Bitumen PG 64-22 — Production, Specification & Applications
PG 64-22 is the most widely produced performance grade in the world, and usually the first grade an authority encounters when it moves away from penetration grading.
Where PG 64-22 sits on the temperature scale
Performance grading ties the binder to the climate of the road rather than to a refinery output slate. The shaded band is the range PG 64-22 is certified to serve, a useful span of 86 degrees.
What distinguishes PG 64-22
Its 86-degree useful span covers the majority of populated temperate and subtropical climates without requiring the low-temperature compromises a wider span imposes. That breadth is why it appears in more tenders than any other performance grade.
What buyers should know
When Superpave was introduced, PG 64-22 corresponded closely to the binder most North American refineries were already producing to penetration grade 60/70. The correspondence is approximate rather than exact, but it made the transition commercially straightforward. For buyers this has a practical consequence: PG 64-22 is the grade most likely to be available at short notice and at the narrowest premium over unclassified binder.
How Bitumen PG 64-22 is produced
Understanding the refining route explains why some grades are readily available and others are not, and why two binders that look similar on a datasheet can behave differently in service.
From crude oil to vacuum residue
Crude oil enters an atmospheric distillation column where naphtha, kerosene and gas oil are removed. The long residue from the base of that column is charged to a vacuum unit operating at low absolute pressure, which allows the remaining heavy gas oils to be stripped without cracking the molecules. The vacuum residue that remains is the base material for paving bitumen, and its consistency is set by the cut point of that vacuum column.
Reaching the PG 64-22 envelope
PG 64-22 sits at a convenient point in that process. For most conventional crude slates the straight-run vacuum residue taken at a normal cut depth lands close to the required stiffness at 64 °C while retaining enough of the lighter maltene fraction to satisfy the bending beam criteria at minus 12 °C. That balance is the reason it is the highest-volume performance grade worldwide: it can be produced continuously without modification and without an unusually deep cut.
Production control
Where a refinery cannot hit the grade exactly from a single stream, the usual correction is blending. A stiffer vacuum residue is blended with a softer one, or with a small proportion of extract or flux, until the dynamic shear and bending beam results both fall inside the envelope. Blending is done in tank under circulation and the blend is then re-tested; the certificate reflects the blended product, not the component streams.
Derived test temperatures you can check
The two intermediate temperatures on a PG 64-22 certificate follow arithmetically from the grade, so a buyer can verify the document without reference to any other source.
| Test | Derivation | Result for PG 64-22 |
|---|---|---|
| PAV dynamic shear (fatigue) | (64 + −22) ÷ 2 + 4 | 25 °C |
| Bending beam (stiffness, m-value) | −22 + 10 | −12 °C |
Bitumen PG 64-22 specification
| Property | Test method | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Average 7-day max pavement design temperature | AASHTO M323 | 64 °C |
| Minimum pavement design temperature | AASHTO M323 | −22 °C |
| Original binder | ||
| Flash point, Cleveland open cup | AASHTO T48 | min 230 °C |
| Rotational viscosity @ 135 °C | AASHTO T316 | max 3 Pa·s |
| Dynamic shear G*/sinδ @ 64 °C | AASHTO T315 | min 1.00 kPa |
| After RTFOT (short-term ageing) | ||
| Change of mass | AASHTO T240 | max 1.00 % |
| Dynamic shear G*/sinδ @ 64 °C | AASHTO T315 | min 2.20 kPa |
| After PAV @ 100 °C (long-term ageing) | ||
| Dynamic shear G*·sinδ @ 25 °C | AASHTO T315 | max 5000 kPa |
| Creep stiffness S @ −12 °C | AASHTO T313 | max 300 MPa |
| m-value @ −12 °C | AASHTO T313 | min 0.300 |
The full PG 64-22 specification is tested to AASHTO M320 and reported on the certificate of analysis for every parcel. Nearest indicative equivalents: penetration grade 60/70, viscosity grade VG-30. These are reference points for discussion, not substitutions. A certificate of analysis accompanies every shipment; third-party inspection by SGS, Intertek or an equivalent surveyor can be arranged at the buyer instruction and account.
Where Bitumen PG 64-22 is used
Highways and expressways
Wearing and binder courses on national routes where both summer rutting and winter cracking have to be controlled within a single specification. The 86-degree span is what allows one binder to serve a whole national network across varied terrain.
Airport runways and taxiways
Movement areas where thermal cracking is treated as a foreign object debris risk. The minus 22 °C floor is frequently specified for airfields even where the surrounding road network uses a narrower grade, because the consequence of cracking is different.
Urban arterial roads
City routes with mixed traffic speeds and full exposure to the seasonal range, where the pavement sees both standing traffic at junctions and free-flow between them.
Structural overlays and rehabilitation
Resurfacing of ageing pavement, where the overlay must accommodate movement in the layers beneath it. Reflective cracking from the existing structure is resisted by the binder’s ability to relax stress rather than by its stiffness.
