23/04/2022
What is fractional distillation of petroleum?
Petroleum can be separated into various types of fuel, by a process called refining, using fractional distillation.
Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene are all products (or fractions) of the process of refining Petroleum.
On an industrial scale, the different fractions of Petroleum are separated out by fractional distillation. The Petroleum is heated up, and the gas produced enters the fractionating column. The column is very hot at the bottom and gets cooler as the gas travels up the column, this allows different fuels to drain out at different temperatures up the column, with the exception of Bitumen, which is used to surface roads, this stays liquid and is drained off at the bottom of the column.
The fuels are drained off depending on the length of the hydrocarbon chain they are made up of.
The longer the hydrocarbon chain, the higher the boiling point and the earlier on they drain from the column
