LUM enters into a strategic partnership for bitumen and petroleum analysis in France

The company VIALAB SARL is engaged in manufacturing and selling laboratory equipment for the investigation of emulsion parameters, particularly with regards to the NF EN 13808 standard in Europe and any relevant ASTM standards. Vialab also operates a laboratory with pilot systems for emulsion production in order to carry out targeted technical customer training.

LUM GmbH was founded in 1994 with its headquarters in Berlin. LUM has a branch in France and 3 subsidiaries in the USA, in China and in Japan.

LUM GmbH has decades of scientific and metrological expertise in fields such as:

• Particle characterization
• Analysis of suspensions & emulsions
• Determination of joint and layer strengths
• Quality control & process optimization.

In the field of petroleum and bitumen emulsions, the LUMiReader PSA separation analyzers is preferably used for asphaltene characterization by customers around the world. Its measuring method is based on ASTM D7827 (Standard Test Method for Measuring n-Heptane Induced Phase Separation of Asphaltenes from Heavy Fuel Oils as Separability Number by an Optical Device). Furthermore, the analytical photocentrifuges LUMiFuge and LUMiSizer are used for fast direct stability analysis and determination of particle size distribution according to ISO 13318.

Susanne Lerche-Merchant, COO of LUM GmbH: “With this new partnership we will reach the French users in a market segment that has been so far rather exotic for LUM in a more targeted manner. We are strategically continuing to develop our international subsidiaries and branches into local network centers. Thanks to the close cooperation between LUM France and VIALAB, we see a large potential for growth here. We can contribute with our analysis expertise and equipment competency while benefiting from the expertise of VIALAB, an associated member of the International Bitumen Emulsion Federation."

Vincent HESRY, CEO of VIALAB: “The prospect of offering the technologies developed by LUM GmbH to our customers is very interesting. We are engaged in manufacturing laboratory equipment used specifically for bituminous binders. We believe that this partnership will allow us to increase our contribution to the evolution of practices by proposing very effective solutions to proven problems. France is a world-renowned player in this field and Vialab – The way of emulsion – thus wishes to participate in the development of new testing methods with a vision of improving the control of road surfaces based on emulsions (modified or even innovative) of pure binders."