Separation process

A set of operations that separates a mixture into components by exploiting differences in their physical or chemical properties.

Distillation: A method that separates liquid mixtures by vaporizing and condensing components with different volatilities. It separates components through differences in boiling behavior.
Mixture: A physical combination of substances whose components retain their chemical identities. Separation processes act on mixtures without necessarily changing component identities.
Petroleum refining: The industrial conversion and separation of crude oil into fuels, feedstocks, and other products. Refineries use distillation and other separations to divide complex hydrocarbon mixtures.
Chemical reaction: A process in which substances are converted into other substances through changes in chemical bonds. A separation redistributes existing components, whereas a reaction changes their chemical identities.
Filtration: A method that passes a fluid through a porous barrier to retain suspended particles. It separates solids from fluids by particle size and barrier permeability.
Phase equilibrium: The condition in which phases coexist with no net transfer of matter between them. Equilibrium limits how far phase-based separations can proceed in one stage.
Water treatment: Processes that improve water quality by removing contaminants or adjusting its composition. Filtration, membranes, and other separations remove suspended and dissolved substances.
Chemical synthesis: The construction of chemical compounds from simpler substances through chemical reactions. Synthesis creates compounds; separation isolates components already present in a mixture.
Centrifugation: A method that separates particles or phases by spinning a mixture to create centrifugal acceleration. It exploits differences in density and settling behavior.
Vapor-liquid equilibrium: The equilibrium relationship between the compositions of coexisting vapor and liquid phases. It predicts the composition differences exploited by distillation.

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