Crude oil
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
5.6: recall that crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons
5.7: describe how the industrial process of fractional distillation separates crude oil into
fractions
5.8: recall the names and uses of the main fractions obtained from crude oil: refinery gases, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil and bitumen
5.9: describe the trend in boiling point and viscosity of the main fractions
5.10: recall that incomplete combustion of fuels may produce carbon monoxide and explain that carbon monoxide is poisonous because it reduces the capacity of the blood to carry
oxygen
5.11: recall that, in car engines, the temperature reached is high enough to allow nitrogen and oxygen from air to react, forming nitrogen oxides
5.12: recall that fractional distillation of crude oil produces more long-chain hydrocarbons than can be used directly and fewer short-chain hydrocarbons than required
5.13: describe how long-chain alkanes are converted to alkenes and shorter-chain alkanes by catalytic cracking, using silica or alumina as the catalyst and a temperature in the range of 600–700°C.
