Equilibrium separations
Distillation
Distillation (as discussed in analysis: Interference removal: Distillation), is a method of separation based on differences in the boiling points of substances. It has been known for centuries. The essential operation in distillation is the boiling of a liquid; after being converted to a vapor, the substance is then condensed to a liquid that is collected separately rather than allowed to flow back into the original liquid.
Above the surface of any pure liquid (or solid) substance, a definite amount of its vapor is present. The concentration of the vapor and, therefore, the pressure that it exerts increase as the temperature is raised. When the pressure of the vapor equals the pressure of the surroundings (one atmosphere in an open vessel at sea level), the substance boils: bubbles of vapor form within the liquid and rise to the surface. Above the surface of a mixture, the vapor contains all the substances present in the mixture, each making a contribution to the total pressure exerted by the vapor. The boiling point of the mixture is the temperature at which the total vapor pressure equals the pressure of the surroundings. In general, the composition of the vapor above a liquid mixture differs from that of the liquid: the vapor contains a larger proportion of the substance having the lower boiling point. This difference in composition of the two phases is the basis of separations effected by distillation.
Separation by distillation thus is based on gas-liquid equilibrium, differing from the previously cited example of liquid-liquid extraction in that the phases are constituted from the components themselves. The ease of separation is based on the differences in the boiling points of the substances; because boiling point is related, to a first approximation, to the molecular weight of the substance, distillation separates on the basis of weight (or size) of molecules. If the boiling points are close together, a multistage operation, which can most conveniently be achieved by placing a column above the boiling liquid solution, is required. This glass column contains some loosely packed material (e.g., glass beads), and the hot vapors from the boiling solution partially condense on the surfaces. The condensed liquid flows back toward the solution until it meets rising hot vapors, whereupon the more volatile portion of the returning liquid revaporizes, and the less volatile part of the rising vapor condenses. Thus in the column there occurs a multistage operation, the outcome of which is that the component of lower boiling point concentrates at the upper part of the column and that of higher boiling point in the lower part. Condensation of the vapor at the top of the column provides material much richer in the component having the lowest boiling point.
Distillation finds its greatest application in the large-scale separation of liquid mixtures, as in petroleum-refining plants, where crude oil is distilled into fractions having various boiling points, such as gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oils. The large towers in refineries are efficient distillation columns that effect sharp separation of the fractions. Distillation is a procedure essential to the chemist, who uses it to purify synthetic products. In general, however, because of its inability to handle small quantities of material or to separate closely related compounds, the current use of distillation for difficult separations is limited.