Why is the fractional distillation of crude oil used What are the advantages of using

fractional distillation?
Fractional distillation is a process used in order to separate the mixture of crude oil and 'break it
down' into smaller fractions in order to obtain different products.
Fractional distillation seperates crude oil into:
Gasoline(Petrol)
Kerosene, Diesel Oil
Lubricating Oil

Fuel and Furnace
Paraffin Wax

What is fractional distillation and why is it important in the use of petrol?
Fractional distillation is the process of separating the constituents of crude oil into purer forms
by the use of their different boiling/condensing points. Its use is important because it is the
easiest and simplest method of separating them; since petrol engines can only use certain types
of fuel efficiently, being able to put the right mix into the fueltank is extremely useful.
The oil refining process: fractional distillation
Crude oil (also called petroleum) is a mixture of different hydrocarbons. Many useful products
can be made from
these hydrocarbons. But first the useful ones must be extracted from the crude oil and separated
from one another.
How is this done?
The different hydrocarbon components of crude oil are called fractions. The fractions are
separated from one another
using a process called fractional distillation. This process is based on the principle that different
substances boil at
different temperatures. For example, crude oil contains kerosene and naphtha, which are useful
fractions (naphtha
is made into petrol for cars, and kerosene is made into jet fuel). When you evaporate the mixture
of kerosene and
naphtha, and then cool it, the kerosene condenses at a higher temperature than the naphtha. As
the mixture cools,
the kerosene condenses first, and the naphtha condenses later.
This is how fractional distillation works. The main equipment is a tall cylinder called a
fractionator (or fractional
distillation column). Inside this column there are many trays, or horizontal plates, all located at
different heights.
Each tray collects a different fraction when it cools to its own boiling point and condenses.
The crude oil is heated to at least 350C, which makes most of the oil evaporate. The fluid then
enters the column.
As the vapour moves up through the fractionator, each fraction cools and condenses at a different
temperature. As
each fraction condenses, the liquid is collected in the trays. Substances with higher boiling points
condense on the
lower trays in the column. Substances with lower boiling points condense on the higher trays.
The trays have valves, which allow the vapour to bubble through the liquid in the tray. This helps
the vapour to cool
and condense more quickly. The liquid from each tray then flows out of the column.
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/technicalenglish/pdf/level2/level2_unit8.pdf

Hydrocarbons
Isotopes, Isobars and Isotones
Fractions of Petroleum and their uses
October 27, 2012 by sodiumfactor

Name
Molecular
formula
Characteristics Uses

Asphalt

C30H62-
C60H122
Black sticky semi solid,
which is a mixture of
hydrocarbons. Non
volatile
For making roads
Damp proofing foundations of
buildings.
o Coating the underside of
electric poles.
Paraffin wax
C20H42-
C30H62
White semi solids
containing a mixture of
hydrocarbons like wax,
grease, Vaseline.
For making Vaseline ointments, candles,
wax paper, match sticks, creams,
cosmetics, etc.
Used as grease.
Lubricating oil
C17H36-
C20H42
A thick viscous liquid- a
mixture of
hydrocarbons.
Used for lubricating machines.
Fuel oil
C13H28-
C15H22
Mixture of
hydrocarbons with
varying boiling points.
Used to run heavy vehicles like buses,
trucks, tractors.
Used to run engines for lifting water for
fields.
Used to run generators for providing
electricity.
Kerosene Oil
C10H22-
C12H26
A mixture of
hydrocarbons having
variable boiling points.
Used as household fuels in wick,
pressure stoves.
Illuminant in lanterns, petromax lamps
etc.
Gasoline/petrol
C5H12-
C9H20
Mixture of
hydrocarbons having
variable boiling points.
Used as fuel for light vehicles like
scooters, cars etc
Used as a dry cleaning fluid.
Used for petrol gas commonly used in
labs.
Petroleum gas CH4-C4H10
Mixture of
hydrocarbons having
boiling points lower
than 40 deg C.
Petrol gas is liquefied under pressure
and marketed in steel cylinders.
This is commonly called LPG and
used as a household fuel.
Used in the manufacture of petrol
polymerization.
o Cracked to form carbon-used in
tire industry and hydrogen
used in manufacture of
nitrogenous
fertilizers.

