Numerous quoted standard specifications refer to distillation ranges as criteria of purity or suitability for use, or as indicators of performance. For analytical purposes the scale employed is usually bench-level. Distillation operations differ enormously in size and complexity from the semimicro scale to the ‘thousands of tons per annum’ production operations. The technique is even more widely used in preparative chemistry and throughout manufacturing industry as a means of purifying products and chemical intermediates. Green, in Encyclopedia of Analytical Science (Second Edition), 2005 Introductionĭistillation is a widely used technique in chemical analysis for characterizing materials by establishing an index of purity and for separating selected components from a complete matrix. We shall start explaining distillation by a single-stage separation, before understanding how to set up a cascade of separation stages, which is distillation. It is a versatile, robust and well-understood technique. It is no accident that distillation is the most common method for the separation of homogeneous mixtures. Many of the alternatives to distillation only carry out a partial separation and cannot produce pure products. The ability to produce high product purity. Many of the alternatives to distillation can only separate feeds that are already relatively pure. The ability to separate feeds with a wide range of feed concentrations. Many of the alternative processes for the separation of fluid mixtures can only handle low flow rates, whereas distillation can be designed for the separation of extremely high or extremely low flow rates.
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The ability to handle a wide range of feed flow rates.
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However, distillation has three principle advantages over alternative methods for the separation of homogeneous fluid mixtures: 1. This is the principal disadvantage of distillation: its high energy usage. The vaporization requires the input of energy. Repeated vaporization and condensation of the mixture allows virtually complete separation of most homogeneous fluid mixtures. Separation exploits differences in boiling point, or volatility, between the components in the mixture. Distillation is the most commonly used method for the separation of homogeneous fluid mixtures.