Crude Oil

Page 1

Crude Oil is a big hydrocarbonic mixture, which contains chains full of carbon and hydrogen

Crude Oil is a mixture, this means that it can be separated by physical means. This process is called Fractional Distillation

This is a fractionating tower:

It works like so:

Crude Oil if fed in through the furnace and vapourised. As the vapours float up, The tower gets colder, and then the vapours condense at their appropriate boiling points. The liquid formed runs of into trays and are tapped off later. As you go up the tower, the hydrocarbon chains get shorter, less viscous, more volatile and burn easier.

On the left is Methane which IS a hydrocarbon, but on the right, Ethanol isn't a hydrocarbon

Crude OIl was formed from dead sea creatures millions of years ago. When they died they were they were covered with sand and silt. Lack of oxygen in decay caused incomplete decomposition by microbes. Pressure from above and heat from the Earth compressed material and furthered oxygen depression. The resulting matter became Crude Oil.

CRACKING OF CRUDE OIL:

Some hydrocarbons with little wordly demand like paraffin can be cracked into smaller more useful hydrocarbons which are to be sold.

You can crack hydrocarbons using a catalyst ( like aluminium oxide) and high temperatures

There are three different groups of hydrocarbons

Alkanes

Alkenes

Alkynes

Alkanes have single bonds between the carbon atoms and a general formula of Cn H2n+2

the first four:

Mehane

Ethane

Propane

Butane

Alkenes have double bonds between the carbon atoms

1st 4:

ethene

propene

butene

pentene

New Page