Characteristics and Uses of Petroleum

Fractions
1. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, the compounds which
are only made up of hydrogen and carbon.
2. Petroleum is a mixture of many types of hydrocarbons
which need to be separated before they can be used.
3. The hydrocarbons in the petroleum have different
boiling points.
4. Therefore, the petroleum can be separated into various
components by fractional distillations.
5. The components which are separated are called
fractions or distillates.
6. In the oil and gas industry, fractional distillation is
carried out in a fractioning column.