Talk:Distillation/Archive 1

Select moot or older sections from Talk:Distillation have been moved here to shorten that page because it is too long.

Improvement Project

This and many other chemical, biochemical, biotechnology articles are pretty pathetic. Join the new improvement drive at the above Wikiproject. I am new at wikipedia and need a lot of help! so HELP!!!!

Definition request

can i have a definiton on distillation of petroleum as an application of fractional distillation.

Like Oil_refinery or Fractional_distillation ... ? Dbroadwell 05:39, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Dear Lord! When I have a free moment, I am overhauling this page. No mention of distillation columns for a start, confusing mention of azeotropes without context...

Does distillation only evaporate water?

Question: Does distillation only evaporate water?

Answer: Distillation evaporates many different kinds of substances as well as water.
H Padleckas 17:21, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

glossary of terms

is it possible for a liquid with a constant b.p not to be pure?

If you are referring to a constant boiling point during the process of a batch distillation, and I understand your question correctly, I believe the answer is yes--try investigating azeotropes; this might be the concept you are looking for. Azeotropes are also discussed briefly in this article.--GregRM 03:14, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Someone's messed with this page

I just started reading it and someone added in "You know what I mean yall"

A Distiller is also an Adobe term for the process of changing files into PDF files. SHould this be included here? I don't know enough about it to do it myself but came looking for an explaination so may be it should at least have a note and a link? Thanks

69.36.1.158, first of all, you should always sign and date your comments on a Discussion page. If you end your comment with four tildes like this ~~~~, your comment will automatically be signed and dated.

As for mentioning the Adobe term "Distiller" in this article on Distillation, I don't think it is needed. The article does not include the word "distiller". If it did, then it might be appropriate to mention the Adobe term and/or create a disambiguation page for the word "Distiller". But since that word is not included in the article, I don't think that any disambiguation is needed as yet. - mbeychok 22:58, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Added a discussion and image of industrial distillation towers

I just added a discussion and an image of industrial scale distillation towers. In my opinion, the article was too heavily focused on laboratory distillation and whisky stills. - mbeychok 23:14, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

The terms "still" and "pot" are rather archaic

The terms "still" and "pot" in reference to distillation equipment and reboilers may still be used in bench-scale lab work or perhaps even in pilot plant scale. But industry (with perhaps the exception of some whisky distillers) rarely uses those terms today. "Distillation towers", "fractionators", and "reboilers" are the terms almost universally used in petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, and other industries. I really think "still" and "pot" should be removed from this article. - mbeychok 06:12, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

"Classic" copper potstills are still used in Scotland for the production of Scotch. For instance, Glenmorangie still uses them. Reference: http://www.thewhiskystore.de/experts/copper.htm Hugo Dufort 21:38, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Does trivia about George Washinton really belong here?

The trivia about George Washington may or may not be true. But does it really belong here in a science article? Why not just add it to the George Washington article where it would be suitable and remove it from here? - mbeychok 06:12, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Nope ... but neat tidbits are what makes wikipedia not be britannica. So keep it, in the database. -- ∞Dbroadwell 01:00, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

origins of distillation

I'm pretty sure distillation came from the Arabs (in the process of making perfumes; thus al-cohol), but I'm not sure of a particular source for this. Anyone know any more about it?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.144.78.126 (talk • contribs) .

Distillation was probably first used by the ancient Arab chemists to isolate perfumes. Vessels with a trough on the rim to collect distillate, called Diqarus, date back to 3500 BC.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 219.65.138.47 (talk • contribs) .

Pink cow?

What is with that thing about milking the pink cow at the beginning?

It’s called vandalism, and was reverted 20 minutes ago. --Van helsing 13:51, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Distillation Structure

While this article has quite a bit of rather complete data, it seems to end abruptly and is trying to answer all of the topics about distillation in one place. Idea: move more towards a featured article format by making sure that the data here, is represented in each of the sub-articles and making this one more of a 'summary' type of thing. Commentary? -- ∞Dbroadwell 14:52, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I think this article is getting a bit jumbled - maybe it should have a bit of a restructuring shake-up?

my suggestion is:

1 History

2 Theory

3 Types of physical distillation

3.1 Simple distillation

3.2 Fractional distillation

3.3 Short path distillation

3.4 Vacuum distillation

3.4.1 Air-sensitive vacuum distillation

4 Types of Chemical distillation

4.1 Azeotropes

4.2 Steam distillation

4.3 Reactive distillation

4.4 Destructive distillation

5 Applications

5.1 Distilled beverages

5.2 Industrial distillation

5.3 Laboratory distillation apparatus

6 See also

7 External links

8 References 9 Gallery

Also there is quite a few redundant bits where distillation is redefined, and could be deleted.

your views please!

Quantockgoblin 09:16, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Quantockgoblin: I agree that some re-organization would be useful. I strongly disagree with your making a distinction between what you call "physical distillation" and "chemical distillation". In other words, your sections 3 and 4 should be combined into one section entitled "Types of distillation". I also think that section 5.3 shoul be eliminated completely ... this article already has altogether too much emphasis on laboratory glassware and laboratory setups. Short path distillation and the Kugelrohr apparatus are covered in two section of the article as it now stands. - mbeychok 16:50, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Mbeychok, thanks for your comments. I'm not too hung up on the idea that we need separate sections 3 and 4, I'm just trying to make sense of the various types of distillation. So maybe just a re-ordering of a combined section 3 and 4. Although, I can't help but think there is a bit of a distinction between separating mixtures as opposed to using distillation as a means for driving chemical reactions. I agree 5.3 is a little redundant, but I do think application of distillation in the lab will be of interest to readers.Quantockgoblin 12:51, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Quantockgoblin, thanks for letting me know that we are pretty much in agreement. I would just point out that using steam in steam distillation is not a means of driving chemical reactions. The steam, in effect, simply allows the distillation to occur at a lower temperature. Nor do I see how destructive distillation is a means of driving chemical reactions ... in fact, I am not sure that it is a distillation process. I think the more appropriate name is pyrolysis. I agree that lab distillation is of interest to some readers, but there are many, many readers who are also interested in the tens of thousands of industrial distillation towers worldwide and I still believe this article does not have a proper balance between industrial and lab distillation. Regards, - mbeychok 15:43, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Mbeychok, great, I guess we just need to do the reorganisation then! Just to follow up on your last comment a little. You are correct that pyrolysis is not a distillation technique, although the products of the pyrolysis reaction are often distilled off. However, many chemical reactions exist in an equilibrium and that equilibrium can be driven to one side by distilling off the most volatile component. A classic example would be to distil water from a equilibrium mixture of an alchol and an carboxylic acid to make an ester. This is certainly an application of distillation but is it distillation as such? In terms of balance, we probably need at least a third view? The only other option would be to split the article in some way, 'industrial scale distillation' vs ??? Quantockgoblin 17:12, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Quantockgoblin, I don't think we need to split the article ... we just need less laboratory chemistry orientation. Your above "classic example" of distilling water from an alcohol and carboxylic acid mixture to make an ester is an example of what I mean .. it isn't really sticking to the definition of distillation in the opening sentence of this article, namely Distillation is a method of separation of substances based on differences in their volatilities. Your example is, in my opinion, purely a chemistry subject. It is not the layman's definition of distillation nor is it the engineer's definition of distillation. I think we should keep the total readership in mind and somehow achieve a balance between laboratory chemistry and the large world of industrial distillation. I do agree with you that we should wait until we've heard from at least 6 or more people. With that, I will bow out of this dialogue until we have heard from many others. - mbeychok 18:53, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Are you certain that water is distilled off, not the ester? Usually for short chains, the ester will be more volatile. Another example would be the use of a Dean-Stark apparatus to remove water for the same purpose - to drive the equilibrium. --Rifleman 82 17:21, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

