Crude Oil

What is it?
1. A Fossil Fuel from underground made of ancient biomass
2. A mixture* that can be separated by fractional distillation
  1. What's Fractional Distillation?
    1. Fractional Distillation is used to split the crude oil into useful substances e.g. Petrol. It does this by evaporating the CO into a vapour and pumping it into a tower. This rises and condenses at its boiling point in the tower (the top of the tower is cooler than the bottom) This separates the mixture into different liquids (and 1 gas)
      1. Crude Oil can primarily make:
        Bitumen
        Liquids at the bottom of the tower have the highest boiling point
        they turn into thick gloopy liquids/solids
        Lubricating Oil
        Diesel
        they turn into light liquids
        Paraffin
        Petrol
        Liquids at the top of the tower have a low boiling point
        they turn into gases
        At the very top at temperatures averaging at about 25 degrees C, LPG (liquid petroleum gas) is produce. This has a boiling point so low it doesn't condense in the tower.
        As you go up the tower the Molecules:
        Are smaller
        Have lower boiling points
        Are more Volatile
        Are less Viscous
        Ignite more easily
        Require less oxygen to burn properly
        as you go down the tower the molecules:
        are larger
        have higher boiling points
        are more volatile
        more viscous
      2. But these fractions can be distilled further to become more valuable as they are still mixtures
        The process is called Cracking
        And Cracking is?
        Cracking is done by splitting the larger molecules into smaller, more useful ones
        You do this by evaporating the large molecules and passing the vapours over a hot catalyst. Thermal decomposition breaks some of the bonds to create smaller Hydrocarbons.
        The result will always end with an alkane and an alkene
        Alkanes: Hydrocarbons with single C-C bonds
        Alkenes: Hydrocarbons with a double C=C bond
  2. *The mixture mainly contains Hydrocarbons, a little bit of sulphur and sulphur compounds

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	Created by timelord327 over 9 years ago

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