USKUDAR UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences

Department of Bioengineering

DISTILLATION: TYPES AND APPLICATIONS – A REVIEW

BEN216 KINETICS AND REACTOR DESIGN

DR. MEHDI PARTOVI MERAN

BAHAR GEZER170202001, ZEHRA YILMAZ170202002, ÜMMÜHAN AKBAL170202012 , GİZEM

KANAT170202022

ABSTRACT.This report examines the distillation ,distillation types, process and applications. This will
enable the reader to understand the necessary things about the distillation. Distillation is a widely used
method for separating mixtures based on differences in the conditions required to change the phase of
components of the mixture. There are many types of distillation, such as simple, fractional, steam, vacuum
and zone. Also, distillation method which has a wide range of uses, plays an important role in science,
technology and industrial studies.

Contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Role of Raoult’s Law and Dalton’s Law........................................................................................................................................................2
3. Why is it Impossible to Completely Purify a Mixture by Distillation?...........................................................................................................2
4. Types of Distillation....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
4.1 Idealized distillation model...................................................................................................................................................................3
4.2 Laboratory scale distillation..................................................................................................................................................................3
4.2.1 Simple Distillation......................................................................................................................................................................3
4.2.2 Fractional Distillation..................................................................................................................................................................3
4.2.3 Steam Distillation........................................................................................................................................................................4
4.2.4 Vacuum distillation.....................................................................................................................................................................4
4.2.5 Air-Sensitive Vacuum Distillation..............................................................................................................................................5
4.2.6 Short Path Distillation................................................................................................................................................................. 5
4.2.7 Zone Distillation..........................................................................................................................................................................5
4.2.8 Other Types................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
4.3. Azeotropic distillation........................................................................................................................................................................... 8
4.4. Industrial distillation............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
5. Applications................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
5.1 Scientific Uses...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
 5.2 Water Purification............................................................................................................................................................................... 10
5.3 Alcoholic Beverages........................................................................................................................................................................... 10
5.4 Petroleum Products............................................................................................................................................................................. 10
5.5 Perfume............................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
5.6 Food Flavorings.................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
6. Summary...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Conflict of interests................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11
References.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

meet the requirement of high-grade energy. The

energy consumption of the
1. Introduction
VRHP process can be significantly reduced
Distillation, a chemical process for separating the
because of the higher thermodynamic efficiency
components of a liquid mixture by boiling and
and less input of external heat (14). Separations
collecting condensed vapors. Chemists use
operations account for roughly 50–70% of the
distillation to purify compounds in solution or to
energy used in large-scale chemicals
separate mixtures of solutes. For example,
manufacturing (15).
different compounds have different boiling points.
This property means that a more volatile
compound will evaporate at a lower temperature 2. Role of Raoult’s Law and Dalton’s Law

than a less volatile compound. Distillation must be Raoult's law and Henry's law are expressions

well known in the chemical industry for that relate the vapor fugacity of a component in a

separation of liquid mixtures; it accounts for about solution to composition. When the solution is non-

95% of all liquid separations (9). Here, there is a ideal, Raoult's Law cannot be applied. For non-

large driving force for mass and heat transfer ideal solution, we must use Henry's Law (41).

between the top and bottom of the column Raoult's law assumes that a component

contributing to a large loss of energy. Under this contributes to the total vapor pressure of the

scenario, any contribution to reduce energy mixture in proportion to its percentage of the

consumption with the help of energy-efficient mixture and its vapor pressure when pure, or

technologies will not only improve the economics succinctly: partial pressure equals mole fraction

but also socio-environmental welfare (10; 11; 12; multiplied by vapor pressure when pure. If one

13)It is important to note that distillation is not a component changes another component's vapor

chemical reaction but it can be considered as a pressure, or if the volatility of a component is

physical separation process. In the conventional dependent on its percentage in the mixture, the

distillation process, a lot of energy is inputted in law will fail (42).

