Fractional Distillation and Petrochemicals

• The many hydrocarbons in crude oil may be separated into fractions, each of which contains molecules with a similar number of carbon atoms by fractional distillation
• The fractions can be processed to produce fuels and feedstock for the petrochemical industry
• Many of the fuels on which we depend for our modern lifestyle, such as petrol, diesel oil, kerosene, heavy fuel oil and petroleum gases, are produced from crude oil
• Many useful materials are produced by the petrochemical industry such as solvents lubricants polymers and detergents
• the vast array of natural and synthetic carbon commons occur due to the ability of carbon atoms to form families of similar compounds