Petroleum/fossil fuel distillation

The Industrial Revolution came hand-in-hand with the use of fossil fuels. Although coal had been used for heating and in metallurgy since at least the thirteenth century, it was not until the invention and refinement of the steam engine that coal consumption increased greatly. By the middle of the nineteenth century, work done by machines exceeded the work done by animal power. While steam engines were mainly fueled by coal, the advent of the internal combustion engine required a volatile fuel, and petroleum distillates are perfectly suited for this purpose. 

Petroleum is also versatile. It contains all the commercially important hydrocarbons, such as those that make up gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, motor oil, heating oil, tar, and even natural gas. Using fractional distillation (Section 12.1), oil refineries can convert one type of petroleum hydrocarbon to another, thereby tailoring their output to fit consumer demand. Furthermore, petroleum contains much less sulfur than does coal and so produces less sulfur dioxide when burned. So, despite its vast coal reserves, the United States has a royal thirst for petroleum, the king of fossil fuels, consuming about 20 million barrels each day. This is about 11 liters per U.S. citizen per day. 

Fossil fuels are our major sources of hydrocarbons. The many components in petroleum are separated by fractional distillation. 

Polyolefin plastics are essentially polymers that are composed out of hydrocarbon molecules. These are typically obtained from fossil fuel that is, petroleum. After a relatively simple heat treatment in a refining (distillation) process, specific distillate fractions, being hydrocarbon... 

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