicote E-95
48
Summary
Tack coat
Cutbacks can be easily replaced with emulsions
• Higher performance trackless tack formulations available

Prime coat
Cutbacks and emulsions with volatile solvents can be eliminated
• Solvent free prime coat anionic emulsions can match cutback performance depending on the
base
• With difficult base top layer can be scarified, mixed in and compacted
• Emulsions with bio-solvents can surpass cutback performance

Fog Seal Applications becoming more popular as a part of preventive maintenance

Similar slow set emulsions can be used for Dust Control

51
Thank you for your attention
Questions?

Sundaram Logaraj
Safe harbor statement

‘All information concerning these products and/or all suggestions for handling and use contained herein
are offered in good faith and believed to be reliable. Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC and its affiliates,
however, make no warranty as to the accuracy and/or sufficiency of such information and/or suggestions,
as to the products’ merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, or that any suggested use will
not infringe any patent. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as granting or extending any license
under any patent. Buyer must determine for himself, by preliminary tests or otherwise, the suitability of
these products for his purposes. Redicote®, Wetfix®, PermaTac® and Kling® are registered trademarks’