Methods of preparing solid formations of non-volatile bituminous materials suitable for reducing carbon dioxide emissions during transport

A method of preparing non-volatile bituminous material for transport comprising:

• a) heating non-volatile bituminous material until it is suitably viscous for casting;
• b) retaining the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material in a vessel at a filling station, wherein the filling station is positioned along a conveyor;
• c) accessing a plurality of molds, wherein each mold defines a modified tetrahedron mold cavity when assembled and comprises:
• i) a lower mold part;
• and
• ii) an upper mold part removably attachable to the lower mold part, wherein each upper mold part defines a channel extending from an upper surface of the mold to the mold cavity defined by the mold when the lower and upper mold parts are attached;
• d) arranging the plurality of lower mold parts on the conveyor;
• e) attaching the plurality of upper mold parts to the plurality of lower mold parts;
• f) moving the plurality of molds with the conveyor to the filling station and dispensing the non-volatile bituminous material from the vessel to mold cavities defined by the plurality of molds through the mold channels defined by the upper mold parts of the plurality of molds;
• g) moving the plurality of molds with the conveyor to a solidifying station and solidifying the non-volatile bituminous material in the molds until a plurality of substantially solid bricks are formed, wherein each substantially solid brick comprises a modified tetrahedron with four non-planar outer surfaces oriented relative to one another at acute angles;
• h) moving the plurality of molds with the conveyor to a mold-disassembling station and removing the upper mold parts from the plurality of molds;
• and
• i) removing the bricks from the plurality of molds.

A method of preparing non-volatile bituminous material for transport comprising:

• a) accessing non-volatile bituminous material;
• b) heating the non-volatile bituminous material until it is suitably viscous for casting;
• c) accessing a plurality of molds, wherein each mold defines a mold cavity configured to receive the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material and to mold a brick of irregular shape;
• d) accessing a plurality of buoyant skeletons, wherein each buoyant skeleton comprises a polymer;
• e) positioning a buoyant skeleton in the mold cavity defined by each of the molds,
• f) filling the mold cavities defined by the molds with the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material;
• g) solidifying the suitably viscous non-volatile bituminous material until a plurality of substantially solid bricks of irregular shape are formed;
• and
• h) removing the plurality of substantially solid bricks of irregular shape from the plurality of molds.