Thermal cracking is a process that breaks down hydrocarbons with heat and pressure to extract usable components. It creates free radicals that can be used in chemical reactions. This process is used in the petroleum industry and can be adjusted to meet market needs. It can also refer to the cracking of concrete and similar materials in cold weather.
Thermal cracking is a process in which hydrocarbons such as crude oil are subjected to high heat and temperature to break the molecular bonds and reduce the molecular weight of the substance being cracked. This process is used to extract the usable components, known as fractions, which are released during the cracking process. It is one of several cracking methods used in the petroleum industry to process crude oil and other petroleum products for commercial use.
In the thermal cracking process, the compound to be cracked is subjected to high heat and pressure. Sometimes a catalyst is added to control the chemical reactions that occur during the process, with the aim of promoting the development of specific molecules. Fractions that have a low boiling point, such as gasoline, will be released first. As cracking proceeds, fractions of various molecular weights can be extracted and further processed for additional uses or packaged for transport and sale.
This process creates free radicals at the sites where molecular bonds break, which can be exploited in chemical reactions such as polymerization to create new chemical compounds. A wide variety of compounds are extracted or derived through these types of processes, making it a valuable part of petroleum refining. The process can be supervised by petroleum or chemical engineers familiar with the needs of the market, the product being worked with, and the cracking process.
Sometimes known as pyrolysis because it involves the controlled decomposition of a chemical compound under heat and pressure, thermal cracking is designed to create more useful fractions. Cracking can be adjusted to meet needs such as an increased demand for a particular product or a product shortage caused by changes in refinery capacity. Thermal cracking of petroleum is also often discussed in chemistry classes while introducing students to the basic chemical concepts that emerge in the refinery industry.
The term thermal cracking is also used to refer to concrete, asphalt and similar materials. In this case, the low temperatures make the material prone to cracking. Things like asphalt are elastic in temperate and high temperatures, they deform when stressed, but in cold weather, the material can crack or crack. Thermal cracking in concrete and similar materials is a concern in very cold environments, especially when the material is used for structures such as bridges and buildings, where failure could cause a catastrophe.
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