Combined ScienceCode 5129
Fuels
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Name coal, natural gas and petroleum as the fossil fuels
- Name methane as what natural gas is mainly made of
- State that compounds called hydrocarbons consist of hydrogen and carbon only
- State that petroleum consists of different hydrocarbons mixed together
- Describe how fractional distillation separates petroleum into useful fractions
- Describe how the properties of the fractions from petroleum change from the bottom of a fractionating column to the top, as they are collected, limited to: decreasing chain length, higher volatility, higher flammability, lower boiling points, lower viscosity
- Give the applications of each fraction: the refinery gas fraction, used to heat homes and cook; the gasoline/petrol fraction, which powers cars; the naphtha fraction, employed as a feedstock for chemicals; the kerosene/paraffin fraction, serving as jet fuel; the diesel oil / gas oil fraction, burned in diesel engines; the fuel oil fraction, used for marine vessels and domestic heating; the lubricating oil fraction, for lubricants, waxes and polishes; the bitumen fraction, for making roads