Fractional Distillation Of Crude Oil

Question 1

How is crude oil formed?

Answer 1

It’s a fossil fuel formed from the buried remains of plants and animals
Over millions of years the remains turn to crude oil which can be extracted by drilling and pumping

Question 2

What is crude oil mostly made from?

Answer 2

A mixture of Compounds

Most of the compounds are hydrocarbon molecules

Question 3

What are hydrocarbons?

Answer 3

Fuels such as petrol and diesel made up of carbon and hydrogen

Question 4

Why are the different hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil not chemically bonded?

Answer 4

There are no chemical bonds between the different parts of a mixture

Question 5

Each compounds keeps its original properties in the mixture what does this include?

Answer 5

Condensing points

Question 6

By what process can crude oil be split up into its different fractions?

Answer 6

Fractional distillation

Each fraction contains molecules with a similar number of carbon atoms

Question 7

How does fractional distillation work?

Answer 7

The fractionating column works when heated crude oil is piped in at the bottom, the vaporised oil rises up the column and is tapped off at the various levels where they condense

Question 8

Where is the column at Its hottest / coldest?

Answer 8

Hottest - bottom of the column, longest hydrocarbon chains condense here

Coldest- top of the Column, shortest chain hydrocarbons condensé here