SIMPLE AND FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION ABSTRACT Distillation is the process of converting a liquid to a vapor, condensing the vapor, and

then, collecting the distillate inanother container. There are two types of distillation namely, simple and fractional. The group was assigned toperform fractional distillation which aims to separate the components in a liquid mixture having different boilingpoints. The liquid mixture used was vodka and the quick-fit apparatus was used to perform the distillation. Themixture was then allowed to boil up to 100 degrees Celsius and the distillate was collected in test tubes limiting thevolume collected by each tube to 0.5 ml. Each distillate drop and its corresponding temperature were recorded andthe data retrieved were used to compute and determine the percentage of ethanol in the liquid mixture. Introduction: Distillation has been considered as one of theoldest and most applied chemical techniquethroughout history, it being performed forpurification of liquids. Such method developedhand in hand with the early evolution of chemistry.Basically, this process involves the heating of aliquid and separating the condensed vapors. Byheating the liquid until it boils, the resultant hotvapors are captured and the condensed vaporscan be collected. Purification of a compound usesdistillation by separating it from a non-volatile ora less-volatile material.Boiling point plays an important role indistillation. In a mixture, if two differentcompounds that have different boiling points aredistilled properly, they can be separated intoindividual components. Such is the case with theethanol-water mixture present in vodka.It is an aim of this experiment to perform adistillation process. Vodka was decided as themixture to be distilled. It is also an aim to beable to separate the components of an alcoholicbeverage, calculate the percentage of ethanolcontained by the beverage and to distinguish ordifferentiate simple from fractional distillation interms of their efficiency. To be able to do so, oneof the two most widely used type of distillationprocess was performed by each group. Simple distillation is useful in separating asolid from a liquid or to separate two liquids withvery different boiling points; preferably, thedifference in the boiling points of these twoliquids must be at least 70 o C. This type of distillation was designed to evaporate a volatileliquid from a solution of non-volatile substancewhere the vapor is condensed in the watercondenser and then collected in the receiver. Asimple distillation set-up consists of a round-bottomed flask (called distilling flask) where theliquid is placed; this distillation flask bears astillhead (or distillation head) which is connectedto a water condenser (Leibig condenser). Thestillhead has

an attached thermometer adapterwith a thermometer; and an adapter is attachedto the condenser, connecting it to the receivingflask.As mentioned, the preferable difference in theboiling points of two liquids in a mixture must beat least 70 o C, because those mixtures whoseboiling points are less than 70 o C (that which havealmost similar boiling points) cannot be appliedwith simple distillation. Simple distillation is notefficient for separating liquids whose boilingpoints lie close to each other. These situationsrequire fractional distillation. Fractional distillation is useful in separating acomplex mixture of miscible liquids, such asethanol and water, into their components inaccordance wit h their boiling points. Thisdistillation process is performed with afractionating column. In this column, the vapoursfrom the heated liquid pass up. The temperaturein the column gradually decreases along itslength, therefore cooling the vapours. As cooled,the components turn back into a liquid. Thecomponents in the mixture are condensed indifferent levels and by this, they are separated.The components with higher boiling pointscondense on the column and return to thesolution while the components with lower boilingpoints pass through the column and arecollected. Rectification or enrichment refers tothe purification of the more volatile componentby contact between such counter-current streamsof vapour and liquid.This report will tackle the results obtained fromfractional distillation as it was the type of distillation assigned to the group to beperformed

Methodology: The group was tasked to perform fractionaldistillation of vodka. Preparing the apparatus, anexample of a fractional distillation set-up isshown in Figure 1.0: Figure 1.0 Fractional distillation set-up Prior to the experiment, fifteen (15) test tubeswere prepared. Each test tube was numberedaccordingly and was given a calibration of 0.5mL.30mL of vodka was introduced into the quick-fitdistilling flask. An alcohol lamp was held beneaththe distilling flask, rotating it continuously untilthe vodka started to boil.The temperature during the first drop of thedistillate was recorded. The distillate, on theother hand,

