What happens to the temperature of vaporized crude oil as it rises in the distillation tower?

As vaporized crude oil rises in the distillation tower, the temperature decreases. This process is a result of the vaporization and separation of the different components of crude oil based on their boiling points.

In a distillation tower, as the vaporized crude oil moves upward, it encounters cooler temperatures because it is moving away from the heat source located at the bottom of the tower. The lighter fractions with lower boiling points rise higher before condensing back to a liquid, while heavier fractions with higher boiling points remain lower in the tower.

This principle of fractional distillation allows for the separation of crude oil into different components, such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, which all condense at different heights in the tower. The decrease in temperature as the mixture rises is crucial for achieving an effective separation of these components based on their boiling points.