the reboiler and most of the energy is discarded in Henry's Law predicts a linear equilibrium
the condenser. VRHP can raise the energy level to relationship. Still, most equilibrium relationships
are actually non-linear. Henry's Law is only
applicable over a modest liquid concentration
range, especially when the solution is dilute.
Distillation is the oldest and simplest procedure
for solvent purification, and it is also inexpensive.
It is based on Raoult's law, which states that the
partial vapour pressure of a solvent is proportional
to its mole fraction (43). The principles involved
in fractional distillation of liquid mixtures are
complex but can be seen by considering a system
which approximately obeys Raoult's law. In most
cases, systems deviate to a greater or lesser extent
from Raoult's law, and vapour pressures may be
greater or less than the values calculated (44).
3. Why is it Impossible to Completely
Purify a Mixture by Distillation?
All the volatile components boil at the boiling
point of the mixture. The amount of a component
in the resulting vapor is based on its participation
to the total vapor pressure of the mixture. So, the
compounds with higher partial pressures can be
concentrated in the vapors whereas the
compounds having low partial pressures can be
concentrated in the liquid (3). It is impossible to
have totally pure component from the mixture via
distillation because of the component in the
mixture cannot have zero partial pressure. At this
situation, chemical separation must be applied if
the aim is ultra-pure products (1). There is no
possibility of purify a mixture of compounds via
distillation completely but the samples of high
purity can be obtained when one of the
components in the mixture has a partial pressure
which is close to zero.
4. Types of Distillation
4.1 Idealized distillation model
It is a common misconception that in a liquid
mixture at a given pressure, each component boils
at the boiling point corresponding to the given
pressure and the vapors of each component will
collect separately and purely. This, however, does
not occur even in an idealized system. Idealized
models of distillation are essentially governed by
Raoult's law and Dalton's law, and assume that
vapor-liquid equilibria are attained. When the total
vapor pressure reaches the pressure surrounding
the liquid, boiling occurs and liquid turns to gas
throughout the bulk of the liquid. The idealized
model is accurate in the case of chemically similar
liquids, such as benzene and toluene. In other
cases, severe deviations from Raoult's law and
Dalton's law are observed, most famously in the
mixture of ethanol and water (42).
4.2 Laboratory scale distillation
4.2.1 Simple Distillation
Simple distillation is one of the simplest
distillation processes, in which the major
substance to be purified is evaporated together
with impurities at an elevated temperature, and the
resulting vapor is transferred to a container, where
it condenses at a reduced temperature (45). The
purification effect is due to the difference in
composition between the liquid mixture to be
separated and the vapor in equilibrium with it. The
separation effect is usually assessed theoretically
using the Rayleigh equation (46; 49). The
applicability of this equation is limited by the
condition of complete mixing of the liquid. If
 mixing is incomplete or there is no mixing, the
substance purification efficiency is significantly
influenced by impurity diffusion in the liquid (50).
In contrast to the Rayleigh equation, the diffusion
model proposed in a previous study (50) allows
one to calculate the degree of purification of
substances.
The distillation process involves the following
steps: vaporization, condensation, and transfer of
the vaporized substance from the evaporation zone
to the condensation zone. All three steps occur
simultaneously and depend on each other in a
closed vaporization–condensation system. The
evaporation rate in such a system is determined by
the vaporization and condensation temperatures
and the hydraulic resistances of the vaporization
and condensation compartments and connecting
tube (51).
the glass beads in the fractionating column
provide 'theoretical plates' on which the vapors
can condense, reevaporate, and then recondense,
essentially distilling the mixture over and over.
One theoretical plate is equivalent to one
vaporization-condensation cycle, which is
equivalent to one simple distillation. The more
volatile liquids will gradually move towards the
top of the fractionating column, while lower
boiling liquids will stay towards the bottom,
giving a better separation between the liquids. The
vapor eventually reaches the condenser, where it
is cooled and then drips into the collection vessel.
There are several ways of classifying the useful
fractions that are distilled from crude oil. One
general way is by dividing into three categories:
light, middle, and heavy fractions. Heavier
components condense at higher temperatures and
are removed at the bottom of the column. The
lighter fractions are able to rise higher in the
column before they are cooled to their condensing
temperature, allowing them to be removed at
slightly higher levels (16).

(Figure 1: A Simple Distillation Model.)

