15 Examples of Distillation - encyclopedia

Video: Simple Distillation | #aumsum #kids #science #education #children

Content

Types of distillation
Examples of distillation
Other techniques for separating mixtures

The distillation is a process of separation of substances that makes use in turn of the vaporization and the condensation, using them selectively to cleave a generally homogeneous mixture.

The latter may contain liquids, a solid mixed in a liquid or liquefied gases, since one of the inherent characteristics of each substance is used, such as the boiling point.

The boiling point is called temperature to which a liquid changes its state to gaseous (evaporates).

In principle, for the distillation to take place, the mixture must be boiled to the boiling point of one of the substances, which will be conducted in gaseous state to a chilled container in which to condense and recover its liquidity.

See also: Examples of Fusion, Solidification, Evaporation, Sublimation, Condensation

Types of distillation

There are several possible types of distillation:

Simple. As described above, it does not fully guarantee the purity of the distilled substance.
Fractioned. It is carried out by means of a fractionation column, which uses different plates in which evaporation and condensation take place successively, guaranteeing a higher concentration of the result.
Into the void. Uses vacuum pressure to catalyze the distillation process, reducing the boiling point of substances by half.
Azeotropic. It is used to break an azeotrope, that is, a mixture of substances that behave as one, sharing boiling point. It often includes the presence of separating agents and everything is done according to Raoult's Law.
By steam entrainment. Volatile and non-volatile components of a mixture are separated from the direct injection of steam to promote separation of the mixture.
Dry. It is based on the heating of solid materials without the help of liquid solvents, to produce gases that then condense in another container.
Improved. This is the name of alternate distillation or reactive distillation, adapted to specific cases of mixtures of substances difficult to separate from their boiling points.

Examples of distillation

Oil refining. To separate the various hydrocarbons and petroleum derivatives, a fractional distillation method is carried out that allows each of these derived compounds to be stored in different layers or compartments, starting from the cooking of crude oil. Gases rise and dense substances such as asphalt and paraffin fall separately.
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.
Ethanol purification. The process of separating ethanol (an alcohol) from the water produced in laboratories requires an azeotropic distillation process, in which benzene or other components are added to release the mixture and allow separation.
Prosecutionof coal. In obtaining liquid organic fuels, coal or wood are often used in a dry distillation process, in order to condense the gases emitted during their combustion and use them in various industrial processes.
Thermolysis of mineral salts. Another dry distillation process, consisting of burning mineral salts and obtaining from them, from the emanation and condensation of gases, various mineral substances of high industrial utility.
The alembic. This device, invented in Arab antiquity to produce perfumes, medicines and alcohol from fermented fruits, uses the principles of distillation by heating substances in its small boiler and cooling the gases produced in a coil cooled in a new container. .
The production of perfumes. Draft steam distillation is often used in the perfumery industry, by boiling water and certain types of preserved flowers, in order to obtain an odor-filled gas that, when condensed, can be used as base liquids in perfumes.
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.
Obtaining distilled water. The extreme purification of water occurs from a distillation process that removes 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.
Obtaining oils. The recipe for many essential oils is to boil the raw material (vegetable or animal) until the oil evaporates and then condenses it in a cooled end, so that it recovers its liquidity.
Seawater desalination. In many places where there is no drinking water, sea water is used for consumption, after it has been distilled to remove the salt, since the latter does not evaporate when the liquid is heated and remains in the original container.
Obtaining pyridine. Colorless liquid with a very repulsive odor, pyridine is 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.
Obtaining sugars. From coconut and other natural substances, certain sugars can be obtained by distillation that removes the water by evaporation and allows the sugar crystals to remain.
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).
Obtaining acetic acid. This derivative of vinegar has many applications in the pharmaceutical, photographic and agricultural industries, and distillation plays an important role in its production processes, since it is produced in conjunction with other less volatile substances such as formic acid and formaldehyde.