mixture of hydrocarbons that are used for fuels
Petroleum or crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly alkanes, formed by the decay of the remains of sea creatures and plants over millions of years. Fractional distillation. The complex mixture of hydrocarbons is separated into smaller mixtures or fractions by fractional distillation (primary distillation).The crude oil is heated and the vapour/ liquid mixture passed into a tower.ombustion of alkanes. In common with all hydrocarbons, alkanes bum in air or oxygen in very exothermic reactions. In the presence of a plentiful supply of oxygen, complete combustion of alkanes occurs to form carbon dioxide and water.