I wondered if anyone would come back with that ... it really depends on the size of the acid/alcohol! But the point is the same, one component is removed to drive a reaction Quantockgoblin 17:57, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Reason for changes

Simuulation is not "necessary" for designing fractionation columns, so I deleted that wording. Such columns were designed using plate-by-plate calculations done by manual calculations for many years before we even had hand-held calculators and computers. To preach a bit, what is "necessary" is for engineers to learn how to do such calculations manually because then they will be in a much better position to evaluate whether their "black box" simulation model is providing credible answers.

I also provided a better definition of distillation trays (or plates) and how their efficiencies compare to theoretical equilibrium stages.

Finally, I deleted the statement that distillation columns might need four times more trays than theoretical equilibrium stages. It is quite rare for distillation plates to have an efficiency as low as 25%. Most trays in most distillation systems have efficiencies in excess of 60%. In any event, I don't think there is anything gained by attempting to characterize the "typical" range of efficiencies. Distillation plate efficiencies are a function of the type of plate, the design of the plate, and of the separation system itself (i.e., feed composition, operating temperatures and pressures, etc.). - mbeychok 23:22, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Re: (OT) Engineering Soapbox; No kidding. If you had any clue how few of the engineering students could grasp the subleties multi-demsional integration or do math without calculating you might be suprised and I'm a student myself! But, Back On Topic; I'll do some writing up of the 'homebrew' low pressure distillation system and about solar distillation, which is a similar low pressure low tech type of thing. I'd like to see this article refactor into something that reads less like a jointed report and more like a encyclopedia article, but my own knowlege of the topic is a bit low to handle that at the moment. -- ∞Dbroadwell 01:26, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

disadvantages

Does distillation have any disadvantages other than the fact that the heat can be detremental to the materials within

Disadvantages compared to what? And please sign your messages. - mbeychok 02:44, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

One of the main disadvantages of distillation is that it is quite dangerous! Inexperienced people can set up distillations as sealed systems which can lead to a very dangerous explosions due to the build up of pressure in the system, and if flamable solvents are used, a fire as well. also, distillation is often used in conjunction with chemical drying agents to dry solvents, in some cases this can lead over time to build up of dangerous and explosive by-products.

Distillation is also not always the most efficient route to remove impurities. For example people often try to remove trace impurities that have high boiling points e.g. DMSO from solids by use of vacuum distillation techniques which can take days. Often it is better to add the desired solid to a column (column chromatography) and wash the DMSO off with hexane, then remove the desired solid from the column with a more polar solvent like DCM. Quantockgoblin 09:57, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I would say that the first and second points about the dangers of stills do not apply when trained and experienced personnel are concerned. But bearing in mind the number of distillation accidents...

Why would you want to send your solid through a column? Why not wash with water and pump dry? Water should come off much more easily under a high vacuum than DMSO. --Rifleman 82 13:21, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, with regard to point 1 & 2, when trained and experienced personnel are concerned accidents should not happen but they do! In fact, I heard of quite a few post-doc chemist being involved in still accidents/fires or near misses. You are correct that a with proper training and vigilance accidents should not happen, but that is about managing the real risk!

Not all compounds are water soluble or stable (or as you might then point out, stable on all column media either), also water (like DMSO) can be very hard (/slow) to remove on even a very good pump - depending on the desired compound. I've seen people wash with water, vap down to remove DMSO. Then to remove trace water they zoetrope with toluene, vac down (repeat a few times). Then add EtOAc to remove the Toluene and so on. A simple filtration in effect through silica can be a lot less fuss. But in a way, your point is the same as mine, straight distillation is not always the best way or the fastest way to remove high boiling impurities without and intermediate step.

I thought the question posed by the original editor was to highlight any disadvantages of distillation, my role was not to debunk distillation, but was at least to suggest that it is not always the best route to remove liquid impurities - well not quickly anyway! Quantockgoblin 14:30, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Image Thumbnails

Hi Mbeychok

I see you've been painstakingly adjusting the image widths to fit the article together. Thanks for your effort. A point though - all your work will be for naught if the next user doesn't use a full screen window, uses a different browser, uses a different screen resolution, default font, etc. Perhaps we should just leave it at thumb without setting the number of pixels? This is especially good for people using PDAs or similar who have very small screens.

As an aside, how about contributing your expertise on industrial distillation to this article? --Rifleman 82 05:56, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Rifleman, as you noted, it is virtually impossible to cater to every one's display screen and I agree. What I did was try to cater to the vast majority, like myself, who use Windows XP as their operating system and Internet Explorer as their browser. It is my belief that majority of Wikipedia users are not using Firefox browsers or using UNIX or other advanced operating systems ... and PDA or cellphone users are certainly only a very, very small percentage.

As for your other point about industrial distillation. In the 7 to 8 months that I've been active on Wikipedia, I have created over 40 new technical, engineering article and made major contributions to another such 40 articles. During that time, I have learned that large majority of devoted and very active Wikipedians are university undergraduates or post graduates, and the number of young chemists and young physicists (with no real world experience) far outnumber the very, very few experienced engineers who contribute to Wikipedia. I am not trying to denigrate the students ... I am merely stating the factual situation that currently exists. This distillation article and most of the ten or so other distillation articles (listed in the "See also" section of this article) are quite obviously heavily oriented toward laboratory distillation as evidenced by all of the images of glassware setups in the ten or so articles. As one pertinent example, in my 50 year career as a chemical engineer (during which I designed half a dozen oil refinery vacuum distillation towers with diameters exceeding 4 meters), neither I nor anyone I worked with ever heard of a laboratory Perkins Triangle or Rotary Evaporator vacuum distillation setup. In other words, I and the young chemistry students who wrote those ten articles just don't live on the same planet. If you will look on the History page of this article, back in about the last week of March, I wrote the section on Industrial Distillation which has since been relegated to the last sub-section in the article. It would be a losing battle for me to try and re-orient this article to truly represent the tens of thousands of large industrial applications of all types of distillation that exist in the real world outside of university and research institute laboratories. So I've turned my efforts, as much as I can, into areas not dominated by young chemists, physicists and mathematicians. Please don't interpret this as a complaint or a rant ... I enjoy working on Wikipedia and this is only a realistic, pragmatic statement of the facts as they now exist in Wikipedia. - mbeychok 07:04, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi Mbeychok

What I meant to say was that, if you did not set an image width for each thumbnail, the image width will be set either at a default value, or at an appropriate size chosen by the user (in the settings). By forcing an image width, the thumbnails will no longer resize according to the user preferences. Having the image conform to the user preferences, I would expect, would fit even more of the users most of the time.

