Cracking Or
Pyrolysis (Short Note)
Definition
The phenomenon in which large
molecules of hydrocarbons are thermally decomposed into smaller molecules in
the absence of air or oxygen is known as Cracking or Pyrolysis.
Examples of
Cracking
Cracking can be explained with the
help of following examples.
1. Methane
When methane is burnt in absence of
air then cracking takes place, as a result carbon black and hydrogen are
formed.
2. Gasoline
The most important fraction of
petroleum is gasoline (petrol) which is used as motor fuel. The fractional
distillation of petroleum yields only a small percentage of total petrol
demand. The additional quantity of petrol is obtained by the cracking of
diesel.
The large less volatile molecules of
diesel that have high boiling point are heated in the absence of air using a
catalyst. As a result, cracking takes place and smaller more volatile molecules
of petrol having lower boiling point are obtained.
Thus cracking is applied to obtain
additional amount of gasoline from crude oil. In cracking a number of other
useful by products are also obtained.
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