Crude oil is made of a mixture of hydrocarbons. These are separated out to form the various petroleum products.
|
Number of Carbons
|
Alkanes
|
Petroleum Product
|
|
1-2
|
methane, ethane
|
natural gas
|
|
3-4
|
propane, butane
|
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
|
|
5-7
|
pentane, hexane, heptane
|
petroleum ether, gasoline
|
|
8-12
|
octane, nonane, decane, undecane, dodecane
|
gasoline
|
|
13-14
|
tridecane, tetradecane
|
kerosene
|
|
15
|
pentadecane
|
diesel, kerosene
|
|
16
|
hexadecane (cetane)
|
diesel, petrolatum
|
|
17-18
|
heptadecane, octadecane
|
lube oil, diesel, petrolatum
|
|
19-20
|
nonadecane, eicosane
|
petrolatum
|
