Cracking

CRACKING

CRACKING is a process where LONG HYDROCARBONS are broken down into SMALLER, more USEFUL molecules.

There's a HIGH DEMAND for fuels with small molecules, making the products of cracking very important as FUELS.

 There are TWO types of cracking:

1. CATALYTIC CRACKING:

This involves heating the hydrocarbon to vaporise it.

The VAPOUR is then passed over a HOT POWDERED ALUMINIUM OXIDE CATALYST.

This causes the long chained molecules to break down on the surface of the catalyst.

2. STEAM CRACKING:

This involves vaporising the long hydrocarbons and MIXING them with STEAM.

The mixture is then HEATED to very high temperatures to break down the molecules.

Here is an example of a cracking reaction:

The PRODUCTS OF CRACKING include:

• ALKANES: Saturated hydrocarbons with single bonds between carbon atoms.
• ALKENES: Unsaturated hydrocarbons with at least one double bond between carbon atoms.