Fractional distillation and petrochemicals Flashcards – AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (8464) — Chemistry — Foundation

In which three areas can fuels from crude oil fractions provide energy?

Transport, heating and industry.

What are five fuels obtained from crude oil fractions?

Liquefied petroleum gases, petrol, kerosene, diesel oil and heavy fuel oil.

What is a feedstock, such as a crude oil fraction used in the petrochemical industry?

A starting material used to make other chemicals.

What four types of useful carbon-based substances can petrochemical feedstocks produce?

Solvents, lubricants, polymers and detergents.

How can carbon form such a large number of natural and synthetic compounds?

Carbon can form families of similar compounds, allowing many related substances with different useful properties to exist.

What is crude oil made of?

A mixture of many different hydrocarbons.

What difference between hydrocarbons allows crude oil to be separated by fractional distillation?

They have different boiling points.

What happens when crude oil is heated for fractional distillation?

Many components evaporate, and their vapours rise through the fractionating column.

How does temperature vary through a crude oil fractionating column?

It is hotter at the bottom and cooler at the top.

How does boiling point affect where hydrocarbons condense in a fractionating column?

Higher-boiling hydrocarbons condense lower down; lower-boiling hydrocarbons stay as vapour longer and condense higher up.

What are fractions in crude oil distillation?

The liquids collected at different levels of the fractionating column.

What do the hydrocarbons in a crude oil fraction have in common?

They have a similar range of boiling points and usually a similar number of carbon atoms.

How do the properties of substances within one crude oil fraction compare?

They have similar properties.