As for industrial distillation - I see your point of view on the uphill task. Reading your contributions I felt that is your forte, and it would be nice to have some balance, and make the distillation article even more complete. Thanks for your comments all the same. --Rifleman 82 08:11, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Rifleman, explaining the large-scale, continuous fractionation distillation towers used in industry just cannot be done in a few paragraghs or even a few pages. It takes a textbook to do a thorough job. It would require explaining what is meant: by the vapor-liquid equilibrium data (VLE) of multi-component feedstocks; what is meant by equilibrium stages; what is meant by bubble-cap distillation trays or valve trays or grid packing used in place of trays; what is meant by side-draws for simultaneously and continuously withdrawing fractionation products at various points along the height of a fractionation tower (i.e., not all products are withdrawn from the top of the tower); what is meant by external refluxing; what is meant by reboilers (i.e., the heat input sources such as fired furnace reboilers, horizontal kettle reboilers, vertical thermosyphon reboilers, etc.); what is meant by pump-around reflux; and dozens of other items for which Wikipedia has no existing articles that can be linked to for explanations. If you have access to a good library, read the book described in Distillation Design or the pertinent sections in Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook. - mbeychok 19:30, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Maybe there should be a separate article on Industrial scale distillation or some similar title. Realistically, I doubt I'll ever get around to writing such an article, but maybe someday someone such as mbeychok may muster the ambition to write such an article. I'm both a chemist and chemical engineer and I know both lab chemists and chemical plants use distillation in their own ways. Rotary evaporators are apparati which use a simple form of distillation in a vacuum or partial vacuum and are used by many chemists, so they are worth at least mentioning in this article. I have not heard of a Perkins Triangle distillation and I suspect that section could be shortened. Wikipedia is a general encyclopedia written for all kinds of people. I think the simple chemist's distillation diagram is easier for the layman to understand than more complex industrial processes, so I prefer that a chemist's diagram stay in there. Should the average person ever set up a distillation, they are more likely to do it the chemist's way than like an industrial scale process. I would prefer to have a Laboratory distillation apparatus subsection in this article, at least a short fundamental one. Nevertherless, it is also worth discussing the large-scale industrial aspect of this topic. H Padleckas 06:04, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Major rewrite?

Hi all, I have just started an offline rewrite of the article, I just want to see if I can get it into a higher-level article. I guess this article should have a layout like articles as organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry. I need some help with getting a full list of all versions of distillation that have their own main article. Please bear with me on this, I'll be back in a bit. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 10:22, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

I resorted the article and tried to add some small things (well, mainly copied from main articles), I think that industrial distillation should have a similar faith, there should be a paragraph comparing at least the differences between industrial, laboratory scale and beverage distillation (may have a go at that later), and the beverage distillation should be extended (or is there a main for that already?). --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 11:31, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Distillation, distillation.—Preceding unsigned comment added by H Padleckas (talk • contribs) 22 october 2006, 15:35

Luckily I checked that in the main document before I saved.  :-) --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 15:12, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Although most small-scale distillations are effectively batch distillations, the Batch distillation article is obviously written to discuss industrial-type distillations. Perhaps Batch distillation could be combined with a very stubby article called Continuous distillation (which could be substatially expanded) to form an Industrial scale distillation article, or an article with some similar title. H Padleckas 16:38, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Nice to know that this article is being worked on, probably as the COTM. Hope you guys don't think I'm throwing the work to the group and slacking off. I felt that there was little more knowledge I could contribute, which is the reason for my lack of recent edits. Hope you like the pictures though. Serendipity. I don't usually do distillations. --Rifleman 82 16:45, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

I can imagine there are quite some industrial methods as well (I don't know enough about industry to make a list of them), which could get a similar way of describing as for the laboratory scale distillations (in this article). I think, since batch and continuous are obviously opposite, and their way of thinking is distincively different, that they should be separate. I put batch distillation in the industrial section, but maybe that is not the right place. Maybe they should be mentioned in the paragraph describing industrial/laboratory/food distillation? --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 16:51, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Two separate categories are needed

This is in regard to the above discussion about a major rewrite. Trying to cover both laboratory distillation (of importance to chemists) and industrial distillation (of importance to engineers) in one article is, in my opinion, a tremendously difficult undertaking. It is akin to trying, in one article, to cover residential home design and the design of skyscrapers of 100+ floors high.

What we need is to have two separate categories. One should be Category:Laboratory distillation and the other should be Category:Industrial distillation. I think that is the only way to get cohesive, well-organized articles without continually trying to reconcile the different viewpoints of the laboratory chemists and the engineers. - mbeychok 19:45, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

I partially concur. The different subjects (the different ways of distillation) should be split out in different articles (and also for the categories, I will have a look later), but this article should attempt to find the general principles available in both (as in your comparison, tell about the brick and concrete, and tell about the major differences), and then point to the different ways of distillation (in a way I now attempted for laboratory distillation, which also encompasses a huge field of similar, but different techniques). Could you give a try and make a course list of different industrial distillations? Cheers! --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 19:55, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra, I will provide a list of industrial distillation types within the next day or so ...right now, I am about to take off for the rest of today with my wife for a movie and dinner. I fully agree with you that we need separate articles but I feel that they must also be in separate categories. I also don't think that a laboratory distillation article needs any discussion at all of industrial distillation ... nor does an industrial distillation article need any discussion at all of laboratory distillation. That is what "See also" sections are for. - mbeychok 22:02, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

I can concur with that, but this article is about distillation, that is, the technique, and that is the same, both for laboratory ánd for industrial distillation. If you split that into two articles, you get the same introduction paragraphs twice. But have a nice dinner, and enjoy the movie! --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 22:06, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra, I think the article looks quite good now, I think the split into lab scale and industrial scale works Quantockgoblin 07:18, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

I was thinking about it later yesterdayevening, I think that when the sections about industrial distillation and the 'distillation in food processing' (the latter being really stubby) are big enough, they should be split from this article, so that the main article 'distillation' tells the general thing about distillation, tells theory, and tells the differences between batch and continuous. Then the article should point clearly to this three 'subfields' (I think this comes close to what [[user:mbeychok|mbeychok) suggests). But I am first going to do something more about the theory part, but I need a 'picture drawer' to help me a bit there. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 07:29, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra, do you need someone to draw pictures for you (e.g. me?, I can give it a go if they are not too complicated) or do you need a drawing package so that you can draw them yourself (I might be able to recommend some freeware)? What sort of images are you planning to draw? Quantockgoblin 10:02, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

I think the section on the theory would need some schematic pictures depicting the batch and continuous distillation, it would be nice if someone could give that a try (I'm not much of an digital artist). I am thinking in terms of schematic simple distillations (both batch and continuous, maybe depicting different stages of distillation). Maybe in the form of a distillation flask with e.g. blue and red dots in a certain ratio (for A and B resp.), and in the gas phase also some dots, clear other ratio, and same for the distillate. To clarify the difference, one could put a ratio of 1 : 4 in the crude mixture, and a ratio of 4 : 1 in the gas-phase in the start-situation. Feel free to connect it to the text, or rewrite the text to fit the drawing. I will have a look again to make the text more flowing and clearer later (if needed). --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 10:24, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra I'm not too sure what you are after, something like this (n.b. the dot ratio can be changed if you want)? 20:19, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

simple distillation scheme

.

