Re: How do we get different fuels from oil?

Shannon, if you are not aware of it, oil is made up of thousands of 
different molecules.  Different types of fuels are obtained according to 
the number of carbon atom in these molecules.  For example, gasoline is 
composed of a mixture of molecules that have 4 to 12 carbon atoms.  They 
are separated from the oil by their boiling points.  A general rule of 
thumb is that the greater the number of carbon atoms, the higher the 
boiling point.  Since kerosene is composed of molcules with 10-16 carbon 
atoms, we would expect it to have a higher boiling point than gasoline.  
Gasoline has a boiling point range fo 60 to 204 degrees Centigrade, and as 
expected, kerosene has a boiling point range of 175-325 degrees 
Centigrade.  So to get gasoline we would boil oil and capture (condense is 
a better word) the molecules that boil off between 60 and 204 degrees.  If 
we wanted kerosene, we would boil oil and condense the molecules that boil 
between 175 and 325 degrees.  Diesel would have a different boiling point 
range as well as all the other fuels. Hope this helps, Carlin Gregory, 
Williams - Texas Gas