C9 crude oil Flashcards
what is crude oil
Crude oil is a finite resource found in rocks. Crude oil is the remains of an ancient biomass consisting mainly of plankton that was buried in mud
what are hydrocarbons
molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms only
how can crude oil be separated
fractional distillation
how many bonds do carbon atoms have
4
what happens during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels
both carbon and hydrogen are oxidised
energy is released
waste products are produced which are released into the atmosphere
what is releases in incomplete combustion
carbon monoxide
why is carbon monoxide harmful
it is a toxic gas
what is cracking
when longer chain hydrocarbons are broken down into shorter more useful chains by thermal decomposition
what are the two main methods of cracking called
steam cracking
catalytic cracking
what happens during steam cracking
the hydrocarbons are mixed with steam and heated to a very high temperature of 850 degrees then this causes the long hydrocarbon chains to split
what happens during catalytic cracking
hydrocarbons are heated until they vaporise
the vapour is passed over hot aluminium oxide catalyst
a thermal decomposition reaction then takes place
what colour does bromine water turn if an alkene is present
colourless
why is there a high demand for fuels with small chains of hydrocarbons
they are easy to ignite and have low boiling points
what are the products of cracking
alkanes and alkenes
