Crude Oil Flashcards
What is the definition of a mixture?
A combination of different things in which the component elements are individually distinct.
What is crude oil made up of?
Crude oil is a mixture of many different compounds. Most of the compounds are hydrocarbon molecules.
What are hydrocarbons?
Hydrocarbons are fuels such as petrol and diesel. Made of carbon and hydrogen.
Describe how fractional distillation is used…
The fractionating column works continuously, with heated crude oil piped in at the bottom. The vaporised oil rises up the column and the various fractions are constantly tapped off at the different levels where they condense.
Crude oil is mostly Alkane, explain alkanes…
All the fractions of crude oil are hydrocarbons called alkanes. Alkanes are made up of chains of carbon atoms surrounded by hydrogen atoms. The first four alkanes are methane (natural gas), ethane, propane and butane.
