15 Examples of Distillation

The distillation is a process of separation of substances which makes use of the boiling and the condensation. The method uses boiling selectively to separate the components of a generally homogeneous and liquid mixture. For example: catalytic cracking, alembic, obtaining oils.

Is homogeneous mixture can contain liquids, a solid mixed in a liquid or liquefied gases, since the distillation is based on the differences between the boiling points of each substance that constitutes the mixture.

Is named Boiling point to temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid. When the temperature of a liquid reaches its boiling point, it turns into gas.

In principle, for the distillation to take place, the temperature of the mixture must be increased up to the boiling point of at least one of the substances that compose it, which will be conducted in gaseous state up to a container, which will then be cooled, due to which the gas will condense and become a liquid again.

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Types of distillation

There are several possible types of distillation:

Examples of distillation

1. Oil refining. To separate the various hydrocarbons and petroleum derivatives, a fractional distillation method is carried out that allows storage in various layers or compartments each of these derived compounds, from the cooking of oil raw. Gases rise and dense substances such as asphalt and paraffin fall separately.
2. Catalytic cracking. Vacuum distillations are often done in oil processing, from vacuum towers to separate the various gases that are given off in the oil cooking stages. In this way, the boiling of the hydrocarbons is accelerated.
3. Ethanol purification. The process of separating ethanol (a alcohol) of the water, product of its obtaining in laboratories, requires a process of distillation azeotropic, in which benzene or other components are added to modify the azeotrope and allow the separation.
4. Coal processing. In the production of liquid organic fuels, coal or wood is often used in a dry distillation process, to condense the gases emitted in their combustion and use them in various industrial processes.
5. Thermolysis of mineral salts. Another dry distillation process consisting of burning Mineral salts and obtain from them, from the emanation and condensation of gases, various mineral substances of high industrial utility.
6. The alembic. This device, invented in Arab antiquity to produce perfumes, medicines and alcohol from fermented fruits, uses the principles of the distillation by heating substances in its small boiler and cooling the gases produced in a coil cooled in a new container.
7. The production of perfumes. Draft steam distillation is often used in the perfume industry by boiling water and certain types of preserved flowers, in order to obtain a gas full of odor which, when condensed, can be used as a base liquid in perfumes.
8. Obtaining alcoholic beverages. It is possible to distill the ferment of fruits or other natural products, for example, in an alembic. The ferment is boiled at about 80 ° C (the boiling temperature of alcohol) and thus the water is separated, which remains in the container.
9. Obtaining distilled water. The extreme purification of water occurs from a distillation process that extracts all the possible solutes it contains. It is often used in laboratories and industries, and the same mechanism is used to make water drinkable for human consumption.
10. Obtaining oils. The recipe for many essential oils is to boil the raw material (vegetable or animal) until the oil vaporizes and then condenses it at a cooled end, so that it recovers its liquidity.
11. Seawater desalination. In many places where there is no drinking water, sea water is used for its consumption. It is distilled to remove the salt since the salt does not vaporize when the liquid is heated.
12. Obtaining pyridine. Pyridine is a colorless liquid with a very repulsive odor, a compound similar to benzene, widely used in the solvent, drug, dye and pesticide industry. It is often obtained from the distillation of oil obtained, in turn, from the destructive distillation of bones.
13. Obtaining sugars. From coconut and other natural substances, certain sugars by means of a distillation that extracts the water by vaporization and allows the sugar crystals to remain unchanged.
14. Obtaining glycerin. The process to obtain homemade glycerin includes the distillation of soap residues, since this substance comes from the degradation of certain lipids (as in the Krebs cycle).
15. Obtaining acetic acid. This derivative of vinegar has many applications in the pharmaceutical, photographic and agricultural industries, and in their processes of obtaining distillation plays an important role since it is produced in conjunction with other less volatile substances such as formic acid and formaldehyde.

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