By: Antonio Crdenas Hernndez

Since the discover of the petroleum as a source of energy the Industrial Revolution, the human are using it as this and just as this, to develop and bring solutions for the energy-source problems in the daily life. But, you should not believe that the petroleum is just a substance that we use directly as we obtain it. Of course, it must have a process to obtain the gasoline we use for our car, or the natural gas that we use in the kitchen to cook some food. This process is called oil refinery process. (Figure 4.1)

implemented to maximize the output of different crude oil. In general, an oil refining process are able to turn raw crude oil into waxes, fuels, plastics, lubricating oils, chemicals and many other products that are useful for society. A way that this process carry on, involves a process called fractional distillation. If we recall of some basic definitions of chemistry, we know that distillation refers to a method to separate homogeneous mixtures, using their different boiling points. So, for fractional distillation we refer a similar concept, but this process is a very special distillation, because this refers to: a separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions, such as in separating chemical compounds by their boiling point by

Figure 4.1 This image shows the oil refinery process.

heating them to a temperature at which one or more fractions of the compound will vaporize.1

Crude oil in its raw form is of little use for human. Oil refining process is an important step that refined crude oil into useable products or chemicals. Different oil refining process will be

1 . N. P. Web. 1 Jun 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_distillation>.

Petroleum is composed of many hydrocarbons, so fractional distillation is a good way to separate the different components it has, because, while a hydrocarbon contains more carbon atoms, its boiling point will increase too. The principal appliances of the fractions obtained during the process of fractional distillation in the petroleum are shown in Figure 4.2 and Chart 1.
Chart 1 Products obtained by fractional distillation Temperature (C) 20 Number of carbons 1 to 4 Applications Natural gas Manufacture of chemicals Motor car fuel Raw materials (detergents and plastics) Car fuel Chemical for drugs 160 to 250 10 to 16

250 to 350 Up to 400

14 to 20 More than 20

Pesticides Fertilizers Plastics Aviation fuel Solvent for paintings Diesel fuel Central heating oil Residue

Figure 4.2 Nowadays, hydrocarbons obtained by the fractional distillation have a lot of appliances.

Having explained this, now a question would be if you know what a hydrocarbon is. When you see Graphic 1, you would be able to identify the basis of hydrocarbons.

20 to 70

5 to 10

70 to 160

8 to 12

Graphic 1 Hydrocarbons

But, most of the people must know the effects that the usage of hydrocarbons as source energy has. We can consider as advantages that: Hydrocarbons are the more accessible and cheaper than other alternatives for using as a main fuel source; and that those alternatives to hydrocarbons tend not make as much power as burning hydrocarbons. But as disadvantages of this, we take in count that: the burning of hydrocarbons contribute to the greenhouse effect and other environmental issues. Also, it can cause political-tensions wars between countries. Finally, the hydrocarbons we mainly use for fuel are fossil fuels which take millions of years to form; therefore when we use them up they will not form new deposits any time soon. The environment is mostly affected by the usage of hydrocarbons, not just for the usage we give to them, but also by the extraction and refining processes of petroleum (crude oil). The massive destruction of ecosystems by the finding of new, crude-oil extraction points, the migration of numerous species that

must adapt to other environments by this, and the big contamination and death of marine species in the ocean and beaches by the spill of oil in big areas, without mention the big contaminant agents that are released in the process are the major consequences of the extraction, production and transportation of petroleum. (Figure 4.4)

Figure 4.4 The destruction of ecosystems are one of the consequences of the extraction of petroleum.

We must be conscious all the problems that the usage of them cause nowadays and what will cause in a near future, so what we can do, is finding new sources of energy, to be more friendly with the environment and care this important source. Remember that the change is in our hands!!! Chemical Research
REFERENCES http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/oilrefining5.htm / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_distillation / http://www.ehow.com/list_7495932_sources-hydrocarbonsenergy.html / http://oilrefiningprocess.com/ / http://www.dnatube.com/video/28182/Hydrocarbons-And-TheirClassification