Hmm .. somewhere close, but than built into a 'life' distillation setup, with different shades in the different parts of the distillation .. if that can be made clear. I guess that could work, put a short fractionating column on top of this and build a setup just as in the top right of the page, put the yellow colour in the flask, with a certain ratio of dots as you did here, and another shade in the gas-phase above the boiling liquid, with another ratio, and that same ratio in the recieving bottle (that is, for the batch distillation). For the continuous distilation the picture is more difficult, how to make that clear? There it has to be clear that the total ratio of the removed fractions (the ratio of A and B when one would combine the two fractions) is the same as the inflow fraction, while the fraction in the flask is not the same as the inflow-fraction. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 20:31, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra I've tried again, the idea of the picture is to be schemematic rather that absolutely factual - you can do a quick sketch an upload it and I'll nice-it-up Quantockgoblin 06:59, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

simple distillation scheme

.

I have finished making a chemical engineering schematic of a Image:Continuous Fractional Distillation.PNG tower which I may be able to upload tonight into WikiCommons. I was planning to insert the pic into the Continuous distillation article soon. I made this pic in the same style as the 3 pics in Batch distillation. My pic shows a feed stream separated into 5 fractions; 4 distillate and 1 bottoms fractions. H Padleckas 23:32, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Pic uploaded and added to Continuous distillation; see Talk:Continuous distillation.
H Padleckas 19:05, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra, as I promised here is a brief discussion of the different types of distillation used in the hydrocarbon processing industries that I am very familiar with ... i.e., oil refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants (extracting natural gas liquids known as NGL's), and other hydrocarbon processing industries. Those industries probably have perhaps 80% or more of the industrial distillation columns in existence.

Other industries such as the pharmaceutical industry, the alcohol distilling industry and the fine chemicals industry also use quite a bit of distillation, but I am not familiar with those industries.

Major Industrial Distillation Types: The two primary types of industrial distillations are Continuous Fractionation or (Continuous Distillation) and Batch Distillation. The industrial Continuous Fractionation distillation towers are typified by the large, vertical, cylindrical columns as can be seen in the oil refinery photograph in the Fractional distillation article. Please note that by continuous, I mean 24 hours a day for 1 to 3 years before being temporarily shut down for maintenance ... and we are talking about towers with diameters ranging from about 65 centimeters to 6 meters and heights ranging from about 6 meters to 60 meters or more.

There are many subsets of the Continuous Fractionation primary distillation type, such as:

• Fractional distillation
• Vacuum distillation
• Azeotropic distillation
• Extractive distillation
• Steam distillation

The above subsets would be of approximately the same size range is the primary Continuous Fractionation towers. The vacuum towers require reinforcement (provided by a number of steel beams encircling the tower exteriors) so that they can withstand the difference in pressure between the exterior atmospheric pressure and the interior vacuum.

As for the vapor-liquid contacting trays or plates used in industrial distillation towers, it is virtually impossible to explain bubble-cap or valve trays (or sheet steel structural packing) without drawings or photographs. We need someone who could make such drawings. We also need someone who can make a drawing of a typical kettle-type reboiler commonly used as the heat input to a distillation tower (although there are other types of reboilers such as fired furnaces, horizontal or vertical heat exchangers, bayonet heat exchangers, etc.).

Finally, if you look at the the simple sketch that I made of a typical fractionation tower overhead system in the Fractional distillation article, that sketch needs to be made longer so that it shows the feedstream entry (at about the center height of the tower), and the bottoms exiting the tower and entering the kettle reboiler .... with the final liquid bottoms product leaving the kettle reboiler and the reboiled vapor returning from the kettle to the tower. - mbeychok 03:38, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi Mbeychok. As I see it, I would not describe continuous and batch as 'industrial' terms, the same terminology is used for laboratory scale distillation (I see that batch distillation is almost fully explained from an industrial point of view), although continuous distillation is hardly ever performed on laboratory scale (I can only think of one example, and that is hardly ever done, it is involving a rotary evaporator), but that is semantics. I have tried to describe the general difference between these two in the article now, it could use a simple mathemathics example or some pictures to make it clear to, say, a highschool student (I guess that is a good target public for this article). I know that the timescale in industry is different, but the same principle applies, whether you perform a continuous distillation on a mixture which runs for a couple of hours/days (in general, until you run out of material to distill), or for several years (until you really have to clean your reboiler).

What I would suggest is, that you expand the paragraph 'industrial distillation', adding the list of subsets of continuous and batch distillations in industry, trying to give a short description (one to two paragraphs, probably defining differences with the lab-scale or general principle, and maybe saying what the major application is, without going into details), and point in each paragraph to a main article, which has a bigger description and some specific examples). I think that at the end, we may have to split out both the section 'laboratory scale distillation' and 'industrial distillation' into their own articles, leaving only an introduction paragraph on each of these pages, but the article is still handleable now, we will see if that will be necessary in the end. Once we have the basics right, the articles going more into detail should be easier to explain (I mean, explaining the differences between a batch distillation and continuous distillation in terms of a simple (almost theoretical) binary mixture is easy, and I think that has a good place in this article, explaining the complications that one has, either in a laboratory where you want to separate out your one, pure compound (formed in, say, 25% yield) out of a reaction mixture containing 10 components, or separating crude oil (of which I can't even imagine how many different chemical substances are in there) is another task.

As to the fractionating columns, what is there available on wikipedia, I guess it will end with vigreux, because that is generally the only fractionating column known to the common chemist. But packed columns, bubblecaps, etc. seem not to be very well known (and some of the 'industrial type columns' are also known for lab-scale work for difficult separations, I remember that I have once during my study have done an experiment using a column with many reboilers in it, I think it was a bubblecap-column (excuse me if I don't have the terminology right), where we had to withdraw samples from all the plates and analyse them by GC, and do some optimisation on it. By the way, I don't think that many chemist realise that the HETP and Van Deemter equation (as used in describing the working of a GC and HPLC, available in virtually every lab) relate back to the 'plates' in these columns!).

I foresee a lot of work, which I for sure cannot accomplish all by myself (also I have a major other wikipedia task at hand), but I could sure use some distraction from that every now and then. I hope to see you around, happy editing. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 07:48, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

new pic(s) ?

