Chemistry C1b- Cracking Crude Oil

Chemistry C1b- Cracking Crude Oil

1. Cracking means splitting up long-chain hydrocarbons by passing vapour over a hot catalyst.

   • ~Firstly you heat the long-chain hydrocarbons to vaporise it. ~Then the vapour is passed over a powdered catalyst at a temperature of about 400-700 degrees Celsius. ~Aluminium Oxide is the catalyst used. ~ The long-chain molecules split apart on the surface of the specks of catalyst.

2. Long-chain hydrocarbons form thick gloopy liquids which aren't useful, so a lot of the longer molecules produced from fractional distillation are turned into smaller ones by the process of cracking.

3. Some of the products of cracking are useful as fuels: such as petrol and paraffin. Cracking produces substances like ethane too, which are needed for making plastics.

4. Cracking is a thermal decomposition reaction - breaking down molecules by heating them.

5. Most of the products of cracking are alkanes and unsaturated hydrocarbons called alkenes.

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