We Claim:
1. A process for manufacturing a material that can be used as road binder or as
sealing binder, which is solid at ambient temperature in the form of pellets comprising
a core (7) based on a first composition (2) and optionally a coating layer based on a
second composition, the first composition comprising at least one material chosen
from: a bitumen base, a pitch, a clear binder, this process comprising the use of a
device (1) intended for granulation which includes at least two coaxial drums (4) and a
horizontal conveyor belt (6): an immobile internal drum including at least one orifice
and a rotating external drum including a plurality of orifices (5), the drums being
placed above one end of the horizontal conveyor belt (6), driven at a speed VR, this
process comprising at least:
(i) the heating of the first composition to a temperature at which it is fluid,
(ii) the introduction of the first composition (2) in fluid form into the internal drum of
the granulating device (1),
(iii) the distribution of the first composition (2) outwards, in the form of drops (7)
through orifices (5) of the external rotating drum,
(iv) the deposition of the drops (7) on the conveyor belt (6), and
(v) optionally the coating of the drops (7) with the second composition.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, which also comprises, after step (iv), between steps (iv) and (v), a step (iv1) of cooling the drops (7) of the first composition (2).
3. The process as claimed in claim 2, in which the cooling (iv1) is performed by means of a temperature gradient on the conveyor belt (6).
4. The process as claimed in claim 3, in which the conveyor belt (6) is conditioned at different temperatures over several sections (S1),... (Si) of its path, with i being an integer ranging from 2 to 8, preferably from 2 to 4, via thermal conditioning means (8,9).
5. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the rotating external drum of the device (1) includes orifices (5) with a diameter ranging from 2 to 10 mm, preferably from 2 to 8 mm, preferably from 3 to 7 mm and better still from 3.5 to 6 mm.
6. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which, in step (i), the first composition (2) is brought to a temperature ranging from 100 to 270°C,

preferably from 100 to 180°C, preferably from 120 to 160°C and better still from 130 to150°C.
7. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the speed
i VR of the conveyor belt (6) is less than 4 m/min.
8. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the material
that can be used as road binder or as sealing binder is chosen from: a bitumen
composition, a pitch, a clear binder, a bitumen/polymer stock solution, a clear
) binder/polymer stock solution.
9. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first
composition comprising at least one material chosen from: a bitumen base, a pitch, a
clear binder, a bitumen/polymer composition, a clear binder/polymer composition, a
i bitumen/polymer stock solution; a clear binder/polymer stock solution; a mixture of these materials.
10. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the first
composition (2) also comprises at least one chemical additive chosen from: an
) organic compound, a paraffin, a polyphosphoric acid, and mixtures thereof.
11. The use of the process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, for
manufacturing a composition of material which can be used as road binder or as
coating binder, which is solid at ambient temperature and which has stability on
i transportation and on storage at a temperature ranging from 20 to 80°C for a period of greater than or equal to 2 months, preferably greater than or equal to 3 months.
12. A device that may be used for performing a process as claimed in any one of
claims 1 to 11, which comprises at least: a first cylindrical drum (4A) arranged above
) the conveyor belt (6) and capable of rotating about a longitudinal axis (X-X), said first drum (4A) comprising a plurality of first passages (5A) through the periphery of the drum (4A), a second cylindrical drum (4B) coaxial with the first drum (4A), including means (17) for longitudinally introducing into said second drum (4B) the mass to be extruded and including on a part of its wall (19) a plurality of second passages (5B)
i directed toward the conveyor belt (6) and aligned radially with said first passages (5A), said wall part (19) being arranged adjacent to said first drum (4A), said first drum (4A) being mounted to allow its continuous rotation through 360° about the longitudinal axis (X-X) relative to said second drum (4B) so that the relative rotation

between said drums (4A) and (4B) sequentially produces a misalignment and an alignment of the first passages (5A) and second passages (5B) to allow the fluid mass to move radially outward through the aligned passages (5A), (5B) and onto the conveyor belt (6A), this device also comprising: ; - a reservoir 11 equipped with heating means and stirring means (13),
- one or more injection channels (3), for transferring the composition contained in the
reservoir (11) into the second drum4B through intake means (17),
this device being characterized in that it comprises:
- a reservoir (14) into which may be introduced an additive composition (15), the
> reservoir (14) being connected to the injection channel (3) via an injector (16) and
allowing injection of the additive composition (15) into the bitumen composition (2) in the injection channel (3), located downstream of the reservoir (11) and upstream of the twin drum (4).