4.2.2 Fractional Distillation

In fractional distillation, a mixture of liquids is
boiled and the resulting vapors travel up a glass
tube called a "fractionating column" and separate.
The fractionating column is placed between the (Figure 2: Fractional distillation.)
flask containing the mixture and the "Y" adaptor,
4.2.3 Steam Distillation
and is usually filled with glass or plastic beads,
Steam distillation is a process that aims to purify,
which improves the separation between the liquids
separate, or isolate temperature-sensitive
being distilled. Fractional distillation leads to a
compounds like natural aromatic compounds.
better separation than simple distillation because
Steam or water should be added to the distillation
apparatus and with using the properties of
immiscible, unmixable liquids, the process might
be performed at lower temperatures (below the
components decomposition point). This method
performed by bubbling hot steam through the
mixture which is a little heated to vaporize some
of it. The vapor is condensed when the organic
compounds are distilled because they have to be
immiscible with each other. After boil the
immiscible liquid using steam to heat, the steam
ensures that the temperature of the compounds
does not exceed their boiling point (2), as a result
the vapor that condensed can collected. The
resulting fluid consists of two phases: organic
compound and water that being distilled. These
compounds are separate due to the properties of
non-mixing liquids and can be physically
separated by draining or using a separation funnel.
The method generally used for to isolate essential
oils from natural products (eucalyptus oil from
eucalyptus, citrus oil from lemon or orange peel,
etc.), and steam stripping in petroleum refineries
to separate organic compounds (6). The products
that are made with using steam distillation largely
used in perfume and cologne production likewise
some cooking materials.
(Figure 3: Sample photography for steam distillation.)
4.2.4 Vacuum distillation
Vacuum distillation is the technique used to
separate higher boiling fractions of crude oil. The
underlying theory and the process are analogous
to those used to separate the lighter fractions in
the atmospheric distillation process. The
difference between the two physical separation
methods is that atmospheric distillation occurs
under atmospheric pressure, whereas vacuum
distillation occurs at a significantly reduced
pressure, thus reducing the boiling point of a
substance. Hence, high boiling components can be
boiled at lower temperatures, without the risk of
cracking. Vacuum towers are much shorter than
atmospheric towers in order to minimize the
pressure differential from top to bottom.
Generally, the pressure used in vacuum distillation
is in the range of 50 to 100 mmHg, although some
lubricating oil stocks may require even lower
pressure operating conditions. Fractions recovered
from the vacuum distillation process usually are
divided into gas oil, lubricating oil, and asphalt.
The combination of the atmospheric and vacuum
distillation processes is an important first step in
converting crude oil into useful and economically
valuable products (52).
(Figure 4: Vacuum Distillation Model.)
4.2.5 Air-Sensitive Vacuum Distillation tenths of that in a falling film (56), which
This technique is also very useful for compounds effectively reduces the component decomposition
which boil beyond their decomposition (57).
temperature at atmospheric pressure and which
4.2.7 Zone Distillation
would therefore be decomposed by any attempt to
Zone distillation is a distillation process in long
boil them under atmospheric pressure. Some
container with partial melting of refined matter in
compounds have very high boiling points. To boil
moving liquid zone and condensation of vapor in
such compounds, it is often better to lower the
the solid phase at condensate pulling in cold area.
pressure at which such compounds are boiled
The process is worked in theory. When zone
instead of increasing the temperature. Once the
heater is moving from the top to the bottom of the
pressure is lowered to the vapor pressure of the
container then solid condensate with irregular
compound (at the given temperature), boiling and
impurity distribution is forming. Then most pure
the rest of the distillation process can commence.
part of the condensate may be extracted as
This technique is referred to as vacuum distillation
product. The process may be iterated many times
and is commonly found in the laboratory in the
by moving (without turnover) the received
form of the rotary evaporator. Air gap membrane
condensate to the bottom part of the container on
distillation (AGMD) is one of the most important
the place of refined matter. The irregular impurity
membrane distillation processes for extracting
distribution in the condensate (that is efficiency of
pure water from saline water. In the AGMD
purification) increases with number of repetitions
configuration, as presented in Fig.3. a sluggish air
of the process. Zone distillation is a distillation
gap is introduced between the membrane and the
analog of zone recrystallization. Impurity
condensing surface which acts as a thermal
distribution in the condensate is described by
insulation layer (17; 18)to minimize the heat
known equations of zone recrystallization with
losses by conduction across the membrane.
various numbers of iteration of process – with
4.2.6 Short Path Distillation replacement distribution efficient k of
Short-path distillation is usually treated as an crystallization on separation factor α of distillation
appropriate method to separate low-volatile and (77).
heat-sensitive substances such as vitamins,
4.2.8 Other Types
pharmaceutical intermediaries, and high-vacuum
oils (53) (55). Distillation has two main styles: the 4.2.8.1 Catalytic Distillation
falling-film and the centrifugal style. For many Catalytic distillation (CD) is a “green”
thermally unstable organic substances, the technology that aims to catalyze the reactants
centrifugal style still shows special advantages as while being distilled continuously. CD is
the liquid film in a spinning cone is more uniform improving field that combine kinetics, catalysis,
and the residence time is just on the order of a few and mass transfer to provide more selective and
energy efficient process easily. This reactor
technology allows us to separate reactants and
products via single distillation reactor or column.
The main function is, enlarged the yield of
heterogeneous catalytic reactions (refining
gasoline, etc.). In the process, liquid reactants are
catalyzed while being heated inside the catalytic
distillation column, and then the products directly
begin to vaporize and are separated from the
initial solution. The newly formed products boiled
out of the system quickly by catalyzing and
heating the reactants at the same immediate
.According to the Le Chatelier’s principle, new
products formed from the reactants to replace the
removed products continuously. In this situation,
the system cannot reach the equilibrium because
of the system lose products continuously.
(Figure 5: Sample photography of Catalytic Distillation.)
oligomerization of olefins. Most of the CD
processes are related to the petroleum and
petrochemical industries (8)
4.2.8.2 Reactive Distillation
Reactive distillation (RD) is a process
intensification technique that allows simultaneous
separation to take place when chemical reaction
occurs. RD gives benefits to equilibrium-limited
reactions by pulling the chemical equilibrium
towards complete conversion and allowing high
selectivity (e.g. avoiding potential consecutive
reactions) due to the continuous removal of
products from the RD column (58). Among
others, RD offers great advantages in costs
reduction by simplifying complex processes and
integrating the reaction and separation functions
into a single unit with reduced requirements (59).
The use of exothermic heat of reaction to drive the
liquid vaporization reduces the energy
requirement (60). There are also health, safety and
environmental improvements mainly because of
less emissions from plants, lower levels of
reactive hold-up and decreased risks of runaway
reactions (61) (62).