Bridge approaches and transitions
Areas subject to both thermal movement and concentrated dynamic loading from the approach slab discontinuity.
Provincial and regional networks
Where a single binder specification has to serve a wide geographic spread and procurement simplicity outweighs precise climate matching.
Mix design and handling temperatures
Mixing and compaction temperatures are set from the binder viscosity–temperature relationship rather than from the grade designation alone. The ranges below are typical starting points for PG 64-22 and should be confirmed against the rotational viscosity figure on the delivered certificate.
| Operation | Typical range for PG 64-22 | Control note |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk storage | 150–170 °C | Circulate to prevent local overheating at the heating coils |
| Pumping and transfer | 150–170 °C | Confirm line tracing is operating before transfer begins |
| Hot mix asphalt mixing | 150–165 °C | Target viscosity approximately 0.17 Pa·s |
| Compaction | 130–150 °C | Target viscosity approximately 0.28 Pa·s; cease rolling below the lower figure |
| Maximum sustained heating | below 180 °C | Above this, oxidative hardening accelerates sharply |
Drummed material should be reheated in a controlled oven or hot room rather than by direct flame. Localised overheating hardens the binder at the drum wall and can take a compliant parcel out of specification before it reaches the mixer.
What happens when PG 64-22 is mis-specified
Under-specification is the more common error with PG 64-22. Where the true climate requirement was PG 70, rutting appears in the wheel paths of the outer lane within the first or second summer, concentrated where traffic decelerates. Over-specification, using PG 64-22 where PG 64-10 would have sufficed, wastes money without causing damage, but using a stiffer high-temperature grade than the climate requires can raise fatigue cracking risk in cooler pavements.
Available packing for PG 64-22
| Packing | Net weight | Loading per 20 ft FCL | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| New steel drum | 150 / 180 / 185 / 200 kg | 110 drums, 20.35 MT at 185 kg | Smaller parcels, sites without bulk storage |
| Jumbo bag | 1 MT | 20 MT | Lower packing cost, requires melting facility |
| Flexitank / bitutainer | 20–22 MT | 1 unit | Bulk economics without a bulk vessel |
| Bulk vessel | by parcel | heated tanker | Terminal to terminal, largest volumes |
As a PG 64-22 supplier Bitumen Asphaltive ships on CFR, CIF and FOB terms with commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin and certificate of analysis.
Questions specific to PG 64-22
Why is PG 64-22 quoted more often than PG 64-16 even though it is a wider span?
Production volume. Because PG 64-22 is the global reference grade, refineries run it continuously and it is usually in tank. PG 64-16 is a narrower requirement but a less common production run, so lead times can be longer despite the easier specification.
Our tender says PG 64-22 or penetration 60/70. Are these interchangeable?
They are not. A tender written that way asks for either of two different certifications and should be clarified. Penetration 60/70 measures consistency at 25 °C only. PG 64-22 additionally requires verified performance at 64 °C, at 25 °C after pressure ageing, and at minus 12 °C on the bending beam. A 60/70 binder may satisfy those criteria or it may not; nothing on its certificate establishes either way.
What does the 25 degree PAV dynamic shear result control?
Fatigue cracking. After the binder has been artificially aged to represent five to ten years of service, an excessively stiff result at the intermediate temperature indicates a binder that will crack under repeated traffic loading rather than flex with it. The 5000 kPa ceiling keeps it in the flexible range.
Is PG 64-22 produced by blending or from a single stream?
Both routes are used. Many refineries reach the grade straight-run from vacuum residue at a normal cut depth. Others blend a harder and a softer residue, or add a small proportion of flux, to bring both the dynamic shear and bending beam results inside the envelope. The certificate applies to the blended product as delivered.
How long can PG 64-22 be stored before use?
Unmodified paving binder held at normal storage temperature and circulated is stable for extended periods, but every hour above roughly 180 °C accelerates oxidative hardening. The practical limit is set by heating history rather than by calendar time, which is why storage temperature control matters more than storage duration.
The performance grade range
Intermediate temperatures below are derived from each grade, not selected by the supplier.
| Grade | Upper | Lower | Span | PAV DSR | Bending beam | Pen equiv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG 70-10 | 70 °C | −10 °C | 80 °C | 34 °C | 0 °C | 40/50 |
| PG 64-22 | 64 °C | −22 °C | 86 °C | 25 °C | −12 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 64-16 | 64 °C | −16 °C | 80 °C | 28 °C | −6 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 64-10 | 64 °C | −10 °C | 74 °C | 31 °C | 0 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 58-22 | 58 °C | −22 °C | 80 °C | 22 °C | −12 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 58-16 | 58 °C | −16 °C | 74 °C | 25 °C | −6 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 58-10 | 58 °C | −10 °C | 68 °C | 28 °C | 0 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 52-10 | 52 °C | −10 °C | 62 °C | 25 °C | 0 °C | 120/150 |
Speak to a Bitumen PG 64-22 supplier
Send quantity in metric tonnes, required packing, destination port and preferred Incoterm. Offers are normally returned within one working day.