Can you write an essay of 350 words about the history of bitumen. Solution HISTORY OF BITUMEN Bitumen has been used for centuries in variety of ways that include the preservation of mummies by the Egyptians and the waterproofing of baths by Babylonians. Bitumen was used in its natural state until the early 1900s when the distillation of crude oil began. The use of asphalt in built up roofing was normally restricted to use on steep slope roofs (1 inch to 3 inches per foot) prior to the late 1940s and early 1950s when, by modification during the manufacturing process, a product was developed that was suitable for use of low slope roofs (1/4 inch per foot or greater) HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODIFIED BITUMEN ROOFING DEFINITION: Perhaps it is appropriate to define MB roofing as used for this paper. A modified Bitumen roofing membrane is not usually a true single ply roofing membrane, but is usually used in conjunction with a base ply of similar or different roofing material. Under strictly controlled circumstances, it may be used as a pure single ply roofing membrane. DEVELOPMENT DATES Other important dates for European bitumen development include: Bitumen is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or semi-solid form of petroleum. Bituminous rock is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada are a similar material. Bitumen is sometimes incorrectly called \"tar\" (tar is a black viscous material obtained from the destructive distillation of coal and is chemically distinct from bitumen). In Australian English, bitumen is sometimes used as the generic term for road surfaces. In Canadian English, the word bitumen is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil, while asphalt is used for the oil refinery product used to pave roads and manufacture roof shingles and various waterproofing products. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as Dilbert in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen \"upgraded\" to synthetic crude oil is known as sync rude and sync rude blended with bitumen as \"synbit\". Bitumen (or asphalt) is primarily used, when mixed with mineral aggregates, to produce paving materials. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs. Most natural bitumen contain sulfur and several heavy metals such as nickel, vanadium, lead, chromium, mercury and also arsenic, selenium, and other toxic elements. Bitumen can provide good preservation of plants and animal fossils. Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from \"oil sands\", currently under development in Alberta, Canada. Canada has most of the world´s supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometers (an area larger than England), giving it the second largest proven oil reserves.

1. Can you write an essay of 350 words about the history of bitumen.
Solution
HISTORY OF BITUMEN
Bitumen has been used for centuries in variety of ways that include the preservation of
mummies by the Egyptians and the waterproofing of baths by Babylonians. Bitumen was used in
its natural state until the early 1900s when the distillation of crude oil began. The use of asphalt
in built up roofing was normally restricted to use on steep slope roofs (1 inch to 3 inches per
foot) prior to the late 1940s and early 1950s when, by modification during the manufacturing
process, a product was developed that was suitable for use of low slope roofs (1/4 inch per foot
or greater)
HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODIFIED BITUMEN ROOFING
DEFINITION: Perhaps it is appropriate to define MB roofing as used for this paper. A
modified Bitumen roofing membrane is not usually a true single ply roofing membrane, but is
usually used in conjunction with a base ply of similar or different roofing material. Under strictly
controlled circumstances, it may be used as a pure single ply roofing membrane.
DEVELOPMENT DATES
Other important dates for European bitumen development include:
Bitumen is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or
semi-solid form of petroleum. Bituminous rock is a form of sandstone impregnated with
bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada are a similar material. Bitumen is sometimes
incorrectly called "tar" (tar is a black viscous material obtained from the destructive distillation
of coal and is chemically distinct from bitumen). In Australian English, bitumen is sometimes
used as the generic term for road surfaces. In Canadian English, the word bitumen is used to
refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil, while asphalt is used for the oil
refinery product used to pave roads and manufacture roof shingles and various waterproofing
products. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as Dilbert
in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen "upgraded" to synthetic crude oil is known
as sync rude and sync rude blended with bitumen as "synbit".
Bitumen (or asphalt) is primarily used, when mixed with mineral aggregates, to produce paving
materials. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of
roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.
Most natural bitumen contain sulfur and several heavy metals such as nickel, vanadium, lead,

2. chromium, mercury and also arsenic, selenium, and other toxic elements. Bitumen can provide
good preservation of plants and animal fossils.
Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for
petroleum production from "oil sands", currently under development in Alberta, Canada.
Canada has most of the world´s supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometers
(an area larger than England), giving it the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. The
Athabasca oil sands is the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to
surface mining, although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits
becoming producible by in-situ methods. Because of oil price increases since 2003, upgrading
bitumen to synthetic crude oil has become highly profitable. As of 2006 Canadian crude bitumen
production averaged about 1.1 million barrels (170,000 m3) per day and was projected to rise to
4.4 million barrels (700,000 m3) per day by 2020. The total amount of crude bitumen in Alberta
which could be extracted is estimated to be about 310 billion barrels (50×10^9 m3), which at a
rate of 4,400,000 barrels per day (700,000 m3/d) would last about 200 years.
In the past, bitumen was used to waterproof boats, and even as a coating for buildings with some
additives. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of
Babylon. It is also possible that the city of Carthage was easily burnt due to extensive use of
bitumen in construction.
Bitumen was also used in early photographic technology. It was most notably used by French
scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the first picture ever taken. The bitumen used in his
experiments were smeared on pewter plates and then exposed to light, thus making a black and
white image. It was similarly used to print millions of photochrom postcards.
Thin bitumen plates are sometimes used by computer enthusiasts for silencing computer cases or
noisy computer parts such as the hard drive. Bitumen layers are baked onto the outside of high
end dishwashers to provide sound insulation. Bitumen also is used in paint and marker inks by
some graffiti supply companies (primarily Molotov) to increase the weather resistance and
permanence of the paint and/or ink, and to make the color much darker.