Fractional Distillation
of Crude Oil
Fractional distillation
• Fractional distillation differs from distillation only in that it
separates a mixture into a number of different parts,
called fractions. A tall column is fitted above the mixture,
with several condensers coming off at different heights.
The column is hot at the bottom and cool at the top.
Substances with high boiling points condense at the
bottom and substances with low boiling points condense at
the top. Like distillation, fractional distillation works
because the different substances in the mixture have
different boiling points.
Crude oil/Petroleum
• Petroleum and crude oil is a dark brown, foul smelling liquid. It
is a mixture of different hydrocarbons. Different fractions can
be separated by fractional distillation.
• Process: Crude oil is heated and vaporized sample is passed
through the fractionating column which is cool at the top and
hot at the bottom.
• Fractions can be separated due to their different boiling points.
• The smaller hydrocarbons with lower boiling points condenses
at the top and larger hydrocarbons with higher boiling points
condenses at the bottom of the column.
Uses of fractions
• Note that the gases condense at the top of the column,
the liquids in the middle and the solids stay at the
bottom.
• The main fractions include refinery gases, gasoline
(petrol), naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil, and a
residue that contains bitumen. These fractions are
mainly used as fuels, although they do have other uses
too.
• Hydrocarbons with small molecules make better fuels
than hydrocarbons with large molecules because they
are volatile, flow easily and are easily ignited.