As shown earlier, ease of separation in equilibrium methods is based on the value of the separation factor, α. When this value is large, separation is easy, requiring little input of work. Thus, if α lies between 100 and 1,000, a single equilibration in liquid-liquid extraction is sufficient to separate at the level of 90 percent or higher. This type of process is called a single-stage process.

If the separation factor is smaller, separation is more difficult: more work must be done on the system to achieve the desired separation. This result can be accomplished by repeating the equilibration process many times, such a method being called a multistage process.

Consider a liquid-liquid extraction experiment in which the volumes of the two liquid phases (A and B) are equal and in which equal amounts of two components, 1 and 2, are present in one of the phases (say A). If K₁ = 0.5 and K₂ = 2.5, then α = 5, according to the previous definition. After equilibration, 66.7 percent of component 1 and 28.5 percent of component 2 remain in the original liquid phase (A), because K₁ = 0.5 = 33.3/66.7 and K₂ = 2.5 = 71.5/28.5; so that the concentration ratio in this phase has gone from unity to 66.7/28.5, or 2.3. If the extracting liquid phase (B) is removed and replaced with an equal portion of fresh liquid (B) containing none of components 1 and 2, and a second extraction is performed, 44.4 percent of component 1 and 8.1 percent of component 2 are left in the original phase (A). The concentration ratio has increased from 2.3 to 5.5; however, note that there is less of components 1 and 2 in the original phase. If the equilibration is carried out again with fresh solvent (B), the original phase contains 29.6 percent of component 1 and only 2.3 percent of component 2, a concentration ratio of approximately 13. Thus the purity of component 1 is increased by repeating the process of equilibration.

Before examining multistage separations in more detail, consider an alternate procedure by which component 2 (with K = 2.5) could be removed from the original liquid phase. Three consecutive extractions with fresh solvent result in the removal of 100 - 2.3 = 97.7 percent of the component. Suppose one extraction is performed instead, using the same volume of liquid B employed in the three consecutive extractions. It can be calculated that only 88 percent of component 2 would be extracted in this case. Thus, repeated equilibrations with a small amount of solvent remove more material than a single extraction with a large amount.

Returning to the separation of two components, the experiments described are quite wasteful of material. While the concentration ratio is 13, only 30 percent of the concentrated component remains in the original phase. It seems clear that the extracted phase should not be discarded. The separation can be performed without loss of either component by employing a sequence of extractions: each vessel in a series is half filled with a pure portion of the denser, or lower, liquid phase (i.e., without components 1 and 2). The mixture is added to the lower phase (A in the above example) of the first vessel, and fresh upper phase (B) is added in the correct amount; after shaking to achieve equilibration, the upper phase is transferred to the second vessel, and fresh upper phase is added to vessel 1. Vessels 1 and 2 are both equilibrated, and the upper phases are moved along the train, one vessel at a time.

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In this experiment, component 2 (with K = 2.5) will move more quickly down the train of vessels than component 1. After a large number of transfers, the different migration velocities of the two components will result in complete separation. The number of transfers required to achieve complete separation is dependent on the value of the separation factor (α) of the two components; the smaller the value is, the larger must be the number of tubes.

This discontinuous, multistage, liquid-liquid extraction scheme has been highly refined: a specially designed apparatus is used to permit automatic operation. In the past, this method played an important role in biochemistry for preparing purified materials. Because flow of the two solvents occurs in both directions, this mode of operation is called countercurrent.

Today chromatography has for the most part superseded automated liquid-liquid extraction procedures. Chromatography is closely related to the above countercurrent process, with one phase being stationary and the other mobile. In essence, chromatography can be envisioned as repeating the equilibration or distribution process many times as the sample components travel through the chromatographic system. The power of this technique can thus be appreciated.