Continuous fractional distillation pic uploaded and added to Continuous distillation; see Talk:Continuous distillation. H Padleckas 19:05, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi, may I suggest you also make a simpler pictures of the distillation setups in batch and continuous distillations? I have a degree in chemistry, with a broad background, so I can see what that picture means. But I feel that my sister (who is a bright person, but who does not have a degree in chemistry) would not understand that picture without studying it. Furthermore, I think that batch and continuous distillation are not per se industrial terms, as I tried to explain above (I work in a university lab, and I do batch distillations every now and then). I am afraid that these pages are going to be too difficult for a layman to understand. Could you please comment? --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 21:15, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

See comment at bottom about new pic. H Padleckas 05:48, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra, I disagree with you on this. I think that the drawing by Padleckas is excellent!! There is nothing wrong with your sister or anyone else not familair with the subject having to study the drawing a bit to understand it. I have a degree in chemical engineering and 50 years of industrial experience in laboratory work as well as large industrial plant design ... and there are many things in pure chemistry, physics, electronics, etc. that I would have to study in order to understand them since they are not subjects with which I am familiar. A chemistry lab drawing or an industrial distillation tower drawing simply can not be simplified to the point of being immediately understood by everyone. That's what comic strips are for. This discussion is an example of precisely why I advocated having two completely separate categories, namely Category:Laboratory distillation and Category:Industrial distillation. - mbeychok 21:45, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Don't get me wrong, the picture is OK, very suitable .. but not in the introduction of continuous distillation, but we are writing an encyclopedia here, not an industrial manual for distillation. I do believe that the explanation of the subject should start at a lower level than what it is now. And I do believe that it can be drawn simpler than this. And I do totaly disagree with that we need comic strips for that. This is indeed an encyclopedia, not a comic strip. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 21:54, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Could you point out, where my explanation of continuous distilltion in the comparison with batch distillation is wrong (in the distillation article)? I believe that is a correct explanation of what continuous distillation is all about .. flow in = flow out (even without an image, or a comic strip). --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 21:58, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Dirk Beetstra and mbeychok, my view is that the article needs to start quite simply and go into further depth as it goes on. Whether the extra depth should be the subject of 2 or more separate articles is another matter. I really think the artcle is getting there, so let's keep our energy on collectively trying to produce the best article we can.Quantockgoblin 08:59, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

While we are on the subject of making images understood by your "laymen", the very first image in this article needs to ....... See Image talk:Simple distillation appratus.jpg for continuation of this dicussion, which then turned to comparing the two simple lab distillation pics.

This page was too long. More info to be added there later. H Padleckas 17:42, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

In response to Dirk Beestra's call for simplicity, I have made another simpler pic for the introduction to the Continuous distillation article. The original pic is still useful at the bottom of that article. H Padleckas 05:48, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium

Is there an article on Vapor-liquid equilibrium anywhere? I was unable to find one, so I started writing something here: User:H Padleckas/Temp (Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium) as a rough draft until I can get some diagrams. If you know of such an article, please let me know so I can abandon this project. Otherwise it may be nice to have some data or diagrams from somewhere. If I had data or diagrams from somewhere, I could use that to make my own diagrams. Otherwise, I would make "hypothetical" diagrams. Also, if you see any major errors on that temp page, you can go ahead and fix them. H Padleckas 14:03, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Reference

This book might be a good reference for the article: Forbes, Robert James (1970 Reprint of 1948). A short history of the art of destillation. Leiden: Brill. p. 405. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) --Stone 08:11, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

unclear sentence : By the nature of the process.....

This line does not make sense, the first part is wrong, in the simple case of the rotavapor or drying solvents, obtaining purity is not an issue. The dilution analogy I do not understand

By the nature of the process, it is theoretically impossible to completely purify the components by using distillation, as distillation only tends to approach purity, never reaching it. This is comparable to dilution, which never reaches purity. If ultra-pure products are the goal, then further chemical separation must be applied.

Take it out? V8rik 23:59, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Rephrased it a bit - comments? --Rifleman 82 00:09, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Rifleman, regarding your wording "It is theoretically impossible to completely purify a mixture of components by distillation because each component in the mixture will have a non-zero partial pressure.", do you think it might be clearer if it read "It is theoretically impossible to completely purify a mixture of components by distillation because that would require each component in the mixture to have a zero partial pressure" ... or have I misunderstood you? Regards, - mbeychok 01:08, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that's what I was thinking of. --Rifleman 82 07:27, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks Rifleman 82, for your edit, cleared things up V8rik 17:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Well done

To all ChemCollaborators: Well done! ~K 01:30, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Distillation picture

Shouldn't the cold-water in be from below? piece "6". so it comes in from below and travels up and out "7"?

Sometimes the Liebig condensers have the two water plugs on the same side, sometimes on opposite sides. The setup shown in the picture seems reasonable to me. --Itub 13:25, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Distillation SVG picture

The SVG image could be improved. In fact, until it is improved I have replaced the image with the .png image as I believe it is more acurate.

• The ".SVG" images is missing the outlet pipe from the receiving portion of the apparatus see “.PNG” image (above) - just above label 8.

• label 10 is missing.

• Also some of the ground glass joints are shaded others are not.

To be picky:

• The thermometer bulb could have a black line around it to show it is contained within the thermometer.

* The side of the receiving flask (i.e. 16) is usually smaller than the boiling flask side (i.e. 15).

• The in- and out- pipes of the condenser could be moved nearer the end of the condenser respectively so the condenser actually fills.

• It is not clear if the thermometer is inserted into the apparatus via a glass ground joint or not.

* The right angle edges (e.g. on condenser and else where) are usually rounded not squared off as glass tends to fail a square edges.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.254.147.68 (talk) 12:03, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Agree, see also comments above regarding the SVG image above. 81.107.214.224 (talk) 00:11, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Quantockgoblin (talk • contribs) 00:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Jabir Ibn Hayyan Was Persian, Not Arab

I know there was an extensive discussion about this on the Geber talk page. Most of the sources used to call him Arab were from Western-based dictionaries whereas others provided actual Middle-Eastern texts that showed he was a Persian. I will be changing the ethnicity from "Arab" to "Persian" as he was Persian. I feel that this Arab vs. Persian conflict is similar to the Persian Gulf naming dispute, and i'm not going to get into that as to avoid any type of POV bias.

If you disagree with me correcting it to its original state (Persian) then change it to a non-specific ethnicity or simply "Middle-Eastern", as I will revert it to Persian if you put Arab up again. The man was born in Iran, and from looking at its pic, it is very clear that he is an Iranian.

Thanks

Azhura (talk) 15:46, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not too sure I want too get involved in this but, on the Geber page there seems to be some dispute about whether he is an Arab (15 references) or a Persian (13 references) (POV_fork?). Would the situation be clearer to remove his ethnic origin and leave the dispute to rage on the Geber page until there is consensus there. Also, in any event, I don't think it is all that material to the distillation article where he was originally from.

I'll wait for at least two other editors to agree before I remove this ethnic origin -- Quantockgoblin (talk) 21:55, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

That makes sense to me User A1 (talk) 00:10, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Laboratory distillation drawing

This drawing requires a slight alteration to be correct. In fact to be able to measure the condensing vapour temperature correctly the bulb of the thermometer has to be level with the pipe exit of the distillation flask. (Viz. eg. ASTM and/or IP standards for testing petroleum products) LouisBB (talk) 08:17, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Agree, see also comments above regarding the SVG image above. 81.107.214.224 (talk) 00:11, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

What the hell is this i don't understand a single stupid thing their all crossed out man fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.65.227.102 (talk) 15:57, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Schematics/pictures of stills and fuel stills

Extra pictures/schematics of regular and fuel stills are available from this document. Integrate in document (via link or by taking over the picture directly (best to ask for permission first).

Thanks. KVDP (talk) 15:30, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand anything this is so stupid —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.65.227.102 (talk) 15:55, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

DIY Worm still

A refractionating column-type diy-still (instant 94% ethanol) can also be made with metal tubing and a pot still. See this website This type of still has also been seen created in popular shows as Jericho

Another variation of this is the "two dollar crockpot still", which is a cheap diy-still made out of a crock pot, piece of 1/4 inch copper tubing and a plastic milk jug filled with ice. See this site

Include in article.

