Fractional distillation is a method used to separate components of crude oil by taking advantage of differences in their boiling points. It involves heating a mixture in a distillation column, partially condensing vapors to allow for countercurrent contact between ascending vapors and descending liquids, enriching each phase and driving the mixture toward equilibrium at each stage. This allows for high purity separation of components like gasoline, diesel, and lubricating oil from crude oil. It is widely applied in industries like oil refining due to being able to separate close-boiling mixtures.

1. DISTILLATION
FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION
OF CRUDE OIL

2. DISTILLATION
DISTILLATION IS A PROCESS OF SEPARATING THE COMPONENTS OR SUBSTANCE
FROM A LIQUID MIXTURE BY SELECTIVE BOILING OR CONDENSATION.

3. FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION
• FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION IS A PROCESS IN WHICH VAPOURIZATION OF LIQUID
MIXTURE GIVES RISE TO A MIXTURE OF CONSTITUENTS FROM WHICH DESIRED
COMPONENT IS SEPARATED IN PURE FORM
• THIS METHOD IS ALSO KNOWN AS RECTIFICATION BECAUSE A PART OF VAPOUR
IS CONDENSED AND RETURNED AS A LIQUID .THIS METHOD IS USED TO
SEPARATE MISCIBLE VOLATILE LIQUIDS ,WHOSE BOILING POINTS ARE CLOSE ,BY
MEAN OF FRACTIONATING COLUMN.

4. APPRATUS

5. PRINCIPLE
• FROM OPERATIONAL POINT OF VIEW,FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION IS A MASS
TRANSFER PROCESS INVOLVING COUNTER-CURRENT DIFFUSION OF COMPONENTS AT
EACH EQUILIBRIUM STAGE.
• WHEN A LIQUID MIXTURE IS DISTILLED ,THE PARTIAL CONDENSATION OF VAPOUR IS
ALLOWED TO OCCUR IN FACTIONAL DISTILLATION COLUMN. IN COLUMN
,ASSENDING VAPOUR FROM STILL IS ALLOWED TO COME IN CONTACT WITH
CONDENSING VAPOUR RETURNING TO STILL THIS RESULT IN ENRICHMENT OF
VAPOUR WITH MORE VOLATILE COMPONENTS. BY CONDENSING THE VAPOUR AND
REHEATING THE LIQUID REPEATEDLY , EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN LIQUID AND VAPOUR IS
SET UP AT EACH STAGE ,WHICH ULTIMATELY RESULTS IN SEPARATION OF MORE
VOLATILE COMPONENTS.

6. HOW DOES IT WORKS

7. EXAMPLE: FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION OF
CRUDE OIL
• A COMMON EXAMPLE IN INDUSTRIES IS SEPARATION OF VARIOUS COMPONENTS
OF CRUDE OIL .CRUDE OIL COMMONLY CONTAIN SUBSTANCE SUCH AS
PARRAFINS,WAX,GASOLINE,DIESEL,NAPHTHA,LUBRICATING OIL AND KETONE.
• DISTILLATION PROCESS HELP IN SEPARATION OF THESE COMPONENTS
EFFECTIVELY.

8. APPLICATIONS
• FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION IS USED FOR:
• SEPARATION OF MISCIBLE LIQUID SUCH AS ACETONE AND WATER,CHLOROFORM
AND BENZENE.
• PREPARATION OF ALCOHOL WHICH IS ONE OF MOST IMPORTANT
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT.
• SEPARATION OF NONVOLATILE COMPONENTS FROM VOLATILE SUBSTANCES E.G
PREPARATION OF DISTILLED WATER FROM INJECTION.
• PURIFICATION OF MANY ORGANIC COMPOUNDS SUCH AS ETHER ,AMIDE ETC

9. FRACTIONAL VS SIMPLE DISTILLATION
• IN SIMPLE DISTILLATION VAPOUR IS DIRECTLY PASSED THROUGH CONDENSER
WHERE AS IN FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION VAPOUR MUST PASSED THROUGH
FRACTIONATING COLUMN IN WHICH PARTIAL CONDENSATION OF VAPOR IS
ALLOWED TO OCCUR.
• IN SIMPLE DISTILLATION,CONDENSATE IS DIRECTLY COLLECTED IN RECEIVER
WERE AS IN FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION, CONDENSATION TAKES PLACE IN
FRACTIONATING COLUMN SO THAT A PART OF CONDENSATION VAPOUR
RETURNS TO STILL.

10. ADVANTAGES
• IT IS EXTREMELY EASY TO USE.
• READILY PURIFIES COMPLEX MIXTURES
• SEPARATE LIQUID WITH SMALLER BOILING POINT SEPARATION.

11. DISADVANTAGES
• IT CAN NOT BE USED TO SEPARATE MISCIBLE LIQUIDS ,WHICH FORM
AZEOTROPIC MIXTURE.
• CONSUMES MORE ENERGY
• SETUP IS COSTLY AND COMPLICATED
• TAKE LONGER TIME FOR LIQUID TO DISTILL.

12. THE END