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Applications of Distillation

Distillation has four main applications: laboratory scale, industrial, herbal distillates, and food processing. Laboratory scale distillation is often performed in batches while industrial distillation is usually continuous. In batch distillation, the composition changes over time as fractions are sequentially collected, while continuous distillation maintains constant composition by carefully replenishing materials and removing fractions. The main difference between the two is that batch distillation composition changes during the process, while continuous distillation maintains a constant composition.

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277 views

Applications of Distillation

Distillation has four main applications: laboratory scale, industrial, herbal distillates, and food processing. Laboratory scale distillation is often performed in batches while industrial distillation is usually continuous. In batch distillation, the composition changes over time as fractions are sequentially collected, while continuous distillation maintains constant composition by carefully replenishing materials and removing fractions. The main difference between the two is that batch distillation composition changes during the process, while continuous distillation maintains a constant composition.

Uploaded by

mayang tirana
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Applications of distillation

The application of distillation can roughly be divided in four groups: laboratory scale, industrial
distillation, distillation of herbs for perfumery and medicinals (herbal distillate) and food processing.
The latter two are distinct from the former two, in that in the distillation is not used as a true
purification method, but more to transfer all volatiles from the source materials to the distillate.

The main difference between laboratory scale distillation and industrial distillation is that laboratory
scale distillation is often performed batch-wise, whereas industrial distillation often occurs
continuously. In batch distillation, the composition of the source material, the vapors of the distilling
compounds and the distillate change during the distillation. In batch distillation, a still is charged
(supplied) with a batch of feed mixture, which is then separated into its component fractions which
are collected sequentially from most volatile to less volatile, with the bottoms (remaining least or non-
volatile fraction) removed at the end. The still can then be recharged and the process repeated.

In continuous distillation, the source materials, vapors and distillate are kept at a constant composition
by carefully replenishing the source material and removing fractions from both vapor and liquid in the
system. This results in a better control of the separation process.

Batch distillation

Heating an ideal mixture of two volatile substances A and B (with A having the higher volatility, or
lower boiling point) in a batch distillation setup (such as in an apparatus depicted in the opening
figure) until the mixture is boiling results in a vapor above the liquid which contains a mixture of A
and B. The ratio between A and B in the vapor will be different from the ratio in the liquid: the ratio
in the liquid will be determined by how the original mixture was prepared, while the ratio in the vapor
will be enriched in the more volatile compound, A (due to Raoult's Law, see above). The vapor goes
through the condenser and is removed from the system. This in turn means that the ratio of
compounds in the remaining liquid is now different from the initial ratio (i.e. more enriched in B than
the starting liquid).

The result is that the ratio in the liquid mixture is changing, becoming richer in component B. This
causes the boiling point of the mixture to rise, which in turn results in a rise in the temperature in the
vapor, which results in a changing ratio of A : B in the gas phase (as distillation continues, there is an
increasing proportion of B in the gas phase). This results in a slowly changing ratio A : B in the
distillate.

If the difference in vapor pressure between the two components A and B is large (generally expressed
as the difference in boiling points), the mixture in the beginning of the distillation is highly enriched
in component A, and when component A has distilled off, the boiling liquid is enriched in component
B.

Continuous distillation

In continuous distillation, the process is different from the above in that fractions are withdrawn from
both the vapor and the liquid at such a speed that the combined ratio of the two fractions is exactly the
same as the ratio in the starting mixture. In this way a stream of enriched component A and a stream
of enriched component B is obtained. Moreover, a stream of crude mixture (which has the same ratio
of A and B as the mixture in the still) can be added to the distilling mixture to replenish the liquid,
meaning that the system can be run continuously.

Laboratory scale distillation

Simple distillation

Fractional distillation

Vacuum distillation

Air-sensitive vacuum distillation

Azeotropic distillation

Short path distillation

Industrial distillation

Distilled beverages

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