Part 1 Flashcards
Are oil, natural gas and coal infinite resources?
No, they are finite (no renewable).
From oil, natural gas and coal, what can we get and what can they be used for?
We can get carbon compounds that can be used as fuels or feedstocks.
What is a feedstock?
A chemical from which other chemicals can be manufactured.
Can one chemical sometimes be used as both a fuel or a feedstock?
Yes.
What is an example of a chemical that can be used both as a feedstock and as a fuel.
The naptha fraction from crude oil distillation can produce petrol (a fuel) or it can be used as a feedstock to produce ethene and then polythene.
Draw out the consumer products containing carbon compounds.
.
How have these molecules (consumer products, page 1) been created?
They have been synthesised (built up) from small reactive molecules.
What is the main source for the consumer products compounds?
Crude oil
Why is the petrol fraction produced by distillation of crude oil not ready to use as car fuel?
- it is a low quality fuel.
2. there is not enough of it to satisfy market demand for petrol.
Why is the petrol fraction a poor quality petrol?
It contains mostly straight chain hydrocarbons.
What happens when ignited in the combustion chamber of the engine?
The straight chain hydrocarbons tend to explode rather than burn smoothly.
What are these explosions (when the straight chain hydrocarbons explode rather than burn smoothly) called?
Auto-ignition or knocking and can damage the engine.
What does petrol contain to make it burn more smoothly?
Branched, cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons.
What does leaded petrol contain to make it burn more smoothly?
The additive lead tetra-ethyl, Pb(C2H5)4
What is the additive lead tetra-ethyl?
An antiknock agent and helps poor quality petrol to burn smoothly.
What else does petrol contain?
Dibromoethane.
What does dibromoethane do?
Combines with the lead which then leaves the exhaust as volatile lead (11) bromide.
What is wrong with dibromoethane combining with the lead and leaving the exhaust volatile lead (11) bromide?
Lead is poisonous so unleaded petrol was produced.
What makes unleaded petrol burn smoothly?
An even greater amount of branched and aromatic hydrocarbons.
How is the quantity of the petrol fraction increased?
By using the naphtha fraction and waxy distillate. First though, the quality must be improved.
Explain how is this quantity of the petrol fraction increased?
The naphtha fraction is mostly straight C5 to C10 hydrocarbons (the correct size of molecules for petrol). The waxy distillate consists of C20 to C40 hydrocarbons (also correct). These are first cracked to reduce the chain length. We now have molecules that are the correct size but are still straight chained.
What is reforming?
Reforming is a chemical reaction which changes the structure of the molecules without changing their size.
What does reforming of the naphtha fraction and the products of cracking give?
Aromatics, cycloalkanes and branched chain products as well as some straight chain compounds.
e.g. the reforming of octane
draw it out.
These are blended with the original petrol fraction to do what?
Increase both the quality and the amount.
Have a look at the flow diagram on page 3 at the top.
Seriously, do it.
Why is it important to have the correct mix of volatile compounds?
Petrol is drawn in to an engine as a vapour
Does the mix of volatile compounds in petrol depend on the time of year?
Yes, in winter more volatile compounds are added (e.g. butane and pentane) and in summer, the blend has a larger proportion of slightly larger hydrocarbons.
What kind of molecules does petrol contain?
Small (C5 to C10) volatile hydrocarbon molecules.
How are they ignited?
By an electric spark from the spark plug.
Look at the other diagram on page 3.
SERIOUSLY, GOD. JUST DO IT. It’s IMPORTANT.
The burning of fossil fuels yields products that can harm the environment. What is the effect of carbon dioxide?
Contributes to the green house effect.
Carbon monoxide?
Produced by incomplete combustion is toxic.
Sulphur dioxide?
Sulphur is a common impurity in fuels and, unless it is removed, it produces sulphur dioxide when the fuel is burned. Sulphur dioxide is a major contributor to acid rain.
Nitrogen oxides?
The spark in a car engine, as well as igniting the petrol, produces nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the nitrogen and oxygen of the air. They cause respiratory problems and also dissolve in water and add to the “acid rain” problem.
Lead compounds?
resulting from leaded petrol are poisonous. Evidence suggests that accumulations of lead in the body can cause brain damage especially in young children.
What are some alternative liquid fuels?
Ethanol and methanol.
