Cracking of long chain alkanes in the petroleum industry is carried out mainly to
- A. produce shorter, more useful alkanes and alkenes for fuel and plastics
- B. remove sulphur from crude oil
- C. convert alkenes into alkanes
- D. increase the molar mass of the products
Explanation
Fractional distillation yields more of the heavy fractions than the market wants and too little petrol, so cracking breaks the long chains into shorter alkanes plus alkenes such as ethene, which are the feedstock for polymers. Catalytic cracking uses zeolites at about 500 degrees Celsius. Removing sulphur is a separate process called desulphurisation.