Distillation column

A distillation column is a tower-type vapor-liquid contact device used for distillation, also known as a distillation tower. It comes in two main types: plate-type towers and packed towers. Depending on the operation method, it can be further divided into continuous distillation towers and batch distillation towers. In terms of operating pressure, there are three types: atmospheric, pressurized, and vacuum. The basic principle of distillation involves multiple partial vaporization and condensation, utilizing the characteristic of different volatility of its components (relative volatility, α) to achieve the separation objective. Distillation can be categorized by its operation method into simple distillation, flash vaporization, normal distillation, and special distillation, among others.