81.246.144.251 (talk) 16:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Following section was removed from page; please reintegrate it (contains valuable info and pictures). 81.246.185.121 (talk) 09:08, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Small-scale distillation

File:Crockpot still.JPG

A crockpot-type still

A worm-type still

Small-scale distillation is also practiced by many. Small scale (domestic) distillation has been popularised by series as "The Dukes of Hazzard", Jericho, ... and films as Deliverance. Usually, small scale distillation is practiced for the purpose of making moonshine, aldough sometimes it is also practiced for creating biofuel . To make the ethanol, diy-still designs have become available on the net. Popular diy stills include pot stills, crockpot-type stills, diy refluxes and worm-type stills.

DIY Still

note I did not see the above comments when posting this - however I still stand by this view. Twice now there has been inserted text to state that "home stills have been popularised by [some TV show]"... This is just not right, nor encyclopaedic. Home stills very much predate any possible TV shows, and I would hazard a guess that they have been popularised by the biological effects of ethanol consumption, ie getting pissed. [1] The references provided, when examined do not in any way comment on exisiting popularity, nor the effect of the television show on this. As a second point, there is also a section which links to the main article on distilled beverages. Furthermore biofuels are not made by distillation, distillation is the separation process to separate out the biofuel from unwanted or recyclable material, used to improve the fuel's combustion, purity or storage properties (lab & industrial) or to recover valuable unconverted feeds (industrial). Finally wikipedia is not a DIY guide. I apologise for being blunt about this but I don't see this section, as it stands, to be an improvement to the article. User A1 (talk) 16:54, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Finnish?

The contents menu and the section "edit" links are showing up in a non-English language, probably Finnish. The same has been noted in Victor and Victor Talking Machine Company. Weird. 68.161.25.228 (talk) 03:37, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

The Ä article has it as well. 68.161.25.228 (talk) 03:39, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Removing and replacing the language links somehow fixed it. 68.161.25.228 (talk) 13:45, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Image found on commons

This may be useful for the article. I have had no response from the uploader concerning annotation. Perhaps someone can add annotations to the title portion of this thumb? - Leonard G. (talk) 17:41, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

It is a little difficult to tell, owing to lack of expertise and the inability to look at it in three-dimensions. I will give it a shot, but would appreciate some confirmation from other editors. The system looks to be a batch still, with some modified components.

1. still pot
2. heater
3. Stirrer/Agitator (The actual stirrer is inside the column, what is annotated is simply the motor.)
4. Reboil viewing port
5. Feed port/pressure seal hatch
6. Distillation column, lower part
7. distillation splitting pipe. This is used to reduce the height of the column
8. Upper column
9. Plate-plate viewing ports
10. Reboil return
11. Condensor/reflux take off & return
12. Condensor/reflux drum
13. distillate tapping.

The above is quite likely to be wrong, so I am hesitant to include that in the article without verification. User A1 (talk) 02:37, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Vapor pressure or boiling points?

Which is more correct ' Distillation is a method of separation of substances based on differences in their boiling points.' or ' Distillation is a method of separation of substances based on differences in their vapor pressures.' ? -- ∞Dbroadwell 19:32, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

As one who has designed dozens of distillation columns in oil refineries, petrochemical plants and natural gas plants, most process design chemical engineers would say "... based on their relative volatilities."

But if you tie me down to just the two options you asked about, I would say "... based on their boiling points." The problem with that is: do you mean their atmospheric boiling points or their boiling points at some specific operating pressure? Same problem with vapor pressures: do you mean vapor pressure at any temperature or at some specific temperature?. _ mbeychok 20:27, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

You're right about that describing distillation using vapor pressures is a roundabout way to refer to their relative volatilities. But I think that there's no confusion with respect to vapor pressure; a given mixture results in specific vapor pressures. --Vuo 22:39, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Commentary from WP:RD

Offhand, and as a non-expert, I'd say they're both roughly correct, but the difference in vapor pressure is a bit more precise. In my understanding, what matters most is the difference in vapor pressures at the operating temperature of one's apparatus ; but realistically speaking, one probably designs an apparatus to take into account the entire phase diagrams of the substances. Melchoir 20:10, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Both are just as correct, because vapor pressure and boiling point are not independent properties. Another way of saying it is that the seperation is due to the differences in Activity coefficient. (lousy article, though) --BluePlatypus 20:35, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

And if both are equally correct, we should use the simpler explanation, which is the difference in boiling points. That will make it easiest to understand by the widest possible audience. StuRat 23:21, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I strongly believe we should use the term relative volatility, rather than boiling points or vapor pressures, in this context. First, the general reader may assume that boiling points refer to atmospheric pressure.It is easy to find examples where a compound having a higher boiling point ends up in the distillate, rather than in the bottoms. Second, it could be rather cumbersome trying to explain how activity coefficients affect relative volatility.ChemE50 (talk) 00:04, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

I guess that precise formulation is "based on different composition of equilibrium vapour and liquid phase" as 1)vapour pressure of ethanol and water at 78.1°C is surely different, but mixture of ethanol and water boiling at this temperature under normal pressure (cca 96wt% of ethanol) is azeotropic and therefore can not be separate by distillation. 2)different boiling point under normal pressure as of previously mentioned ethanol, water also doesn't assure feasibility of separation by distillation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rejlf (talk • contribs) 15:30, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

history

Here is a better source for the history of distillation.

A Short History of the Art of Distillation from the Beginnings Up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal by Forbs ISBN 9004006176 J8079s (talk) 21:45, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Partial Distillation

Shouldn't there be something about partial distillation? 203.219.1.8 (talk) 07:51, 4 June 2009 (UTC) Oops, cancel that, link to fractional distillation? 203.219.1.8 (talk) 07:54, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

See also

I don't understand why this article has a link to Zymurgy, which is not even mentioned in the text. It seems irrelevant and I think it should be removed.ChemE50 (talk) 20:59, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

I guess it is a mutual link because zymurgy has a link to distillation, which in my view is also inappropriate.Chemical Engineer (talk) 21:58, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Since nobody has objected, I am deleting the link to Zymurgy.ChemE50 (talk) 23:38, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Misuse of sources

Jagged 85 (talk · contribs) is one of the main contributors to Wikipedia (over 67,000 edits; he's ranked 198 in the number of edits), and practically all of his edits have to do with Islamic science, technology and philosophy. This editor has persistently misused sources here over several years. This editor's contributions are always well provided with citations, but examination of these sources often reveals either a blatant misrepresentation of those sources or a selective interpretation, going beyond any reasonable interpretation of the authors' intent. Please see: Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Jagged 85. That's an old and archived RfC. The point is still valid though, and his contribs need to be doublechecked. I searched the page history, and found 35 edits by Jagged 85 (for example, see this edits). Tobby72 (talk) 18:45, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Having reviewed the content and perused the RFC, I have determined that the following paragraphs may be subject to this concern. Subsequently I have removed a large chunk of the article (Sorry) until references can be verified (see diff).

The folllowing paragraphs, represent a minimal level of affected text, after examination of Jagged 85's changes.

