What You Need to Know
In chemistry, azeotropic distillation is any of a range of techniques used to break an azeotrope in distillation. In chemical engineering, azeotropic distillation is usually the specific technique of adding another component to generate a new, lower-boiling azeotrope that is heterogeneous, such as the example below with the addition of benzene to water and ethanol.
Steps
- 1.
High-proof alcohol purification (European distilling traditions): Produces neutral spirits for liqueurs
- 2.
Essential oil extraction (Middle Eastern perfumery): Separates volatile aromatic compounds
- 3.
Industrial ethanol production (American fuel industry): Creates anhydrous ethanol