was kept until the end of theexperiment to perform the flammability test.There was a rapid drop of distillate. Eachdistillate was received by the test tube which hada calibration of 0.5mL each. This is to keep trackof the total volume of distillate accumulated, andto note the change in temperature increase inrelation to the volume of the mixture.The experiment performed did not reach 100 o C.The substance in the flask had already stoppedincreasing in temperature even if constant heatwas applied; it only reached 96 o C from the 26 th test tube. The 27 th test tube had to wait a shortspan of time until it was filled up to the 0.5mLmark because the substance was alreadyinadequate. The last drop was kept also for theflammability test. Results/Discussion Table: The group was not able to reach the 100 O Ctemperature limit required. The temperaturestopped increasing at 96 o C only. Table 1.0 willsummarize the number of test tubes used, thevolume and the temperature. Number of Test TubeusedVolume of Distillate(mL)Temperature( O C) 10.576217631.578427852.578638073.580848094.58010580115.58212682136.58414784157.58616886 178.58818988199.5902010902110.5902211922311.5922412942512.5942613962713.596 Table 1.0 Shows the summary of the data recordedfor the fractional distillation.

As shown by the table, the group was able torecord 27 test tubes that were used duringdistillation. Each test tube has a 0.5 mLcalibration; by multiplying the the number of testtube used by the 0.5 calibration per test tube, wecan conclude that the total volume of distillatecollected is 13.5mL. The temperature, asmentioned, did not reach 100 O C but only up to96 O C. We can see in the data that the interval of the increase in temperature is about 2 O C. Thetemperature stayed at 80 O C for the longest timecompared to the other interval of temperatureincrease. This is because the ethanol-watermixture is an example of an azeotropic mixture meaning, each components volatility is stronglyaffected by the presence of the other componen

Here is the graph that will summarize the temperature vs. volume of the distillatecollected throughout the experiment: Graph 1.0 The plotted line graph of the recordedvolume and temperature of the distillate. Compared to the results of simple distillation, theinterval of the increase in temperature infractional distillation is manifested more in theformer. In fractional distillation, the obtainedsubstance is more pure than the substanceobta ined from simple distillation. This is becausethe boiling point recorded is close to the originalboiling point of the components. The fractionatingcolumn with boiling stones also helped gain amore pure result. The repeated evaporation andcondensation during fractional distillation aid inthe complete purification of the more volatileliquid.The principle behind fractional distil lation isprovided by the theory of

Raoults Law . The lawstates that the vapor pressure of a solution atany given temperature is the sum of the vaporpressures of each substance multiplied by itsmole fraction in the solution.Mixtures that are miscible, and are thereforesubjected to fractional distillation are considered ideal solutions. These solutions follow theRaoults law. Actually, the said law only works forideal solutions. However, in the case of vodka, anethanol-water azeotropic mixture, it cannot befully separated by fractional distillation. It canonly be partially separated into its components.Ideal solutions are not really ideal. However, theyare almost ideal because the two componentsthat form the mixture are very closely similarwith each other. An ideal solution is formed whenthere are two different components with thesame size, shape and intermolecular forces.Distillatio n works because the vapor above thesolution has a higher mole fraction of the morevolatile component than the liquid.Boiling the vodka, the vapor on top of the boilingliquid will be richer in the more volatilecomponent, in this case with ethanol. This vaporwill now travel to the fractionating column andwill eventually reach the height of the columnwhere it could condense due to the lowtemperature at that part of the column. Thecondensation will produce a liquid that is rich,still, in ethanol. The liquid will then go down thecolumn where it will meet new vapors. This willcause the already condensed vapor to reboil.On the other hand, the liquid left behind eachreboiling is richer in the lesser-volatilecomponent. Over time, as ethanol passes into thecolumn into the condenser, the liquid in the flaskwill be richer in water.The cycle of boiling-condensingreboiling musthappen repetitively so as to make the processeffective. The boiling stones inside thefracti onating column allow the column to have anincreased surface area. Increase in surface areawill permit maximum possible contact betweenthe condensed liquid that is going down thecolumn and the hot vapour travelling upward thecolumn. Without this, there would be no contactbetween the liquid and the vapour.During the flammability test, the first drop of thedistillate produced flame while the last drop didnot react to the flame. This means that theprocess of distillation was successful and that thecomponents of vodka were separated to ethanoland water. References: BOOK1.Chemistry by McMurry, J.2.Chemistry by Abrash3.General Chemistry: Principles andStructures by Brady4.Purification of Laboratory Chemicals byPerrin & ArmaregoINTERNET 1. http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/phaseeqia/idealpd.html 2. http://home.clara.net/rod.beavon/distil.htm

3. http://orgchem.colorado.edu/hndbksupport/dist/dist.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/38610134/Simple-and-Fractional-Distillation-Repaired