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A separation process is a method that converts a mixture or a solution of chemical substances into two or more distinct product mixtures, [1] a scientific process of separating two or more substances in order to obtain purity. At least one product mixture from the separation is enriched in one or more of the source mixture's constituents.
A well-known example of a positive azeotrope is an ethanol–water mixture (obtained by fermentation of sugars) consisting of 95.63% ethanol and 4.37% water (by mass), which boils at 78.2 °C. [10] Ethanol boils at 78.4 °C, water boils at 100 °C, but the azeotrope boils at 78.2 °C, which is lower than either of its constituents. [ 11 ]
Fractionation makes it possible to isolate more than two components in a mixture in a single run. This property sets it apart from other separation techniques. Fractionation is widely employed in many branches of science and technology. Mixtures of liquids and gasses are separated by fractional distillation by difference
Water purification combines a number of methods to produce potable or drinking water. Downstream processing refers to purification of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food ingredients produced by fermentation or synthesized by plant and animal tissues, for example antibiotics, citric acid, vitamin E, and insulin.
Acid-base extraction can be used to easily separate out the acidic starting materials from the ester. By rinsing the crude product mixture with a weak base (e.g. sodium bicarbonate), the carboxylic acid and alcohol will be washed away with the aqueous layer, leaving purified ester in the organic layer. [14]
Mixtures can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous: a mixture of uniform composition and in which all components are in the same phase, such as salt in water, is called homogeneous, whereas a mixture of non-uniform composition and of which the components can be easily identified, such as sand in water, it is called heterogeneous.
Mixtures contain more than one chemical substance, and they do not have a fixed composition. Butter, soil and wood are common examples of mixtures. Sometimes, mixtures can be separated into their component substances by mechanical processes, such as chromatography, distillation, or evaporation. [13]
The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the mobile phase, which carries it through a system (a column, a capillary tube, a plate, or a sheet) on which a material called the stationary phase is fixed. Because the different constituents of the mixture tend to have different affinities for the stationary phase and are ...