http://sodiumfactor.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/fractions-of-petroleum-and-their-uses/

FRACTIONS OF PETROLEUM
Approximate bp
(C)
Name Uses
SOURCE : Wittcoff, Harold A., and Reuben, Bryan G. (1996). Industrial Organic Chemicals . New York:
John Wiley.
<20C Gases Similar to natural gas and useful for fuel and chemicals.
FRACTIONS OF PETROLEUM
Approximate bp
(C)
Name Uses
20150C
Light naphtha (C
5

C
6
)
Fuel and chemicals, especially gasoline.
150200C
Heavy naphtha (C
7
C
9
)
Fuel and chemicals.
175275C Kerosene (C
9
C
16
) Jet, tractor, and heating fuel.
200400C Gas oil (C
15
C
25
)
Diesel and heating fuel. Catalytically cracked to naphtha and
steam-cracked to alkenes.
>350C Lubricating oil Lubrication. May be catalytically cracked to lighter fractions.
>350C Heavy fuel oil Boiler fuel. May be catalytically cracked to lighter fractions.

Asphalt Paving, coating, and structural uses.

Read more: http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ny-Pi/Petroleum.html#ixzz3BT1Vh2d2

How does distillation increase the alcohol content of fermented liquids?
Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so it will vaporize at a lower temperature. When you distill
a fermented liquid, you heat it up to a temperature between the boiling points of water and alcohol, so
that the resulting vapor has a higher alcohol content than in the original fermented liquid. You then
have some kind of apparatus above the liquid to condense the vapor and collect it. The condensed liquid
will have a higher alcohol content than the original liquid.
The flavour profile of a pot-still product is more complex than that of a continuous-still product of the
same alcohol content. This is a result of the different distillation methods. At a given temperature and
pressure, vapours over a boiling mixture have a composition that is a function of the vapour pressures of
the components of the mixture. In a pot still, the temperature of the fermentation mixture rises as the
lower-boiling-temperature alcohol vaporizes. Meanwhile, the alcohol content of the distillate drops as
the rising temperature vaporizes more water along with the alcohol. Distillation is allowed to continue
until the alcohol content of the distillate falls to a predetemined level. Because of the rising temperature
encountered in distilling a single batch, the composition of the first part of the condensate to leave the
pot is different from that of the last part. The composition of the final product is the average of the
composition of the vapours condensed during the entire run. By contrast, the temperature of the
continuous still is held approximately constant throughout the run. This results in a flavour profile that is
more uniform.

