Crude oil is extracted from the Earths crust.

It is formed over millions of years from plant and animal remains buried under layers of rock. Oils and fuels obtained from crude oil

crude oil

Crude oil is not very useful as it is it is thick, black, sticky and doesnt burn too well but modern society is critically dependent on products which are obtained from crude oil: e.g. petrol and other fuels plastics and fabrics medicines

Crude oil is a finite resource. This means there is a limited amount of it. Since it takes millions of years to form we say it is non-renewable. We can be sure that it will run out completely if we carry on using it at the rate we have been doing. Some estimates put the remaining crude oil reserves at about 40 years left. What has to be done ? 1) Develop alternative fuels and energy sources which are renewable e.g. biofuels 2) Develop alternative routes to manufacture plastics, medicines etc. 3) Conserve existing crude oil reserves reduce wasted fuel use, recycle plastics

Crude oil is not a single substance, but a mixture containing many different chemical compounds The majority of these are hydrocarbons which means that they are made only from carbon and hydrogen atoms. The carbon atoms form a chain and the hydrogen atoms connect to the carbon atoms:

carbon atoms

hydrogen atoms

Four different hydrocarbon molecules of the kind found in crude oil

Note that each carbon atom has four bonds and that each hydrogen has one bond. This is always true in hydrocarbon molecules. The family of substances with a carbon chain and hydrogen atoms connected to all the other places where bonds can form is called the ALKANES. The smallest alkane, with one carbon atom, is METHANE The next smallest, with two carbon atoms is ETHANE Then comes a 3-carbon chain, called PROPANE and a 4-carbon chain, called BUTANE and a 5-carbon chain, called PENTANE In general, for an alkane with n carbon atoms, the formula is: We call this the GENERAL FORMULA for the alkanes CH4 C2H6 C3H8 C4H10 C5H12

CnH2n+2

Natural gas contains 90% methane

Petrol contains alkanes such as octane, 8 carbons long

Drawing such detailed pictures of the molecules is time-consuming and chemists prefer to use a simpler notation: The molecular formula tells you how many of each atom are present in the molecule, but not how the atoms are connected e.g. The molecular formula for methane is CH4 The molecular formula for propane is

C3H8

The displayed formula uses the element symbols and shows which atoms are connected to which other atoms in the molecule e.g. The displayed formula for methane is

The displayed formula for propane is

One property of any mixture is that it can be separated by physical means (i.e. without doing any chemical reactions). Physical means could include filtering, or using magnets, or evaporation, for example. Different mixtures require different physical means. In the case of crude oil, the mixture is separated using boiling and condensing. The process is called fractional distillation. It works because each different hydrocarbon has a different boiling point: The longer the chain the higher the temperature has to be in order to turn the hydrocarbon from liquid to gas i.e. the higher the boiling point

The process starts by heating the crude oil up until all of the hydrocarbon molecules are gases. They are then passed into the bottom of a fractionating column

Some very short chain hydrocarbons come out of the top still as gases they are collected too

The fractionating column gets cooler the further up the molecules travel.

Each molecule rises up the tower until it gets to the point where it condenses back into a liquid trays collect the liquid at different levels.

Hydrocarbons enter here as gases.

The liquid collected in each tray contains hydrocarbons with a specific range of chain lengths these are called fractions

The different fractions obtained by fractional distillation of crude oil have different properties and therefore different uses. Some are shown below: Name Refinery gas Alkanes in this fraction CH4 to C4H10 Uses Note: you dont have to learn names of specific fractions, or the range of hydrocarbons in each, but you should know the uses, and be able to relate uses to the typical size of the hydrocarbon molecules

Gasoline

C4H10 to C12H26

Kerosine

C11H24 to C15H32

Diesel

C15H32 to C18H38 C50H102 and longer (bitumen for road repairs)

Residue

As the length of the carbon chain in an alkane increases The boiling point increases It gets harder to turn the hydrocarbon into a gas It gets less runny and more thick and sticky It gets harder to ignite, burning with a more smoky flame

Evaluating fuels You may be asked to discuss how good or bad a fuel is, comparing it to other fuels for example. A good fuel needs to be: Easy to ignite, but not so flammable that it is dangerous to handle Easy to transport and pump around (liquids are better than solids or gases) Safe to handle and store Cheap and readily available not expensive to produce Clean - polluting as little as possible when it burns (examine the products of combustion, including any trace substances which may be present e.g. sulphur in fossil fuels)

vs.

Burning pure hydrocarbons Burning is a chemical reaction between a fuel and oxygen, in which energy is released. With most fuels, each of the elements it is made of can react with oxygen to make an oxide. If there is enough oxygen available The carbon reacts with oxygen to make carbon dioxide (CO2) The hydrogen reacts with oxygen to make hydrogen oxide (H2O aka water !) hydrocarbon + oxygen carbon dioxide + water (e.g. methane)

If there isnt enough oxygen available Water will still be made, but The carbon may react to form carbon monoxide (CO) Pure carbon (soot) may be produced (this is what makes a flame yellow and luminous) hydrocarbon + oxygen carbon monoxide + water (e.g. methane)

Inside a motor vehicle engine, the fuel is mixed with air before it is ignited. This is so that there is oxygen available to react with the hydrocarbon molecules. Unfortunately that isnt all the oxygen reacts with. Fossil fuels also contain traces of sulphur. When the sulphur in the fuel is burned it reacts with oxygen in the air to form sulphur dioxide, which can be emitted in the exhaust of the vehicle. At the temperatures inside engines, nitrogen in the air is also burned, reacting with oxygen to form nitrogen oxides. These gases can also be emitted in the exhaust.

