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A fractionating column or fractional column is equipment used in the distillation of liquid mixtures to separate the mixture into its component parts, or fractions, based on their differences in volatility. Fractionating columns are used in small-scale laboratory distillations as well as large-scale industrial distillations.
Column stills are frequently used in the production of grain whisky and are the most commonly used type of still in the production of bourbon and other American whiskeys. Distillation by column still is the traditional method for production of Armagnac, although distillation by pot still is allowed.
The McCabe–Thiele method is a technique that is commonly employed in the field of chemical engineering to model the separation of two substances by a distillation column. [1] [2] [3] It uses the fact that the composition at each theoretical tray is completely determined by the mole fraction of one of the two components.
Typical industrial fractional distillation columns. Fractional distillation is the most common form of separation technology used in petroleum refineries, petrochemical and chemical plants, natural gas processing and cryogenic air separation plants. [3] [4] In most cases, the distillation is operated at a continuous steady state. New feed is ...
In batch distillation, the batch vaporizes, which changes its composition; in fractionation, liquid higher in the fractionation column contains more lights and boils at lower temperatures. Therefore, starting from a given mixture, it appears to have a boiling range instead of a boiling point, although this is because its composition changes ...
Additional heat is removed from the distillation column by a pumparound system as shown in the diagram below. As shown in the flow diagram, the overhead distillate fraction from the distillation column is naphtha. The fractions removed from the side of the distillation column at various points between the column top and bottom are called ...
Image 1: Typical industrial distillation towers Image 2: A crude oil vacuum distillation column as used in oil refineries. Continuous distillation, a form of distillation, is an ongoing separation in which a mixture is continuously (without interruption) fed into the process and separated fractions are removed continuously as output streams.
The pressure at the top is maintained at 1.2–1.5 atm [2] so that the distillation can be carried out at close to atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is known as the atmospheric distillation column. [3] The vapors from the top of the column are a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and naphtha, at a temperature of 120 °C–130 °C.