Fractional distillation
a separation technique used to separate mixtures which contain components with similar boiling points
Fractional distillation is a process used to separate two or more liquids with different boiling points from a mixture. The process involves heating the mixture in a distillation column, which consists of a long vertical tube that is packed with a material such as glass beads or steel wool. As the mixture is heated, its components vaporize and rise up the column.
The components with the lower boiling points will vaporize first and rise up the column more easily than the components with higher boiling points. The vaporized components then condense at different heights in the column, with the components that have the lowest boiling points condensing near the top, and the components with the highest boiling points condensing towards the bottom.
These separated fractions are then collected and further purified to obtain the desired products. Fractional distillation is commonly used in the petroleum and chemical industries to separate crude oil into different components such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.
To ensure that the process is as efficient as possible, it is important to carefully control the temperature and pressure in the distillation column. By doing so, the process can be optimized to ensure that the maximum amount of each component is collected. Additionally, the use of fractionating columns with multiple distillation plates can help to further increase separation efficiency and minimize losses.
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