Crude oil Flashcards
What is crude oil separated into?
Hydrocarbon fractions
What are hydrocarbons?
Molecules which are made of only carbon and hydrogen
How are the different compounds in crude oil separated?
By fractional distillation
How does a fractionating column work?
The crude oil is heated until most of it is gas (bottled gas)
The liquid, bitumens, is drained off.
What is the temperature in a fractionating column?
Hotter at the bottom (340°) and it gets progressively cooler towards the top (40°)
In a fractionating column, when does each substance condense?
When the substances reach a part of the column where the temperature is lower than their boiling point they condense
Do long hydrocarbons have low or high boiling points
High boiling points
Where in the fractionating column do longer hydrocarbons condense?
They condensed and drain out of the column earlier on, near the bottom
Where in the fractionating column do shorter hydrocarbons condense?
They condensed and drain out of the column later on, near the top
What do bubble caps do in the fractionating column?
Stop separated liquids from remixing
What is crude oil mixture separated into?
Different fractions
What do the hydrocarbons in each fraction have in common?
Similar boiling points
Does each fraction contain saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbons?
Both saturated and unsaturated
What type of bonds do saturated hydrocarbons have?
Single bonds
What type of bonds do unsaturated hydrocarbons have?
Double or triple bonds