Cracking Crude Oil Flashcards
1
Q
What is cracking?
A
The splitting up of long chain hydrocarbons
a lot of longer molecules produced by fractional distillation are turned into smaller ones by cracking
2
Q
What are some examples of products of cracking?
A
Petrol for cars
Paraffin for jet fuel
Ethene
3
Q
How does cracking work?
A
Heat the long chain hydrocarbon to vaporise it
The vapour is passed over a powdered catalyst at a temperature of about 400-700 degrees
The long chain molecules split apart or ‘crack’ on the surface of the catalyst
4
Q
What type of reaction is cracking?
A
A thermal decomposition reaction (breaking down molecules by heating them)
5
Q
What catalyst is used?
A
Aluminium oxide
6
Q
What does a long chain hydrocarbon normally produce in cracking?
A
A shorter alkane molecule and an alkene