The invention of "pure distillation" is credited to [[Alchemy and chemistry in Islam|Arabic and Persian chemists]] in the Middle East from the 8th century. They produced distillation processes to isolate and purify [[chemical substance]]s for [[Industry|industrial]] purposes such as isolating natural [[ester]]s ([[perfume]]s) and producing pure [[alcohol]].<ref name=Briffault>[[Robert Briffault]] (1938), ''The Making of Humanity'', p. 195: {{quote|"Chemistry, the rudiments of which arose in the processes employed by [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[Metallurgy|metallurgists]] and [[Jewellery|jewellers]] combining metals into various [[alloy]]s and '[[tinting]]' them to resemble [[gold]] processes long preserved as a secret monopoly of the priestly colleges, and clad in the usual mystic formulas, developed in the hands of the [[Arab]]s into a widespread, organized passion for research which led them to the invention of pure [[distillation]], [[Sublimation (chemistry)|sublimation]], [[filtration]], to the discovery of [[alcohol]], of [[nitric acid|nitric]] and [[sulfuric acid]]s (the only [[acid]] known to the ancients was [[vinegar]]), of the [[alkali]]s, of the [[Salt (chemistry)|salts]] of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], of [[antimony]] and [[bismuth]], and laid the basis of all subsequent chemistry and physical research."}}</ref> T

[[Islamic science|Muslim scientists]], to isolate natural [[ester]]s ([[perfume]]s)

Early forms of distillation were known to [[Babylonia]]n [[Alchemy|alchemists]] in [[Mesopotamia]] ([[Iraq]]) from at least the [[2nd millenium BC]].<ref>Martin Levey (1956). "Babylonian Chemistry: A Study of Arabic and Second Millenium B.C. Perfumery", ''Osiris'' '''12''', p. 376-389.</ref>

I have checked this article, and the equipment and procedures for distillation discussed in this article is by Al-Kindi, the Arab philosopher who lived in the 9th century AD. Levey makes a valid point that little has been documented from the era preceding Al-Kindi in Babylonia, particularly concerning the doings of workers, who were mostly illiterate. Therefore we do not know a lot about the technologies they may have been using; however the archaeological record does show that equipment for sublimations predates Al-Kindi. There is no such evidence for distillation. Admittedly it should be mentioned that distillation and sublimation were by many concerned as the same thing at this time in history, but that is still not an argument for the existence of what we now call distillation. Levey does not say anything that can be interpreted as evidence for Babylonians knowledge of distillation in the second millennium BC.--129.241.134.66 (talk) 23:23, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Distillation was further advanced by [[Alchemy (Islam)|Muslim chemists]], especially by the [[Arab]] chemist [[Geber|Jabir ibn Hayyan]] (Geber) in [[Iraq]] ''circa'' [[800]] AD. He is credited with the invention of numerous chemical apparatus and processes that are still in use today. In particular, his [[alembic]] was one of the first [[still]]s, the first to feature [[retort]]s, a precursor to the [[pot still]], and its design has served as inspiration for modern micro-scale distillation apparatus such as the Hickman stillhead.<ref>[http://www.chemistry.mcmaster.ca/~chem2o6/labmanual/microscale/ms-distn.html Microscale Laboratory Techniques - Distillation] from McMaster University</ref> [[Petroleum]] was also first distilled by Muslim chemists in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as [[kerosene]].<ref name=Ajram>Dr. Kasem Ajram (1992). ''Miracle of Islamic Science'', Appendix B. Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0911119434.</ref>

while [[steam distillation]] was invented by [[Avicenna]] in the early [[11th century]].<ref>A. Wolf, G. A. Bray, B. M. Popkin (2007). "A short history of beverages and how our body treats them", ''Obesity Reviews''.</ref>

A list of edits extracted from the changelog :

13:24, 25 October 2009 Jagged 85 (→History: Hellenistic) 
06:36, 12 September 2008 Jagged 85 (→History) 
13:31, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: elaborated on translations) 
13:28, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: added ref) 
12:26, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: seperated India and Europe from Middle East) 
12:23, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: linked) 
12:22, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: clear) 
12:21, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: copy-edit) 
12:18, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History) 
12:17, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: Latin translations) 
12:13, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: re-worded) 
11:54, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: added Alkindus) 
11:50, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: added "pure distillation") 
11:44, 17 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: Zosimos of Panopolis) 
08:52, 6 August 2008 Jagged 85 (→History: Arabic and Persian) 
15:41, 17 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History) 
15:40, 17 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: updated image text) 
15:39, 17 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: re-worded) 
15:37, 17 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: pure distillation) 
11:48, 13 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History) 
11:46, 13 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: distilled alcohol) 
11:44, 13 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: re-worded) 
11:43, 13 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: elaborated on first sentence) 
11:37, 13 October 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: elaborated on Jabir) 
06:08, 28 September 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: links) 
02:44, 6 August 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: retorts) 
16:23, 18 July 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: still) 
16:21, 18 July 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: added Avicenna) 
05:49, 18 July 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: Babylonian) 
05:43, 18 July 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: added Mesopotamia and al-Razi) 
04:42, 18 July 2007 Jagged 85 (→History) 
16:11, 23 June 2007 Jagged 85 (→References) 
16:11, 23 June 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: mentioned petroleum and kerosene) 
15:55, 23 June 2007 Jagged 85 (→History) 
15:47, 23 June 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: Roman Egypt is more specific) 
15:46, 23 June 2007 Jagged 85 (→History: Roman Empire) 

User A1 (talk) 19:29, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Pure distillation

I'll add one thing here: the idea of "pure distillation" seems to be a figment of Jagged's imagination. You can see in this edit where he adds the word "pure" to an existing quote from a work from Briffault (not a marvellous source to begin with). As far as I can tell, this is a deliberate distortion of that quotation to allow him to continue to make claims about the Islamic invention of (at least something to do with) distillation, which itself was plainly not invented by them.
If anyone can make any sense of this notion of "pure distillation" (or find some justification for his addition of that word there), I would be glad to hear about it. Otherwise I will removing this (apparent) nonsense.
All the best and many thanks for helping with cleaning up some of that editor's vandalism. –Syncategoremata (talk) 23:32, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

I've checked four different versions of the Briffault book, both paper and online copies, and they are all just reprints with the identical texts, and none have the deceitful change added by Jagged 85 (talk · contribs) of "pure distillation". I will remove this nonsense.

All the best. –Syncategoremata (talk) 20:59, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

MED

The section on MED needs revision. As is, it is worse than having no information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexander.mitsos (talk • contribs) 23:18, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Minimum difference in boiling point temperatures for simple distillation to be useful?

This page says the minimum difference in boiling point temperatures of compounds in a mixture in order for simple distillation to be useful is 25°C. My textbook (Gilbert and Martin, Experimental Organic Chemistry 4th edition) says the minimum temperature difference is 40-50°C, which is a huge difference. The textbook says that 20-30°C is the minimum for fractional distillation. I tend to agree with my textbook as we just did simple distillation of Ethyl Acetate and Butyl Acetate (difference in b.p. 49°C) in my Orgo lab and the results were less than great. But that's original research so I was wondering if anyone else had an opinion or a better source.

