Difference between Distillation and Evaporation

 

Distillation- Overview

Distillation is the process of converting the liquid into vapor which condenses back to the liquid form. To separate the liquids from the non-volatile solids, you can use the distillation process. This process separates the components of a mixture based on different boiling points. Since 3000 BC in the Indus Valley people are using the distillation method. 

For separating the mixture of liquids, the liquid gets heated up to force the components, to have different boiling points. After this, the gas condenses back into liquid form and collects. If we repeat the process on the collected liquid, to improve the quality, we call it double distillation. 

In dry distillation, we heat solids to form vapors which are then condensed to liquid or solid form. This distillation involves chemical changes such as cracking or destructive distillation. 

The distillation process either completely separates the target liquid to the pure state or partially. This separation increases the concentration of the particular component in the mixture. The booking point of the component decreases as this process progresses. You can easily find the Plantation of distaillation in the USA.

Applications of Distillation-

• Fermented products go through the distillation process and form distilled beverages having strong alcohol content. It can also separate other fermentation products having commercial value. 

• It is a traditional and effective method of desalination.

• In the chemical industry, crude liquid products get processed which separates the impurities, unreacted starting materials, or other products. 

• Cryogenic distillation separates the air into components such as oxygen, argon, and nitrogen for industrial use. 

Evaporation - Overview

Evaporation is the vaporization process. It takes place when the liquid on the surface turns into vapor or gas. In this process, the molecules undergo a spontaneous transition from liquid to gaseous form. Evaporation occurs when molecules in the liquid absorb enough energy to break free from their liquid form and turn into vapor. This process requires heat energy which comes from the environment or other sources such as boiling. It is an important part of the water cycle as it moves water from one place to another in the atmosphere. 

Application of Evaporation-

• Industrial applications such as coating and printing processes include the drying of materials like paper, lumber, cloth, and other chemicals. 

• To concentrate or dry samples laboratory uses the evaporation method. 

• To cool down the building, evaporative coolers can do it by blowing dry air over a filter saturated with water. 

Difference between the Distillation and Evaporation:

1. Distillation is the possess of acquiring gas from the liquid by heating up the component. On the other hand, Evaporation is the process of converting liquid into a gas by heating the liquid. 

2. Distillation does not only occur on the surface, however, evaporation occurs only at the surface. 

3. In the distillation, the liquid vaporizes at boiling point. During evaporation, liquid vaporizes below boiling point. 

4. Distillation is a quick and rapid process, on the other hand, evaporation is a gradual and slow process.  

5. This distillation process is entirely a separation technique, whereas, evaporation is not the separation process.

6. During the distillation process, it forms liquid bubbles at the boiling point. In evaporation, no liquid bubbles form at the boiling point. 

If we talk about types of distillations and evaporators, there are various types of both of them. Let us have look at their types. 

Types of Distillation:

• Simple

• Fractional

• Steam

• Vacuum

• Air-sensitive vacuum 

• Short path

• Zone

• Simple Distillation:

This process involves the heating of the liquid mixture to the boiling point.  It immediately condenses the resulting vapor. It is an effective method for mixtures having different boiling points. 

• Fractional Distillation:

This distillation process is for separating the liquid having the same boiling points. In this, when we heat the liquid mixture, it gets converted into vapors which raises the fractional column. After this, the vapors get cool and then condense the walls of the condenser. 

• Steam Distillation:

With steam distillation,  we separate the heat-sensitive components in a mixture. In this, we pass the steam through the mixture to vaporize it. It establishes a high heat transfer rate without high temperatures. It then condenses the resulting vapors. 

• Vacuum Distillation:

This process is great for separating liquids having high boiling points. During this, the pressure of the surroundings is low. This enables the component to boil at lower temperatures. When the vapor pressure equals the pressure of the surrounding, it gets converted into a vapor. 

• Air-Sensitive Vacuum Distillation:

The air-sensitive distillation process is for the air-sensitive compounds that readily react with it. However, after the whole process, the vacuum must be replaced with an inert gas. 

Type of Evaporation-

• Forced Circulation evaporator

• Falling film evaporator

• Rising film evaporator

• Multiple effects

• Agitated thin film 

1. Forced Circulation Evaporators:

We use forced circulation evaporators to remove water from certain materials while maintaining their core properties. This evaporator is useful to process liquids having high velocity and high solid content. Forced circulation evaporators play a critical role in the food and pharmaceutical industries as they process highly sensitive materials. 

2. Falling film evaporator:

It is a shell and tube heat exchanger that industries use to separate two or more substances having different boiling points. In this, uniform distribution of the solution is important. The solution gains velocity when enters as it flowers downward. The gain in velocity gets attributed to the vapor evolving against the medium heating. A falling film evaporator is useful for highly viscous solutions. Industrie such as chemical, sugar, food, and fermentation uses this evaporator. 

3. Rising film evaporator:

This evaporator is a combination of rising film and falling film evaporator it is to offer the benefits of both evaporators in one. In this, the feed is given at the bottom of the heat exchanger and rises in tubes. The heating medium, it receives the heat on the shell side. After receiving the heat, vapor pushes the liquid on the wall and lifts the liquid upwards. 

4. Multiple effect evaporator:

This evaporator consists of a sequence of heat exchangers which is used for many applications in industries. It helps in achieving evaporation and obtaining the desired concentration. All this is done by using an efficient amount of heat sources such as steam or hot water to evaporate water. After the solutes start to precipitate, evaporation stops automatically in the operation of an evaporator. 

5. Agitated thin film:

This evaporator quickly separates the volatile from the less volatile components. It uses the indirect heat transfer and mechanical agitation of the flowing product film. This separation takes place under the vacuum conditions to temperature while maintaining the temperature of favorable products.

Conclusion-

Both distillation and evaporation are useful for separating the mixtures of varied boiling points. In some mixtures, the boiling points are the same as well. Hope this blog is helpful for you as we have discussed differences and other things as well about distillation and evaporation. 

If you also want to buy the distillation and evaporation machines or need any service related to them, ‘AlaquaInc is here. We at AlaquaInc, provide various industrial machines, equipment, plantations, and related things. We offer plantation of evaporators as well. Here, we provide quality machinery and equipment with the best installation and good industry prices. 

Contact us today to know more.