The implementation of RD is very appealing to

The reactants are often more volatile than the
other reactions involving reversible quaternary
products because of an internal recycling system
systems (A + B ⇌ C + D) and ternary systems (A 
(Reflux). The reflux transfers the concentrated
+ B ⇌ C and A ⇌ B + C). Some examples include
vapor back to the catalyst area, and also returns a
the hydration of cyclohexene to obtain
part of the condensed liquids to the column to
cyclohexanol (63), dehydration of glycerol to
guarantee only the products with the lowest
acetol (64), isoamyl acetate production via
boiling points are captured (7). The applications
esterification of isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid
are hydration of olefins, alkylations,
(65) and diethyl carbonate synthesis via
esterifications, hydrolysis, aldol condensation,
transesterification of propylene carbonate and
hydrogenation, desulfurization, and
ethanol (66).
(Figure 6: Reactive Distillation Diagram Process
Intensification.)
4.2.8.3 Extractive Distillation
Extractive distillation is one of the leading
distillation processes for the separation of
minimum- or maximum-boiling azeotropes and
low-relative-volatility mixtures. Unlike azeotropic
distillation, the entrainer is fed at a different
location than the main mixture to be separated,
inducing an extractive section within the column.
For many years, only heavy entrainers were
supposed to be feasible, but intermediate, light,
and heterogeneous entrainers are suitable as well.
Entrainer selection relies on knowledge of the
residue curve map topology and the calculation of
univolatility curves to analyze the volatility order
of the mixture. In most cases, the achievable
product is a saddle point of the residue curve map.
A general criterion shows that the most or the
least volatile component is recovered from a direct
or an indirect split-column configuration in the
distillate or in the bottom stream, respectively.
Batch or continuous operation is governed by the
same entrainer selection rules, but the operating
parameter value range for the entrainer-feed flow
rate ratio and the reflux ratio is different. The
batch process also enables one to stir the still path
by changing the reflux policy during the
operation. We can see the mechanism of
extractive distillation in figure 1 below (78).
(Figure 7: Mechanism of the extractive distillation.)
4.2.8.4 Pervaporation
Pervaporation is an membrane separation
technology whose performance and selectivity
used for several applications. The applications
concerning end of pipe processes that incudes
solvent recovery (dehydration of ethanol-water
solution, etc.). This method is important for
solvent dehydration because the selectivity of
water is high with state of art membranes. Also it
is ideal to measure a relatively small amount of
concentration range of water that has to move
from the solution. That is why it is preferred in the
industry (34; 35; 36).
4.2.8.5 Flash Evaporation
Liquid will be overheated and thereby evaporated
when it enters into the environment with lower
saturation pressure than that corresponding to its
initial temperature. This phenomenon is called the
flash evaporation (67). Due to strong evaporation
behavior, flash evaporation is accompanied with
phase changes during absorption of heats. It has
been used in more and more fields, including
seawater desalination (68), national defense (69),
health care (70) (71), aerospace (72), and
electronic industry (73). Vacuum and high-altitude
environments are a natural low-pressure
environment. With this advantage, flash
evaporation has been extensively used in the
aerospace field. Recently, aerospace technology
develops quickly. Aircrafts and spacecrafts have to form the cold side. The vapor passing through
extensive applications and important significances the membrane condenses on the cold side to
in civil purpose, military purpose, and scientific produce the distillate. A typical membrane
exploration. They have become the research distillation unit is shown in Figure (80).
hotspot in the world. The former one includes
planes, helicopters, and supersonic bomber. The
latter one covers space shuttle, man-made earth
satellite, manned spacecraft, space probe, and so
on. Air vehicles often serve in high altitude or
outer space. These spaces are tough environments
with low temperature and low pressure. In these
(Figure 8: Membrane distillation.)
environments, air vehicles will experience high
temperature and high-speed frictions at running Many different membrane distillation techniques
through the atmospheric layers. These hostile exist. The basic four techniques mainly differ by
environments influence the safe and stable the arrangement of their distillate channel or the
running of air vehicles significantly (74). manner in which this channel is operated.These
are Direct Contact MD (DCMD),Direct Contact
4.2.8.6 Codistillation
MD (DCMD),Vacuum MD (VMD) and Sweeping
Codistillation is distillation which is performed on
Gas MD (SWGMD).
mixtures in which the two compounds are not
