Crude Oil

• crude oil is a fossil fuel
• crude oil is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals, Mainly plankton, that died millions of years ago and was buried in mud. over millions of years under high temperatures and pressure
• crude oil is drilled up from where it's found
• 1. Crude oil is heated into a vapour and fed into the bottom of the fractionating column
  2. there's a temperature gradient (Hot at the bottom, Cold at the top)
  3. longer hydrocarbons with higher boiling points condense at the bottom
  4. Shorter hydrocarbons have lower boiling points therefore condense at the top
  5. In the end, each fraction contains and oil with a similar carbon amount therefore similar boiling points
• The petrochemical industry uses some hydrocarbons as feedstock to make new compounds like polymers, lubricant, solvents and detergents
• short hydrocarbon chains are flammable so are good fuels and in high demand
• long hydrocarbon chains aren't that useful as they're thick. so theyr'e made useful by breaking them down to smaller chains using a process called cracking.
• cracking also produces alkenes
• cracking is a thermal decomposition reaction and breaks molecules down by heating them.
• Thermal cracking: heat your crude oil until it's a vapour