PURIFYING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE USING SIMPLE AND FRACTIONAL

DISTILLATION
Maiah Beatrice R. Dinglasan, Ma. Lourdes B. Domingo, Mheriz Janzel E. Drona,
Diana Rose D. Dy Jongco, Princess Arasher Espolong, Alex Darwin Estanislao
Group 3
2E-Pharmacy
Organic Chemistry Laboratory
ABSTRACT
Distillation was used in purifying an alcoholic beverage. There are several types of distillation,
which will be discussed on the next paragraph, but only simple and fractional distillation were
used in the experiment. The group was assigned to perform fractional distillation method. Gin
was the alcoholic beverage that was used in the purification. A volume of 15 mL of gin was
placed in the distillation flask, heated with an alcohol lamp, and was then allowed to boil. The
distillate of 0.5 mL was collected in the calibrated test tubes until the temperature reached 100
degrees Celsius. The first and last test tubes were tested by its flammability. When introduced to
fire, the first distillate produced flame, while the last distillate did not produce flame. The volume
of the distillate collected was 7.5 mL, giving 50% ethanol at 96 degrees Celsius.

INTRODUCTION
Distillation is a process of condensing the
vapor, and collecting the distillate.1
Distillation is a widely used method for
separating mixtures based on differences in
the conditions required to change the phase
of components of the mixture.2 Boiling point
plays an important role in distillation.3 In a
mixture, if two different compounds having
different boiling points are distilled properly,
they can be separated into individual
components.3 Gin, a flavored, distilled,
colourless to pale yellow liquor made from
purified spirits usually obtained from
a grain mash and having the juniper berry
as its principal flavoring ingredient.4
To be able to perform the purification, there
are several types of distillation:
In Simple Distillation, the mixture is heated
and the liquid with the lower boiling point is
vaporized, condensed, and then transferred

to a vessel. It is useful in separating

compounds which have very different
boiling points, and volatile liquids from
nonvolatile substances. It can be used to
separate liquids that have at least 50
degrees Celsius difference in their boiling
points.
Fractional Distillation was the method used
in this experiment. Simple and Fractional
Distillation are almost the same in the set up
and some types of liquids that they can
effectively purify. Fractional distillation has
fractionating column with boiling stones in
order to prevent the bumping of the liquid
into the condenser, while Simple distillation
has no fractionating column included in the
set up. They can both separate liquids that
have different boiling points, but fractional
distillation can separate miscible liquids that
are volatile. The condensed vapors are
passed through a fractionating column
where they undergo a series of vaporization
and condensation.5

There are also Vacuum distillation method,

which is distilled under reduced pressure
and is used for distilling high-boiling point
liquids or heat-sensitive compounds,5 and
Steam distillation which is usually employed
in the separation of an organic compound
from a solid material with the use of water in
the form of liquid or steam.5
EXPERIMENTAL
A. Compound Tested or Sample Used
The sample used was a clear, colorless gin.
(San Miguel Ginebra)
B. Procedure
1. The method used was a fractional
distillation set up. (Figure 1) The
apparatuses used were the following:
Erlenmeyer flask containing the 15 mL gin,
fractionating column (with boiling stones),
iron stand, iron rings, iron clamps, alcohol
lamp, still head, adapter, thermometer,
condenser, rubber tubing, and calibrated
test tubes. The Erlenmeyer flask was
heated with an alcohol lamp while rotating
the flask over the lamp. In every calibrated
test tube, 0.5 mL of distillate was collected
and recorded the temperature at which it
was collected until such time that it already
reached 96 degrees Celsius.
2. Flammability test were conducted to the
first and last distillate. The two distillates
were transferred separately in a watch glass
and lighted up with flame.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows that as the volume of the
distillate increases, the temperature also
increases. At the start of the experiment, the
volume of the distillate increases at a
constant temperature. At the end, the
volume of the distillate increases as the

temperature gradually increases. The total

amount of the distillate collected at the end
of the process was 15 mL, while the amount
of residue was 7.8 mL.
Table 1. Temperature and Volume of the
Distillate
Test
Tube

Volume (in
milliliters)

Temperature
(in degrees
Celsius)
T1
0.5
76
T2
0.5
78
T3
0.5
78
T4
0.5
78
T5
0.5
78
T6
0.5
79
T7
0.5
79
T8
0.5
79
T9
0.5
79
T10
0.5
80
T11
0.5
84
T12
0.5
88
T13
0.5
89
T14
0.5
90
T15
0.5
96
Total volume of distillate collected: 15 mL
Figure 1. Fractional Distillation set up

Table 2 shows the graph of the temperature

versus volume. There are two plateaus in
the graph. This means at first, there were
times that the volume of the distillate
increases at a constant temperature. The
substance that was boiling at around 76 to
79 degrees Celsius was the ethanol in the
gin. It is also shown in the graph the gradual
increase of the temperature at the latter
time of boiling. This substance was the
water which boils at around 96 to 100
degrees Celsius.

last part was the water which is not

flammable.
The percentage of ethanol and the
percentage
loss
were
computed:

EtOH =

volume of thedistillate
100
volume of theinitial sample

%EtOH=

Table 2. Temperature (C) versus Volume

(mL)

7.5 mL
100
15 mL
= 50% EtOH

Temperature (C) vs. Volume (mL)

vol of residue+vol of distillate

initial vol
%loss=

96
94

loss=

92
90
88

15 mL(7.8 mL+7.5 mL)

100
15 mL

0.3 mL
100
15 mL

86
84
82
80
78
76

In the flammability test, the first and last

distillates were placed in two separate
watch glasses and introduced them to fire.
The first distillate produced a flame because
it contains the alcohol, ethanol, which is
flammable, while the last distillate did not
produce a flame. The liquid obtained at the

= 2% percentage loss
The percent loss shows that there was an
excessive heating of the flask that caused
the rapid evaporation of the sample or it can
be caused by them was handling of the test
tube that caused to the careless collection
of distillate.6
Listed below are the following possible
sources of error: (1) Parallax reading of
temperature, (2) 0.5mlcalibration is not
accurate and precise during the experiment
(3) Few drops of distillate were missed while
replacing new test tube for the distillate
were
not
accounted
(4)
Accurate
measurement of residue was skipped,
resulting to 0% error (5) Distillate might

have vaporized during the experiment

before it was tested to flammability test (6)
Not all test tubes were tested for
flammability test.7

REFERENCES
[1] Bayquen, A.V., Cruz, C.T., De Guia,
R.M., Lampa, F.F., Pena, G.T., Sarile, A.S. &
Torres, P.C. (2009). Laboratory Manual in
Organic Chemistry. Manila: C&E Publishing,
Inc. p.13-14
[2] Helmenstine, A.M. What is Distillation?
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/bldistillatio
n.htm 10/11/15
[3] Castillo, F. Simple and Fractional
Distillation.https://www.scribd.com/doc/3861

0134/Simple-and-Fractional-DistillationRepaired 10/11/15
[4] [ No author mentioned ] Gin.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/gin-liquor
10/11/15
[5] Acedera, K., Buan, D., De Joya, M.,
Fabro, C., Garcia, P. Simple and Fractional
Distillation.https://www.scribd.com/book/280
892176 10/11/15
[6] Laforteza, B. Simple and Fractional
Distillation.https://www.scribd.com/doc/1051
89778/Simple-and-Fractional-Distillationformal-Report 10/11/15
[7] [No author mentioned] Simple and
Fractional Distillation.http://www.scribd.com/d
oc/17717405/Simple-and-FractionalDistillation-2EMT-Group-1-2009 10/11/15