Fractional distillation of crude oil

• Crude oil is a mixture of mainly alkanes (branches and unbranched)
• Fractional distillation is completed in a fractionating column.
• 1. First heated in a furnace
  2. The vapour is channeled into the column, cooler at the top, hotter at the bottom
  3. Vapours travel up until they condense in their fraction
  4. The liquid gathered is collected
  5. Shorter chains condense nearer to the top
  6. Thick residue that is collected at the bottom of the tower is called tar or bitumen
  7. Tar/bitumen is further fractioned