Dagondon, Vanessa Olga

Date Performed: March 9, 2015

Sanchez, Diandra Dawn

Date Submitted: March 16, 2015

Steam Distillation
Experiment 5
I

Objectives
This experiment aims to isolate essential oils from a plant sample using a
steam distillation set-up that separates volatile substance from non-volatile materials.
It also aims to give experience in the preparing a distillation set-up.

II

Results and Discussion

Volatile oils from numerous naturally occurring plants give them their aroma.
These volatile oils are known as essential oils, essential since it comprises the
essence of the fragrance of the plant from which it was extracted (essential oil.
Oxford English Dictionary). In the past, essential oils were thought to be possible
pharmaceuticals. However today, their use is often limited as flavourings, perfumes
and deodorants.
To be able to extract these essential oils from their origin plant, a process
called steam distillation is performed. Steam distillation is used rather than the simple
distillation since essential oils are highly heat sensitive and may decompose when
subjected to a high temperature. Steam distillation, on the other hand, permits a
compound or mixture to be distilled at a temperature below that of the boiling points
of its individual components and thus, would make the isolation of the essential oil
feasible.
The immiscibility of oil and water makes the steam distillation work. The oil
and water will boil independently of each other. Therefore, by Raoults law:
Patm = PWato + POilo ; which means that the boiling will occur when the sum of
the pure vapour pressures of the individual components in the compound or mixture
will equal to the atmospheric pressure. Thus, the mixture will boil at a temperature
lower than the individual boiling points of its components.
The steam distillation set up makes use of two Bunsen burners. The first
Bunsen burner is used to heat an Erlenmeyer flask containing water to generate
steam. This steam will pass through (with the use of a U-shaped glass tubing) the
compounds to be distilled and as it touches the cool surface of the glass tubing, the

steam will condense and heat will be released in the round bottom flask where the
compounds to be distilled are present. This in turn would require a lesser heat from
the second Bunsen burner and would lower the pressure inside the round bottom flask
(because of the low density of the steam). Having a lower pressure would mean that
the compound in the round bottom flask will boil at a lower temperature than its
normal boiling point. This is will prevent the decomposition of the essential oils. The
distillate that will be collected will be a mixture of the essential oil and water because
the steam will be condensed as well as it will be passing through the condenser
together with the evaporated essential oil. To separate the oil and water (distillate), it
was transferred in a separatory funnel. Since both are immiscible in each other, it will
form two layers and since oil is denser than water, it will be bottom layer making the
separation easier by just twisting the knob in the separatory funnel releasing the oil.
In the experiment, lemon grass (tanglad, in vernacular) was the plant used in
which the essential oil will be derived. The lemon grass was cut into small pieces
(having a greater surface area of the lemon grass would yield a greater amount of oil
to be extracted). About 120g of lemon grass was placed inside the round bottom flask
with water that comprises 2/3 of the flask. The distillation set-up was then prepared. A
lot of obstacles were encountered during the preparation of the set-up. One of which
is having too much plant sample and water in the round bottom flask. When boiling,
the mixture will escape the round bottom flask and will be carried into the condenser
and thus the distillate that will be collected will contain mostly water. Another
problem that occurred was when the U-shaped glass tubing broke and another glass
tubing was bended to replace it. This took time before the actual distillation however,
the experiment was success. The oil was successfully isolated (however, minimal due
to the lack of time to collect the distillate). It was then placed in a vial.

III

Questions

1. A mixture of immiscible liquids (both water-insoluble) is subjected to steam

distillation. At 90C, the vapor pressure of pure water is 526 mm Hg. If the vapor pressure of
Compound A is 127 mm Hg and that of B is 246 mm Hg at 90C,
a. What is the total vapor pressure of the mixture at 90?
b. Would this mixture boil at a temperature above or below 90?
c. What would be the effect on the vapor pressure and boiling temperature by
doubling the amount of water used?

2. Research on the essential oil you have isolated from your source. Draw its structure.
Based on literature, what is its boiling point/vapor pressure? What are the uses of this oil?
IV

Conclusion

References

McMurry, John. (2010). Foundations of Organic Chemistry Philippine Edition. Quezon

City, Philippines: C&E Publishing, Inc.

Brown, Lemay, Bursten, Murphy, Woodward. (2012). Chemistry: The Central Science
12th Edition. Lake Ave., Glenview, IL: Pearson Education, Inc.

AMES, G.R. and MATTHEWS, W.S.A. (1968) The distillation of essential oils. Tropical
Science, 10, 136-148.

Tan, David. (February 2013). Steam distillation vs Simple Distillation & Fractional
Distillation. Accessed on March 14, 2015. Available from
http://aceyourchemistry.blogspot.com/2013/02/steam-distillation-vs-simple.html

Steam Distillation of an Essential Oil. Accessed on March 14, 2015. Available from
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~jaltig/SteamDistill.pdf

ISOLATION OF ESSENTIAL OILS BY STEAM DISTILLATION. Accessed on

March 14, 2015. Available from https://users.stlcc.edu/mhauser/Essential%20Oils.pdf

I hereby certify that the undersigned made his/her best effort in the creation of this
laboratory report.

______________________
Dagondon, Vanessa Olga J.

______________________
Sanchez, Diandra Dawn J.