Both nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide can dissolve in rain droplets, reacting to form strongly acidic solutions, and falling as acid rain (see next section for the problems this causes, and what can be done to reduce them).

Alternatives to fuels from crude oil

1) Hydrogen

Hydrogen can be obtained by electrolysis of water. It is a gas, lighter than air, and extremely flammable. Technology is currently under development to use hydrogen as a fuel, but there are lots of challenges remaining. Evaluating hydrogen as a fuel: Available ? Yes easy to produce Clean ? Yes the only product when it burns is water Storage ? Not easy its a gas so its bulky. New technology needed. Perhaps hydrogen could be made by a reaction as it is needed Safe to use ? Not as safe as petrol ignites much more easily Problems for safe storage and safe refuelling Ignition ? Very easy (too easy !) to ignite

Historically, using hydrogen has a bad reputation !

A hydrogen-fuelled car

Alternatives to fuels from crude oil

2) Ethanol

Ethanol can be made using products from crude oil, but it can also be made by fermentation of plant matter this is called bioethanol. Biofuels such as this do not deplete our crude oil reserves so they are called renewable fuels. They can be used as alternatives to petrol/diesel. Evaluating bioethanol as a fuel: Available ? Yes easy to produce, but requires a lot of land to grow plants. Clean ? Same main products, CO2 and H2O - but no sulphur dioxide. Storage ? Much the same as petrol to store and transport. Its a liquid. Safe to use ? Similar to petrol less damaging to environment if spilled because it gets broken down more easily. Ignition ? Easy to ignite more so than petrol. Ethanol can be blended with petrol to help conserve crude oil reserves and to reduce the cost of the fuel An ethanol-fueled car

When fossil fuels burn, a variety of products may be formed which have impact on health and the environment: Carbon dioxide formed when the carbon in hydrocarbons reacts with a plentiful supply of oxygen. Causes Global Warming. Carbon monoxide formed when the carbon in hydrocarbons reacts with a limited supply of oxygen. Toxic, colourless and odourless Dangerous to Health !. Particulates particles of carbon formed when hydrocarbons burn in a limited supply of oxygen. May also be coated with unburned fuel. Cause Global Dimming. Sulphur dioxide formed when traces of sulphur in fossil fuels burn, reacting with oxygen in the air. Causes acid rain.

Global warming and the Greenhouse Effect Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases form a layer in the upper atmosphere which allows the suns energy to pass through, warming the Earths surface. Rather than escaping back into space, the radiated heat from the Earths surface is trapped by this layer (in the same way the glass in a greenhouse traps the heat from the sun). This causes temperatures to get steadily warmer the phenomenon is termed Global Warming. NOTE: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OZONE LAYER ! Effects of Global Warming: Then

Now

include drought

and flooding

and melting of the polar ice caps

Carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide is deadly. This is because it is colourless, odourless and poisonous, so you wont be able to tell if you are breathing it in. Its toxic effect works by preventing respiration from happening properly. A headache is one of the first symptoms. Rather than haemoglobin in the blood transporting oxygen to where it is needed, as it should, the haemoglobin bonds to carbon monoxide molecules instead, and oxygen starvation to the tissues and organs occurs. Badly-maintained gas fires or water heaters are a common source of carbon monoxide poisoning. This happens when the air-holes get blocked and the gas burns with less oxygen from the air than it should.

Global Dimming As the atmosphere becomes contaminated with particulates (soot, particles of unburned fuel) so the light from the sun will be progressively blocked out. The particles will scatter back into space sunlight which would otherwise have reached Earth. The effects of Global Dimming would be: 1) Decreased light levels affecting rates of crop growth and healthiness of plants 2) Lower temperatures as less of the Suns energy heats the Earths surface Increased amounts of particulates in the air will also have effects on health increased respiratory problems such as asthma, so putting more particulates into the atmosphere is not a cure for Global Warming !

Acid Rain

Gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, formed when fossil fuels are burnt, cause acid rain. These gases dissolve in droplets of water in the atmosphere (i.e. rain droplets) to form strongly acidic solutions, which can damage trees and aquatic ecosystems as well as slowly attacking building materials such as limestone. Carbon dioxide also forms an acidic solution when it dissolves in water droplets, but it is much more weakly acidic. Because the atmosphere is constantly moving, the place where acid rain falls may be in an entirely different country to the place where the polluting gases were formed. Remote areas of great natural beauty can be destroyed by acid rain from urban areas many hundreds of miles upwind.

Reducing the damage that acid rain causes

Two approaches are used: 1) Remove the sulphur from the fuel Oil refineries can process fractions which are to be used as fuels in order to remove the traces of sulphur from the fuel. This is called desulphurisation. At petrol stations, look for pumps labelled as Ultra-low sulphur fuel 2) Remove the sulphur dioxide from the emissions When fossil fuels are burnt in power stations, huge quantities of fuel are consumed, so it is not cost effective to buy desulphurised fuels. The fuels do contain traces of sulphur, and the flue-gases do contain sulphur dioxide. What is done here is to install a scrubber. This is a system that the flue gases pass through which removes the sulphur dioxide by reacting it with quicklime. The process is called flue-gas desulphurisation.