miscible. In the laboratory, the Dean-Stark 4.2.8.8 Evaporation
apparatus is used for this purpose to remove water Freeze distillation: Freezing distillation, or ,
from synthesis products. The Bleidner is another ‘freezing concentration’ is a process in which a
example with two refluxing solvents (79). drink is frozen and then allowed to melt, removing
excess water from it. ‘Distillation’ is a bit of a
4.2.8.7 Membrane Distillation
misnomer, because nothing is heated—one might
Membrane distillation (MD) is a separation
say it’s rather the opposite.During this process
process in which only vapors are allowed to pass
both the concentration of the drink and the alcohol
through a porous hydrophobic membrane. The
content are increased. Contrary to regular
separation is achieved because of the vapor
distillation, freezing distillation is considered legal
pressure differences between the membrane
all over the world. The easiest method is to pour
surfaces. The membrane consists of so many pores
the drink into a container, such as a plastic jug,
in which the pores cannot be wetted by the feed
and freeze it, either in the freezer or outdoors if
solution. In generation, one side of the membrane
you live somewhere cold. This may take up to a
directly contacts with hot saline water to form the
few days (still faster than aging) but you can
hot side. Another side of the membrane directly or
speed it up by freeze distilling in a number of
indirectly comes in contact with cold, fresh water
smaller bottles. Once it’s frozen, let it slowly
unfreeze and drip into another vessel. Remove
once most of what’s left in the jug is ice. Carefully
stir and have a sip or two. It’s hard to estimate the
gravity of the final product--it depends on how
much water was removed, which in turn depends
on the temperature of the freezer, etc. If, however,
half of the volume of the drink is lost, a bit less
than double of the original alcohol percentage will
be retained. Do note that there’s only so much you
can do with freeze distillation—the end gravity
depends not on the count of times freezing
distillation is done, but rather on the end
temperature (81).
Rotary evaporation: Flow pattern inside and
outside a rotating cylinder with a certain known
volume of liquid is a topic which is extensively
reported in the literature [11]. Rotary evaporation
is the process of reducing the volume of a solvent
by distributing it as a thin film across the interior
of a vessel at elevated temperature and reduced
pressure. Most rotary evaporators have four major
components: heat bath, rotor, condenser, and
solvent trap. Its speed and ability to handle large
volumes of solvent make rotary evaporation a
preferred method of solvent removal in many
laboratories, especially in instances involving low
boiling point solvents. Rotating cylindrical heat
pipes are used to cool electrical motors and cutting
tools such as drill bits etc. However the heat pipes
are generally closed off at its end with a fixed
volume of fluid inside them for operation (20).
Dry distillation or destructive distillation:
Lignocellulosic resources such as wood,
agricultural residues and energy crops have
constructed the second generation biofuels which
do not compete with the food industry, although
raw feedstocks are grown on arable land. Third
generation biofuels refer to those derived from
algae biomass and arable land is not essential in
their production (21).Thermochemical methods to
convert biomass to liquid fuels are receiving
increasing interest due to several reasons. These
methods are capable of converting biomass to a
wide range of products including gas, different
range of liquid biofuels and even biochar (the
solid residue), which has several applications such
as bioremediation and soil productivity
improvement (22; 23).
Dry distillation means the strong heating method
to the solid material while shutting the air off. By
applying this technique, organic matter
decomposes to gas or liquid and ultimately
volatilizes and part of such gas or liquid remains
as a solid matter. In addition, thermochemical
methods are relatively feedstock-agnostic, easily
adaptable to process a range of moisture contents,
and easy to operate (24; 25; 26).
4.3. Azeotropic distillation
Azeotropes are defined as the mixtures of
liquids which boil at constant temperature like a
pure liquid and possess same composition of
components in liquid as well as in vapour phase.
Azeotropes are also called constant boiling
mixtures because whole of the azeotropes changes
into vapour state at constant temperature and their
components can not be separated by fractional
distillation. With the deterioration of the global
environment, environmentally friendly ionic
liquids have received much attention as solvents
for separating azeotropes (27; 28; 29; 30). A
common historical example of azeotropic
distillation is its use in dehydrating ethanol and
water mixtures. Azeotropes are of two types as
minimum and maximum boiling azeotrope;
(those with the highest boiling point) exit from the
bottom of the column and are often called the
bottoms.

