What You Need to Know
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.
Steps
- 1.
Essential oil extraction (Middle Eastern): Separates volatile aromatic compounds
- 2.
Alcohol purification (European): Concentrates ethanol for spirits
- 3.
Vanilla extract production (Mexican): Isolates vanillin compounds
The Science
Primary Reaction
Distillation