Not sure how to answer clearly, but here goes... The concept of there being a need for a minimum difference in boiling points is erroneous and probably comes from rules of thumb for separating two pure phases in a single distillation using a simple apparatus. That is, if you can boil off 100% of phase A without boiling off/condensing phase B. Think back to WWII in Norway, when heavy water was separated from "normal" water by multiple distillation. The boiling point difference is only 1.4 degrees, yet heavy water was successfully produced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.116.161.48 (talk) 09:11, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

legality of distillation

According to homedistiller.org (unlicensed) distillation is an illegal process in most if not all nations, except New Zealand. I doubt this, but was wondering if there is any detail on the legality of distillation per country. --— robbie ^{page talk} 16:17, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

The New Zealand situation is restricted to small stills and for personal use. It's in their Criminal Code. In Australia, it's illegal to own a still of less than 5 litres capacity but illegal to use such a still for distillation of alcohol.

In some parts of Europe, artisanal amateur distilling is tolerated for personal use (if not entirely legal). In the UK and Ireland, it's entirely illegal and not tolerated without a licence. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.116.161.48 (talk) 09:15, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

distilation of ethyle acetate and isopropyl ether

i want to know how can we seperate ea and ipe having composition 10% and 90% respectively. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.98.39.80 (talk) 10:38, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

"A still is the apparatus used for distillation"

Isn't the word still primarily used only for primitive traditional devices and for devices used in the destillation of alcohol(ic beverages) and perfume etc? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.227.15.253 (talk) 10:08, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

Question about a redirect

Currently, Distilled alcohol redirects here. Wouldn't it make at least equal sense to point to Distilled beverage instead? --Florian Blaschke (talk) 22:43, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Home dehydrator water

is water from a home dehydrator distilled water? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.112.98.171 (talk) 20:06, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Earliest Evidence of Distillation: 1850 B.C.

I note from the article that the earliest distillation mentioned is from around the first century, whereas the 2003-2007 excavation of a perfume factory, with alembic distillers found in situ, at Pyrgos, on the Greek island of Santorini puts its origins at least earlier than 1850 B.C., when the factory was destroyed by an earthquake and fire.

I haven't the time to make such a large re-write to the article myself, but I thought it important to bring to the attention of other editors. Gwydion Stone (talk) 21:23, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

References

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Distillation requires boiling. Evaporation is not a synonym for boiling

Please do not use Evaporation when you mean Vaporization. Chemical Engineer (talk) 16:30, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

The ETP Laboratory Procedure to determine the Volatile Fatty Acid

The ETP Laboratory Procedure to determine the Volatile Fatty Acid

Step 1: take filtered 100 ml fresh sample from anaerobic basin and 100 ml distilled water and mix both without creating air bubble. Step 2: make 3 pH of mixed sample by adding H2SO4 conc.(1:1). Step 3: set the distillation assembly. Step 4: put the distillation flask on heat source and maintain the temperature at 80°C. Step 5: run the cold tap water through cooling assembly. Step 6: collect 150 ml of condensate from another end of the assembly. Step 7: add few drops of phenolphthalein indicator. Step 8: titrate the sample with 1 N NaOH until the the pink color disappear.

Calculations:

mls of NaOH * N of NaOH * 50000 / 150 ml ( vol. of sample )

watch ETP operation and lab analysis videos here [2]

File:220px-simple distillation apparatus

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.141.161.246 (talk) 04:18, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Claim of Alcohol Distillation During the 9th Century

The wikipedia page on Distillation includes the following: "Clear evidence of the distillation of alcohol comes from the Arab chemist Al-Kindi in 9th-century Iraq". I do not believe this claim to be correct. Al-Kindi does describe the distillation of wine, but that does not necessarily mean that he managed to distill alcohol. In fact, in the same passage he compares the distillation of wine with the distillation of vinegar. In all probability, Al-Kindi's apparatus did not have the proper cooling mechanism, which meant that he could boil wine, but he could not increase the alcohol content of the distillate.

Marwanelasmar (talk) 17:06, 27 August 2019 (UTC)Marwan El-Asmar

Aravindhan

The 'Bold text' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 42.111.130.30 (talk) 05:42, 14 July 2020 (UTC)

Invention of steam distillation by Avicenna

There is a claim that steam distillation was invented by the 11th-century physician and philosopher Avicenna which makes the rounds in all kinds of non-expert sources, and now also in our article here. However, I have not been able to find a truly reliable source for this. If it the claim is true, which I do not itself dispute, we should be able to find it in a work written by a historian of alchemy and chemistry, or by another historian of science. From WP:CONTEXTMATTERS: The reliability of a source depends on context. Each source must be carefully weighed to judge whether it is reliable for the statement being made in the Wikipedia article and is an appropriate source for that content. I do not consider the sources currently cited to be appropriate for the content, and therefore not reliable in context. We should either find a better source, or remove the statement. ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 14:30, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

It isn't necessary that authors of a source must be historian of science. The source is reliable and is related to the domain of distillation so it fits the context.

2405:204:3480:618E:9B26:3A03:5F1E:5FF7 (talk) 15:00, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Again, if the claim is true, the non-historians who repeat it should themselves be able to refer to a source written by a historian of science. But none of them do: it seems all these non-historian sources just repeat the claim without any reference. Of course non-experts will sometimes make an unreferenced statement (not a sign of particularly good scholarship though!), but if the statement is always unreferenced wherever it is found, that is suspicious, to say the least. If it turns out that there is no support for this claim by prominent historians of science, it should be removed. Please look for such sources. ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 15:15, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Then you haven't even checked the sources properly. This first source clearly has references. This statement cannot be removed just because you don't find "prominent" historian (What is your criteria to determine someone as "prominent"? Even if you have such criteria then this is your personal view). Rather you can add template beside cited source like better source needed. Otherwise please call an admin to interfere and resolve this dispute. 2405:204:3480:618E:6DCA:954F:F10B:14BC (talk) 15:23, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

The first source only cites name-date references at the end of the paragraph. That's not enough: we need an expert source which we know supports this specific claim, with page number. Without it, verification is impossible.

Admins do not handle content disputes, but there are other options for dispute resolution, such as asking for a third opinion. Or we can just wait a little bit, and let other editors chime in here. Thank you! ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 15:35, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

History of fractional distillation

In the history section it is written that Tadeo Alderotti developed fractional distillation. However according to this source (https://books.google.co.in/books?id=gdLk3YPZiLEC&pg=PA44&dq=although+avicenna+is+credited+distillation+history&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg4f-Om-b0AhXozjgGHT0iD8IQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=Fractional%20distillation%20&f=false) fractional distillation appeared in latin translation of work of an anonymous arab scientist. 2405:204:3480:618E:6DCA:954F:F10B:14BC (talk) 16:37, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Yes, you're entirely right. The attribution of fractional distillation to Taddeo Alderotti was a serious error here: the source (Holmyard 1957, pp. 51–52) merely mentions that Alderotti used fractional distillation in his new process for purifying alcohol. I've corrected that, and also added a paragraph on fractional distillation (using, a.o., the source you gave here; thanks for that!), which actually is already attested in the 9th-century works attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan. ☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 18:26, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Thank you 🙏2409:4050:2E4B:9E86:CFDB:A3EE:74B5:143B (talk) 19:04, 15 December 2021 (UTC)