How is distillation used in everyday life

For example, removing minerals and other impurities from the water can help increase the effectiveness of certain types of mechanical equipment. One of the most common industrial uses of distillation is the production of fuel. Many of the components in crude oil cannot be used as fuel and must be separated. The process of fractional distillation—which involves separating all the components in a mixture—can help refine crude oils so that fuel such as gasoline and diesel can be made from their usable components.

Distillation can also be used to recycle oils. Further increase in the alcohol content of the liquid is done by distillation. In fact, distilled spirits are all alcoholic beverages in which the concentration of ethyl alcohol has been increased above that of the original fermented mixture by distillation.

The principle of alcoholic distillation is based upon the different boiling points of alcohol When a liquid containing ethyl alcohol is heated to a temperature above Most of these gases have several commercial and industrial values for which they can be extracted directly from the air by the process of liquefaction followed by fractional distillation.

The process starts with ambient air filtration, in which the air goes through a filter that removes any dust particles. The filtered air is then compressed approximately up to six bars for liquefication. During compression, most of the water vapors present in the air are condensed out. The remaining water vapors are removed along with carbon dioxide when the air passes through a mesh of molecular sieves.

This is done to avoid the formation of ice and dry ice during liquefaction. The purified air is then passed through a heat exchanger that includes a network of pipes carrying liquid nitrogen.

The liquified air is then passed to a fractional distillation tower which primarily contains three distilling columns. The separation of the liquified air is based on the different boiling points of its components.

Similarly, when the desired level of purity is reached, the gases can also be taken out of the fractionating column and can either be supplied to the consumer directly in the gas form or temporarily stored in the tank in liquid form. The scents from nature have long been part of human attire, but have you ever wondered how these scents from flowers and plants end up in spray bottles? The whole process is known by the name fragrance extraction in the industrial sectors.

It refers to the separation process of aromatic compounds from raw materials, using methods such as distillation, solvent extraction, expression, sieving, or enfleurage. Chemistry Expert. Helmenstine holds a Ph. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Updated January 29, Key Takeaways: Distillation Distillation is the process of separating components of a mixture based on different boiling points.

Examples of uses of distillation include purification of alcohol, desalination, crude oil refining, and making liquefied gases from air. Humans have been using distillation since at least BC in the Indus valley. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph. Chemistry Definition. What Is Distillation? Fractional Distillation Definition and Examples. How to Separate Salt and Sand — 3 Methods.

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Distillation of crude oil Crude oil is a mixture of many hundreds of liquid hydrocarbons. Figure 2 Trays in a fractionating column.

Figure 3 Valve trays. May be used as fuel on site or as liquefied fuel. Feedstock for chemicals catcracking. This yields feedstock for catalytic cracking and lubricating oil.