{"id":104599,"date":"2021-05-11T13:45:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T12:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/?page_id=104599"},"modified":"2024-12-12T11:32:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T11:32:38","slug":"alkanes-table","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/guides\/alkanes-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Alkanes – What Are They?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Alkanes: The Building Blocks of Fuels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fuels are mixtures of hydrocarbon chains of varying lengths that meet the formula Cn<\/sub>+H2n+2<\/sub>. Molecules that meet this formula are known as \u2018alkanes\u2019, and these hydrocarbons are found in all organic matter. They also make up crude oil, and when crude oil is refined through fractional distillation, these alkane mixtures can be separated into many useful products – such as diesel<\/a>, gas oil<\/a>, kerosene<\/a>, marine gas oil<\/a> and lubricants<\/a> among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alkanes are not the only hydrocarbon chains found in crude oil – alkenes (hydrocarbons with the formula Cn<\/sub>+H2n<\/sub>) are also present in crude oil, and these are used in chemical processes, not fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a mixture of alkanes forms a distillate a flashpoint of higher than 42o<\/sup>C they are classified as fuel oils. Learn more about fuel oil here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to know more about the process of refining crude oil that allows alkanes to create useful fuels and oils, read our guide to crude oil fractional distillation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Table of alkane hydrocarbons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The below lists the first 20 alkanes, although there are many more. Each type of fuel will have mixtures of different alkane chains, and these mixtures will give the fuel its desired properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alkane<\/strong><\/td>Molecular Formula<\/strong><\/td>Composition<\/strong><\/td>Carbon atoms in chain<\/strong><\/td>Hydrogen atoms in chain<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Methane<\/td>CH4<\/sub><\/td>CH4<\/sub><\/td>1<\/td>4<\/td><\/tr>
Ethane<\/td>C2<\/sub>H6<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-CH3<\/sub><\/td>2<\/td>6<\/td><\/tr>
Propane<\/td>C3<\/sub>H8<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-CH2<\/sub>-CH3<\/sub><\/td>3<\/td>8<\/td><\/tr>
Butane<\/td>C4<\/sub>H10<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-2(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>4<\/td>10<\/td><\/tr>
Pentane<\/td>C5<\/sub>H12<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-3(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>5<\/td>12<\/td><\/tr>
Hexane<\/td>C6<\/sub>H14<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-4(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>6<\/td>14<\/td><\/tr>
Heptane<\/td>C7<\/sub>H16<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-5(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>7<\/td>16<\/td><\/tr>
Octane<\/td>C8<\/sub>H18<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-6(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>8<\/td>18<\/td><\/tr>
Nonane<\/td>C9<\/sub>H20<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-7(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>9<\/td>20<\/td><\/tr>
Decane<\/td>C10<\/sub>H22<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-8(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>10<\/td>22<\/td><\/tr>
Undecane<\/td>C11<\/sub>H24<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-9(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>11<\/td>24<\/td><\/tr>
Dodecane<\/td>C12<\/sub>H26<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-10(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>12<\/td>26<\/td><\/tr>
Tridecane<\/td>C13<\/sub>H28<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-11(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>13<\/td>28<\/td><\/tr>
Tetradecane<\/td>C14<\/sub>H30<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-12(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>14<\/td>30<\/td><\/tr>
Pentadecane<\/td>C15<\/sub>H32<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-13(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>15<\/td>32<\/td><\/tr>
Cetane (Hexadecatane)<\/td>C16<\/sub>H34<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-14(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>16<\/td>34<\/td><\/tr>
Heptadecane<\/td>C17<\/sub>H36<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-15(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>17<\/td>36<\/td><\/tr>
Octadecane<\/td>C18<\/sub>H38<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-16(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>18<\/td>38<\/td><\/tr>
Nonadecane<\/td>C19<\/sub>H40<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-17(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>19<\/td>40<\/td><\/tr>
Eicosane<\/td>C20<\/sub>H42<\/sub><\/td>CH3<\/sub>-18(CH2<\/sub>)-CH3<\/sub><\/td>20<\/td>42<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Call Crown Oil today on 0330 123 1444<\/a> for a supply of fuels and oils from the UK\u2019s leading independent fuel and oil supplier.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":96720,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-104599","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlkanes - What Are They? - The First 20 Alkanes | Crown Oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about Alkanes, the hydrocarbon chains that are the primary constituent in fuels, along with a list of the first 20 Alkanes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/guides\/alkanes-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alkanes - What Are They?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn more about Alkanes, the hydrocarbon chains that are the primary constituent in fuels, along with a list of the first 20 Alkanes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/guides\/alkanes-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crown Oil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CrownOil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-12T11:32:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CrownOil\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/guides\/alkanes-table\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crownoil.co.uk\/guides\/alkanes-table\/\",\"name\":\"Alkanes - What Are They? 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