Fractional Distillation As Applied In The Petroleum Industry
James Kewley, M.A. F.I.C. Memrer Of Council Of The Institution Of Petroleum Technologists.
Chapter XXIX. Introduction
From time immemorial petroleum products, in the first instances crude oils and natural bitumens,
have been employed in the service of man, but the real development of the industry, which has
now assumed such large proportions, dates from the application of distillation methods to the
working up of crude oils, and distillation, in one form or another, still affords the most practical
method of splitting up crudes into their commercial products. Although many and great
modifications of the original process have been developed, it can hardly be claimed that really
accurate or intensive fractionation as yet finds any extensive application in the petroleum
industry. This is not surprising, seeing that (1) the industry is now only in its infancy, only a
limited number of products, generally boiling over considerable ranges of temperature, being in
demand ; and that (2) crude oils are very complex mixtures of hydrocarbons, the boiling points
of which, in many cases, lie close together, so that the extraction of any one of them by
distillation alone becomes an exceedingly difficult and quite impracticable operation.
Crude petroleums are found in many countries, occurring in various geological formations, the
most prolific deposits being generally of tertiary age. A discussion of their origin is beyond the
scope of this volume. They differ widely in character, ranging from very light, slightly coloured,
naturally filtered oils such as have been found in Western Canada, Russia, and elsewhere, to very
heavy asphaltic oils containing little or no volatile fractions, such as occur in Mexico, and even
to natural asphalts such as those of Trinidad and Venezuela and the natural waxes or ozokerites.
Some of the light crude oils of Sumatra contain as much as 40 per cent of benzine and 50 per
cent of kerosene, whereas many heavy crudes contain no benzine or kerosene fractions whatever.
Crude oils differ not only in the relative proportions of the various commercial products which
they contain, but also in the chemical composition of these products. Certain crudes, e.g. those of
the Eastern fields of the United States, are composed primarily of hydrocarbons of the paraffin
series; certain Russian crudes and others are composed largely of hydrocarbons of the naphthene
or alicyclic series ; certain others consist of paraffins and naphthenes in varying proportions in
admixture with hydrocarbons of the aromatic series, those of
East Borneo being conspicuous in this respect. Crude oils show much variation also in respect of
the content of sulphur compounds. These are generally regarded as impurities, but, in the higher
boiling fractions and residues especially, they must be regarded as intrinsic components of the
crude. While the chemical composition of the lighter components of many crudes has been fairly
well worked out, it is safe to say that little is so far known of the chemical nature of the
components of the higher boiling fractions, and practically nothing of that of the residues and of
the heavy asphaltic crudes.
Of recent years fractional distillation has been to some extent supplemented by fractional
condensation, a process in which the requisite fractions are distilled off from the crude oil en
bloc, and separated during the condensing process. This method possesses certain technical
advantages, the chief being the smaller and more compact plant required for any given
throughput of crude oil and the lower operating costs. It finds its chief application so far in the
distillation or topping of crude oils containing only small percentages of volatile fractions.
Further, of recent years, owing to the steadily increasing demand for light petroleum fractions,
systems of destructive distillation (so-called "cracking processes ") have been introduced. This
method of treatment is, however, beyond the scope of this work.
The distillation of petroleum may be conveniently considered under two main headings, viz.
periodic and continuous methods. Periodic methods are the older and have been largely replaced
in modern refineries by continuous methods, which offer many advantages, although for certain
purposes, e.g. the manufacture of special spirits of narrow boiling point ranges, of lubricating oil
and of asphalts, the periodic methods are still largely in vogue. There is little doubt, however,
that in course of time, except for such operations as distilling down to coke, continuous methods
will eventually be almost entirely adopted. As the early forms of distilling apparatus were
naturally crude and inefficient, and are now merely of historical interest, little need be said of
them.
In consequence of the great differences in character displayed by various crude oils, different
methods of treatment are called for, but as this work deals with the processes of distillation
involved, rather than with their application to various types of oil, detailed descriptions of
methods of working up of different crudes would be out of place. A few remarks on this subject,
however, may not be inappropriate.
Crude oils may be roughly subdivided into three classes, viz. asphalt base oils, paraffin (wax)
base oils, and mixed base oils, each of which may be divided into light and heavy crudes. Several
types of crude may occur in the same field, but at different geological levels. In general,
however, any one field produces a particular type of crude, e.g. the crudes of the famous Russian
fields on the west shore of the Caspian Sea are of the light asphalt base type, containing little or
no paraffin wax ; those of Burmah are of the light paraffin wax type ; while those of Mexico
belong chiefly to the heavy asphalt type.
The method of working up of crude oils depends to a large extent on their nature, and on the
nature of the commercial products which they will yield. Thus certain crudes are used direct as
liquid fuel in their natural state, others require the removal of a small percentage of light
fractions, in order to raise the flash-point of the residue to liquid fuel standard, while others must
be subjected to a fairly complete distillation and subsequent redistillations, in order to separate
off the relatively small proportion of residues they contain, and split up the distillates into their
commercial products.
A method of working up of an asphalt-base crude oil is set forth in the diagram.

