Which of the following separation is routinely applied in the petroleum industry
Answer Details
The separation technique routinely applied in the petroleum industry is fractional distillation. Fractional distillation is a separation technique that separates a mixture of liquids into its individual components based on their boiling points. In the petroleum industry, crude oil, which is a mixture of various hydrocarbons, is heated and passed through a column that has several trays. Each tray has a different temperature, with the temperature increasing from the bottom to the top of the column. The hydrocarbons with lower boiling points vaporize and rise up the column, while those with higher boiling points remain as liquids and collect at the bottom. The vaporized hydrocarbons are then condensed and collected as fractions at different levels of the column. This process allows for the separation of crude oil into its individual components, such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.