Refining of Petroleum

Question 1 What do you mean by refining of petroleum?

Question 2 What is the full form of LPG?

Question 3 Name the petroleum product used to drive heavy vehicles?

Question 4 Name the petroleum product used in jet aircrafts engines?

Question 5 Name the petroleum product used in electric generators?

Question 6 Name the petroleum product used for surfacing of roads?

Question 7 Name the various products of petroleum refining?

Question 8 Give one use each of petroleum refining product?

Question 9 Name the major constituent of LPG?

Question 10 What are the advantages of using LPG?

Refining of petroleum

The crude petroleum oil is a complex mixture of solid,liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

So before petroleum can be used for specific purpose,it has to be refined or purified.

The process of separating crude petroleum oil into more useful fractions is called refining.

The refining of petroleum into different fractions is based on the fact that the different fractions of petroleum have different boiling point.

The refining of petroleum is carried out in an oil refinery.

The crude petroleum oil extracted from oil wells is taken to the oil refinery through pipes.In the oil refinery,crude petroleum is oil is refined into different useful fractions.

The separation of petroleum into different fractions is done by fractional distillation.The various useful fractions obtained by the refining of petroleum are:Petroleum gas,petrol,kerosene,diesel,lubricating oil,paraffin wax,Bitumen.

Various fraction of petroleum and their uses

1)Petroleum gas:It is used as a fuel in homes and industry.It is used as a fuel as such or in the form of Liquified petroleum gas(LPG)

2)Petrol:It is used a fuel in light motor vehicles.It is also used as a solvent for dry cleaning.

3)Kerosene:It is used as a fuel in  wick stoves and pressure stoves to cook food.It is used in lanterns for lightning purpose.

4)Diesel:It is used as a fuel in heavy motor vehicles.It is also used to run pump sets for irrigation in agriculture and in electric generators.

5)Lubricating oil:It is used for lubrication in machines and engines.

6)Paraffin Wax:It is used for making candles,vaseline,ointments,wax paper and grease.

7)Bitumen:It is used for road surfacing.It is also used for water-proofing the roofs of building.It is used in making black paints.

The most common fuel used in homes is liquified petroleum gas(LPG).The petroleum gas which has been liquified under pressure is called liquified petroleum gas.It consist mainly of butane.Thus the domestic gas cylinders like Indane contain mainly butane.

The gas used for domestic cooking is called liquified petroleum gas because it is obtained from petroleum and it is liquified by compression before filling into the gas cylinders.When we turn on the knob of the gas cylinder,the pressure is released,due to which the highly volatile LPG is converted into gas.Gas goes into the burner of LPG stove.When a lighted matchstick is applied to the burner,the gas burns with a blue flame producing a lot of heat.

Liquified petroleum gas is a good fuel because:

1)LPG burns easily.

2)It has high calorific value.Due to this,a given amount of LPG produces a lot of heat.

3)It burns with smokeless flame and hence do not cause air pollution.

4)It does not produce any poisonous gas.

5)It does not leave behind any solid residue on burning.