BTC – your partner in road-making

Sustainable road construction is an important issue for the European economic system. In a European Community proper planned and constructed roads are the connecting veins of our markets and countries. Fast and safe transportation of our daily goods without frontiers and traffic holdups are the daily challenge of many companies. And of course we all want to reach our destinations by car in an appropriate time and on good constructed roads.

But roads are not even roads. There can be high differences between the quality and life-time. The German BTC, a Group company of the world's leading chemical company BASF – The Chemical Company, supplies the asphalt industry with high quality asphalt modifiers for sustainable and ecological-friendly road construction. Our Butonal® SBR polymers for asphalt modification are manufactured in a highly automated state-of the- art facility, ensuring consistently high quality products. The products are successfully used in both hot mix and asphalt emulsions applications, both domestically and globally.

Our excellent technical capabilities and knowledge allow us to work closely with our customers creating value added solutions. Our research efforts continue to push the frontier in asphalt polymer innovation. Add to this consistent and accurate invoicing, consistent product quality, and our excellent on-time delivery record. BTC is the ideal partner in business. With our polymers roads have a high temperature performance – also in Southern Europe where the climate is hot and mostly dry or in Nordic regions where the weather is almost cold, wet and frosty.

BASF Butonal® polymers have long been a leader in asphalt modification. Our Butonal® polymers greatly enhance hot mix asphalt performance including the production of performance graded asphalts. Modification with these elastomers widens the asphalt's useful temperature interval to improve resistance to rutting at high temperatures and decrease the susceptibility to thermal cracking at low temperatures. The resulting binder also displays superb resilience to improve the pavement's fatigue behaviour diminishing the cracking attributed to wear and use.

All of these performance benefits are attained easily as Butonal® polymers are readily dispersible into the asphalt without the need for high shear milling, with the flexibility to be added to both the asphalt binder or final mix. Chip seal and surface dressings BASF Butonal® polymers have set new chip seal performance standards. Highly efficient, enhancing both early and long-term performance in chip seal systems. They are easily dispersible into asphalt emulsions and can be added to the soap solution or co-milled along with the soap or directly injected into the asphalt line during milling. Research shows that it is imperative that the polymer is in the water phase of the emulsion to attain maximum benefit and Butonal® polymers make this possible.

Upon curing they form a continuous phase modifying the asphalt binder in situ. This network positively affects the binder's early strength development to greatly improve early aggregate adhesion immediately upon placement. The resulting chip seal experiences a drastic reduction of aggregate loss in the first hours of application. As time passes, the increased strength and elastomeric nature of the SBR polymer network imparts tremendous resistance to fatigue and reduces the loss of aggregate over the long-term, extending the life of the surface treatment. Slurry seal and micro-surfacing BASF Butonal® polymers are also an important component in modified slurry seal and micro-surfacing applications. As in other emulsion systems, the SBR polymer dispersed into the water phase forms a continuous polymer network upon curing. This results in the formation of bi-continuous phases of asphalt and polymer. The asphalt provides adhesion and desired hardness, while the SBR network provides strength and elasticity.

This composite binder formed in slurry seal and micro surfacing systems with Butonal® polymers exhibits improved strength development, resilience, and high temperature performance, as well as a drastic reduction in abrasion loss. The polymer modification also allows for increased binder film thickness that allows for thicker lifts such as rut-fill applications. BASF Butonal® polymers are easily dispersible into slurry seal and micro-surfacing emulsions and can be added to the soap phase or co-milled into the soap or asphalt line upon production.

The use of BASF asphalt modifiers is not limited to paving applications. They also find use in water proofing membranes, pipe and tank coatings, roofing applications, sealers, automotive sound deadening and underbody protection. The addition of BASF asphalt modifiers, improves the properties of the specialty coatings. These include improved stress-strain properties, final strength, and long lasting elastometric properties.

Our contribution for European road construction:

Butonal® NX 1138
A premium cationic SBR latex that provides excellent early strength development and adhesion in surface dressing and micro-surfacing/slurry seal applications.

Butonal® NX 1129
A specially formulated cross linkable anionic dispersion of styrene-butadiene polymer used to produce binders with increased strength and elasticity in both hot mix asphalt and emulsion applications. Creates compatible asphalt binders that are resistant to polymer separations and meet SHRP Plus specifications.

Butonal® NS 198
A cationic dispersion of styrene-butadiene polymer used in asphalt emulsion applications.

Butonal® NS 104
An anionic dispersion of styrene-butadiene polymer used in hot mix asphalt and emulsion applications. Produces paving binders that meet SHRP specifications.

BASF and BTC – responsibilities with added value

BTC Speciality Chemical Distribution Europe is the BASF Group's only sales organization in Europe that focuses on small and medium-sized users of Special Chemicals, Care Chemicals and Performance Polymers. A key pillar of BTC Europe is the globally active company BTC Speciality Chemical Distribution GmbH based in Cologne, Germany.

We offer more than 3,000 high-quality Performance Chemicals for the industry sectors of detergent and cleaning agents, formulators, automotive and oil, textiles, coatings, plastics, printing/special inks, as well as for the adhesive and construction industry. Our strength lies in our in-depth knowledge of the sectors and proximity to our customers. We develop tailor-made solutions for each customer, from the supply of the desired product range, right up to lab and specific application services, logistics or product safety services. All customers are served individually with fast response times by our staff – and we guarantee every customer a fixed personal contact and service from a single source.

Your central BTC contact:

Franz Saif
T: +49 221 95 464-220
F: +49 221 95 464-224
E: franz.saif@btc-de.com