Crude Oils And Fuels Flashcards
What are hydrocarbons?
Compounds of hydrogen and carbon covalently joined together
What is crude oil?
A mixture of different compounds which are not chemically joined together. These compounds are called hydrocarbons
What are alkanes of of these hyrocarbons?
Bonded structures of hydrogen and carbon which are saturated
What does saturated mean?
They have single bonds
First three alkanes
Methane, ethane and propane
What is the chemical structure of ethane?
H H
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H - C - C - H
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H H.What is the formula for alkanes?
CnH2n + 2
What is special about alkanes of hydrocarbons?
They are unsaturated.
What does unsaturated mean?
They have a double bond
What does saturated mean?
No more hydrogens can be added
How do we separate these hydrocarbons?
As they are a mixture, by boiling points via fractional distillation
Why do hydrocarbons with smaller molecules make better fuels?
- more volatile (turn to gas easily)
- less vicious (flow easily)
- more ignited
- burn cleaner
What do fuels do?
Store energy which it releases when burnt
What do fuels need to burn?
Oxygen and some sort of ignition
When hydrocarbons are burnt what happens?
The hydrogen is oxidised (gains oxygen) to water
If complete combustion carbon is oxidised into carbon dioxide
