Making Crude Oil Useful Flashcards
What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels include coal, gas and oil.
They take a very long time to make and are non- renewable. They are being used faster than they can be made.
How is crude oil separated?
It is separated by Fractional Distillation and it can be separated into the different fractions because they have different boiling points.
What are the fractions of crude oil?
LPG - liquid petroleum gas e.g. Propane and butane PETROL PARAFFIN DIESEL HEATING OIL FUEL OILS BITUMEN
What happens in fractional distillation?
The crude oil is heated at the bottom of a tall tower called a fractionating column.
Fractions with the highest boiling points exit at the bottom of the tower.
The tower gets colder the higher up it gets - fractions with lower boiling points such as petrol or LPG exit and condense at the top of the tower where it is colder.
Oil that does not boil because it has a very high boiling point, sinks as a thick liquid at the bottom of the tower - it is called Bitumen and is used for road surfaces.
What is crude oil?
Crude oil is a fossil fuel made from the bodies of plankton compressed over millions of years ago.
They are hydrocarbons made up of molecules of hydrogen and carbon only.
Why do different fractions of crude oil have different boiling points.
The longer the hydrocarbon chains, the greater the intermolecular forces and the more heat energy needed to break the bonds - a higher boiling point.
What are the problems with extracting crude oil?
- A large amount of ground is needed for drilling and pumping - causes damage to the environment.
- Crude oil is also found under the sea - it needs huge rigs and is very dangerous.
- Crude oil has to be transported through pipelines or in a tanker - spill ages cause damage to the environment and wildlife.
What is meant by ‘Cracking’
Cracking converts surplus long chain hydrocarbons into more useful short chain hydrocarbons by heating to high temperatures with a catalyst. E.g. Petrol form paraffin.
Hydrocarbons in crude oil are called Alkanes. When it is cracked it becomes a smaller Alkanes and an Alkene.
Alkenes have double bonds and are useful for making polymers.
What are the political problems with crude oil?
There is a huge demand and it is a limited resource - obtained from unstable countries , high prices
New technology has to be developed to increase the supply of petrol e.g. Cracking plants
Large amount of carbon dioxide emissions which damage the atmosphere - global warming.
New energy resources have to be researched.
Why is crude oil a precious resource?
It is a finite resource - it will run out eventually.
It is non- renewable because they cannot be made gain or are being used faster than they can be made as it takes millions of years.