Ethanol is the alcohol which is formed when…
sugar (glucose) ferments. In countries where sugar cane can be grown in great quantities (e.g. Brazil) ethnaol is produced and mixed with petrol. It is also possible to manufacture methanol on an industrial scale; this can be used as fuel directly or mixed with petrol.
What is the equation for methanol burning?
CH3OH + 3/2 O2 -> CO2 + 2H2O
Advantages of using methanol?
- complete so reducing the carbon monoxide in the air
- petrol contains benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons which are carcinogenic and methanol doesn’t contain these
- relatively quite cheap and renewable
- less volatile and less likely to be an explosion risk
Disadvantages?
- toxic and can cause blindness/brain damage
- produces less energy than petrol for equiv. volume
- absorbs water giving a corrosive mixture
- methanol and petrol are quite immiscible (don’t mix readily)
Internal combustion engines could be designed to use hydrogen burning instead of petrol. Why is this good?
Very efficient and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
What is the equation?
2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O
Hydrogen produces ____ energy than petrol, weight for weight.
MORE
However…
Hydrogen is the lightest and least easily liquefied gas. Volume for volume, hydrogen is less energy efficient than petrol.
What else can hydrogen be used for?
To make electricity from a hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell. This would involve allowing the hydrogen and oxygen to react in two separate parts of the cell and making electricity instead of heat.
Anything else hydrogen can be used for?
Could be stored and distributed like natural gas and used for heating in houses. Poss cheaper than using leccy.
What is this known as? (using hydrogen)
Hydrogen economy.
What is the problem with hydrogen economy?
Could be v efficient if we didn’t need fossil fuels to make the hydrogen in the first place (electricity is required to make the hydrogen and this leccy is still made largely by burning fossil fuels).
What would be the perfect solution to the hydrogen economy problem?
Solar energy to ‘split’ water into hydrogen and oxygen would be a perfect solution.
What is biomass?
General term for plant material.
What’s biogas?
when waste plant material (e.g. manure, straw, veg) decays in the absence of air, bacteria produce it. It’s called anaerobic fermentation. Consists mainly of methane (60%) and carbon dioxide.
There are over 15,000,000 different carbon compounds
Cool
How does this arise?
From carbon’s ability to join in straight chains, branched chains and rings as well as its ability to form strong bonds with many types of atom.
What features does a homologous series have? Name the first.
There is a gradual change in physical properties from one member to the next. The most common example of this is the increasing melting and boiling points as we go up a series. The reason of course is the increasing van der Waals forces as the molecules get larger.
2nd?
Members have similar chemical properties and methods of preparation.
3rd
The formula increases by CH2 from one member to the next up the series.
4th
Series has a general formula.
5th
all members have the same functional group.It’s this that gives the series its characteristic reactions.
Alkanes general formula?
CnH2n+2
Why are they called saturated hydrocarbons?
Because all the carbon atoms have formed the max no. of single covalent bonds.
What two main types of reaction can alkanes undergo?
Combustion and substitution.
Alkanes burn in plenty oxygen to form…
carbon dioxide and water
What’s the equation of alkane combustion?
C3H8+5O2 -> 3CO2 + 4H2
Substitution - look at page 7
GOOOO
Are substitution reactions of alkanes fast or slow?>
Slow
All the _____ can react with alkanes in this way.
Halogens (chlorine, fluorine and iodine etc)
What are isomers?
Molecules with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae
First the first ____ members of the alkanes only one structure is possible but butane, C4H10 has two isomers.
3
Look at the structures on p7
Yes. Now.
What are the rules for naming?
- Find the longest carbon chain in the molecule - the name is based on the alkane with this number of carbon atoms.
- Number the chain to give any branches the lowest possible number.
- Name the branches (methyl -CH3, ethyl -C2H5 etc)
What is the general formula of the alkenes?
CnH2n.
Draw out the structural formula for the first 3.
Page 8.
Why are alkenesunsaturated?
Each member has a C=C bond. This is the functional group.
How do isomers arise?
By branching the chain and by varying the position of the double bond.
Is naming different for alkenes?
It’s similar but the main chain (the longest) must contain the double bond, whose position is indicated by a number. The chain is numbered to make this number as small as possible.
Draw out the isomers of pentene on p.8
ayeeee
How are ethene and propene made?
By cracking of either ethane or naphtha.
What does cracking of either ethane or naphtha involve in terms of feedstocks?
Heating it to a very high temperature (800 degrees Celsius).