What happens in fractional distillation of crude oil?
Fractional distillation separates a mixture into a number of different parts, called fractions. The crude oil is evaporated and its vapours condense at different temperatures in the fractionating column. …
What is fractional distillation used for GCSE?
Fractional distillation is used to separate different liquids from a mixture of liquids. It is useful for separating ethanol from a mixture of ethanol and water, and for separating different fractions from crude oil.
How is crude oil made GCSE chemistry?
Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons formed from the remains of simple marine organisms over millions of years. Fractional distillation separates a mixture into a number of different parts, called fractions. A fraction of crude oil is a mixture of chemicals in the crude oil that have similar boiling points .
Why is the crude oil heated?
Process: Intense heat is used to break down the heaviest hydrocarbon molecules that have emerged from the bottom of the distillation column. Thermal conversion, or coking, puts these residuals under intense heat and pressure to break down or ‘crack’, large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules.
What are the products of fractional distillation of crude oil?
These products of fractional distillation include, petrol (or gasoline), naptha, kerosene, diesel oil, lubricating oil, fuel oil, grease and wax, and some residue.
How does fractional distillation of crude oil work?
To better understand fractional distillation of crude oil, let’s first examine a simple distillation process: separating ethanol from an ethanol and water mixture. First rule fulfilled: ethanol has a distinctly different boiling point from water (78ºC vs 100ºC).
Which is the first rule of fractional distillation?
Fractional distillation of crude oil (GCSE) First rule fulfilled: crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds that have distinctly different boiling points from each other. Therefore, distillation is a feasible separation technique.
How are the different fractions of crude oil different?
The crude oil is evaporated and its vapours condense at different temperatures in the fractionating column. Each fraction contains hydrocarbon molecules with a similar number of carbon atoms and a similar range of boiling points. The diagram below summarises the main fractions from crude oil and their uses, and the trends in properties.
What causes the formation of a second distillate?
Continued heating of the mixture up to 150ºC will result in the formation of a second distillate. By similar reasoning, this second fraction distillate will ONLY contain those hydrocarbons that have boiling points between 100-150ºC.