Diagram illustrating method of working up of an asphalt-base crude oil.
The working up of paraffin wax base crude oils is more complicated, owing to the filtration and
working methods involved in the separation and purification of the wax.
For diagrams illustrating the working up of various typical crudes reference may be made to
Engler-Hofer, Das Erdol, vol. iii. ; Bacon and Ham'or, The American Petroleum Industry, vol. ii.,
etc.
References
For general information on the petroleum industry reference may be made to: Abraham :
Asphalts and Allied Substances.
Bacon and Hamor : The American Petroleum Industry.
Campbell : Petroleum Refining.
Engler-Hofer : Das Erdol.
Redwood : A Treatise on Petroleum.

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Processes/Fractional-Distillation-As-Applied-In-The-Petroleum-
Industry.html#.U_wFRazz6ho#ixzz3BT3E1Rk7
When the vapours are condensed, the resulting liquid contains a higher concentration of alcohol.
In the pot still, the alcohol and water vapour combine with esters and flow from the still through
the condensing coil. There they condense into the first distillation liquid, the so-called "low
wines". The low wines have a strength of about 25-35% alcohol by volume, and flow into a
second still. It is then distilled a second time to produce the colourless spirit, collected at about
70% alcohol by volume. Colour is added through maturation in an oak aging barrel, and
develops over time.
The modern pot still is a descendant of the alembic, an earlier distillation device.
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ng+content+alcohol&source=bl&ots=3SpchITj4w&sig=zY_fEOKJhLXroSLpah8h6MmA3kA&hl=en&sa=X&e
i=cgf8U77hNef_igKV1YHgBQ&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=The%20pot%20still%20increasing%2
0content%20alcohol&f=false

ractional distillation is done in petroleum refineries, chemical plants and natural gas processing
plants. It is a continuous steady task, as input and output is a constant process. The fractional
industrial distillation is normally done in huge, vertical columns called fractionating towers.
They are also called distillation columns. Normally, the heights of these columns range from 6m
to 60m.
Inside the distillation tower, there are outlets at different stages to withdraw fractionating
products. When the boiling is performed at the bottom, in accordance with the lightness and the
heaviness of the input liquid, its vaporization flows and the fractionating condensed products are
automated out. The fractional distillation system pushes the lightest product to the top outlet
while the heaviest remains in the bottom.
Hydrocarbon molecules of petroleum are a mixture of carbon atoms with numerous sizes and
numbers. The miniature molecules consist of a little carbon atom and diminutive boiling points
while large molecules have a significant number of carbon atoms and many boiling points. When
petroleum is in this condition, it is of no use, as it cannot be ignited easily. It's only after refining,
that people can use petroleum and its related products effectively.
The fractional distillation of petroleum is the technique used for separating petroleum into
various products. It is done in an oil refinery. Each division, or fraction is fusion of hydrocarbon
atoms and it can be boiled with certain points of temperatures. For instance, fraction of kerosene
boils when it is boiled at the temperature of 170 - 250 C degrees.
The boiling is done in a furnace. In the furnace, petroleum vaporizes when heated and
fractionates to columns in the fractionating tower. In accordance with the boiling points,
fractions flow out to columns in different elevations. Since the minimum boiling points is the
fraction of petroleum gas, it goes to the top of the column and then condenses. An automated
drainage system carries it to a separate storage tank from the top. The condensed fuel comes out
next and is stored in another part. The residue bitumen comes out from the lowest part of the
furnace, as it is heavier than other petroleum fractions.
When the fractional distillation of petroleum is performed, gasoline comes out from the topmost
outlet of the fractionate tower while kerosene comes out from the next. The light gas oils are the
next product to come out. Heavy gas oil comes from the lowest outlet while the residue remains
in the bottom.