Minimum boiling azeotrope: For the solutions

with positive deviation there is an intermediate
composition for which the vapour pressure of the
solution is maximum and hence, boiling point is
minimum. At this composition the solution distills
at constant temperature without change in
composition. This type of solutions are called
minimum boiling azeotrope. Maximum boiling
azeotrope: For the solutions with negative
deviations there is an intermediate composition for
which the vapour pressure of the solution is
minimum and hence, boiling point is maximum.
At this composition the solution distill`s at
constant temperature without the change in
composition. This type of solutions are called
maximum boiling azeotrope.
4.4. Industrial distillation
Industrial distillation (75) (76) is typically
performed in large, vertical cylindrical columns
known as distillation towers or distillation
columns with diameters ranging from about 65
centimeters to 16 meters and heights ranging from
about 6 meters to 90 meters or more. When the
process feed has a diverse composition, as in
distilling crude oil, liquid outlets at intervals up
the column allow for the withdrawal of different
fractions or products having different boiling
points or boiling ranges. The "lightest" products
(those with the lowest boiling point) exit from the
top of the columns and the "heaviest" products
(Figure 9: Diagram of a Typical Industrial Distillation
Tower.)
5. Applications
5.1 Scientific Uses
Concentration of Alcohol:Fermented grains can
produce a maximum alcohol content of about
16%, the upper limit of most beers and wines, as
the yeast organism used in fermentation cannot
survive in more concentrated alcoholic solutions.
However, spirits such as gin, vodka, and rum
usually have an alcohol content of roughly 40%by
volume. Distillation is the method used to
concentrate fermented solutions and produce hard
liquors. A distillation of fermented grape juice is
commonly done in academic laboratories (82).
Distilled Water: Access to clean, fresh water is a
major problem facing the world today. In
countries neighboring the ocean, seawater
desalination is sometimes used to provide the
country with drinkable water. Distillation is one of
the main methods sed to purify ocean water and
works well since salt, microorganisms, and other
components of seawater are non-volatile. The
main disadvantage of distilling water is that the
process requires a lot of energy, and unless
engineered creatively, the economics can be a
major deterrent to using the method. Heat released
from a power plant is often used to provide the
energy for the distillation of seawater, and Saudi
Arabia and Israel mainly use coupled power plants
and distilleries to obtain roughly half the fresh
water needed for their countries (82).
5.2 Water Purification
Water purification is an process that aims to
clean the dirty water that includes solved and
dissolved materials and distillation helps us to do
the process. Scientists discovered an ideal water
purification system that removes both types of the
unvanted substances from the water. In this
process an membrane used with using physical
barrier, a chemical process, optical process, or a
biological process. The water that cleaned can be
used for the applications of supplying drinking
water, food processing, constructions, industrial
processes, swimming pool and other water based
utilities (37).
Types of water filters include media filters,
screen filters, disk filters, granular ambient filters,
slow sand filter beds, rapid sand filters, cloth
filters, and biological filters such as algae
scrubbers. Depending on the driving force for
water filtration, granular ambient filters are
classified as gravity and pressure filters. The main
differences between the two types of filters are the
head needed to pass water through the ambient
bed, the filtration rate, and the type of vessel used
to contain the filter medium (38).
5.3 Alcoholic Beverages
Incorrectly distilled or diluted spirits may contain
fermentation by-products, such as methanol, and
may cause very serious or even life threatening
health problems when consumed excessively. The
use of natural ingredients, i.e. herbs, water and
ethyl alcohol in the beverage, should not suggest
the formation of a hazardous waste during the
production process. It was found, though, that the
waste contains heavy metals (31). The waste
which contained a significant concentration of
metals, such as Cu, Fe, Ni, Zn, Cd and Cr is
considered hazardous, requiring treatment before
disposal (32).
Part of the metal content is attributed to the
production process and another part to the
flavoring herbs and combined use of metallic pot
still.Because alcohol has a lower boiling point
than water, distillers can evaporate the alcohol
(mostly) by itself, collect the vapors into a tube
and use cold temperatures to force the alcohol to
condense back into liquid.These standard methods
are simple and use a low-cost apparatus, but they
are time-consuming and require constant attention,
leading to low throughput (33).
5.4 Petroleum Products
Distillation is the most widely used separation
technique in the petroleum industry.
Petrol: Petrol is a fuel which is a liquid state in
the fuel tank and in the fuel injectors (or
carburettor on older engines) and which is
nebulized with air before being injected into the
combustion chamber. Petroleum is a mixture of
organic compounds containing only two elements
[carbon and hydrogen].Oil naturally leaks to the
earth through fault lines and cracks in the rocks,
accumulating to form tar, asphalt and pitch ponds.
The distillation test measures the percentage of
vaporized fuel as the temperature increases. The
test result is a curve obtained under standardized
conditions of temperature versus percentage of
evaporated fuel (Figure) wherein the different
sections of the curve allow us to interpret the
different behaviours of the product (83; 84)
(Figure 9: Distillation curve of petrol.)
Diesel:Diesel is any fuel that can be used in a
diesel engine. Diesel is produced by fractional
distillation between 392° Fahrenheit and 662°
Fahrenheit. Diesel has a higher density than
gasoline and is simpler to refine from crude oil. It
is most commonly used in transportation (84).
Asphalt:Asphalt is commonly used to make
roads. It is a colloid of asphaltenes and maltenes
that is separated from the other components of
crude oil by fractional distillation. Once asphalt is
collected, it is processed in a de-asphalting unit,
and then goes through a process called “blowing”
where it is reacted with oxygen to make it harden.
Asphalt is usually stored and transported at around
300° Fahrenheit (84).
5.5 Perfume
One of the earliest uses of distilling was to make
perfume, which began around 3500 B.C. The
aroma from various plants and herbs is contained
in what are known as essential oils, which can be
extracted through distillation. However, many
aromatic plants tend to decompose at high
temperatures so separation by normal distillation
isn’t practical. In those instances, steam is passed
through the plant material to draw out the essential
oils without burning the mixture. The steam is
then captured and condensed just as in normal
distillation (85).
5.6 Food Flavorings
Flavorings are substances that change or
improve the taste of food and can made with
distillation. They consist of a variety of natural
and human-made compounds and can consist of a
single chemical, but more often they are complex
mixtures of compounds. The types of that are
natural flavoring substances(obtained from plant
or animal raw materials.), nature-identical
flavoring substances(obtained by synthesis or
isolated through chemical processes.), artificial
flavoring substances(not identified in a natural
product intended for human consumption, not the
product is processed.) (39; 40).
6. Summary
All in all, distillation is a mature separation technology
and will remain dominant in the near future. Despite
the high energy requirements, distillation is a cost-
effective method for separating large quantities of
material into high purity products. During distillation
of a normal mixture the principal component with the
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