SEPARATING TECHNIQUES

In chemistry and chemical engineering, a separation process, or simply a separation, is any mass transfer process used to convert a mixture of substances into two or more distinct product mixtures, at least one of which is enriched in one or more of the mixture's constituents. In some cases, a separation may fully divide the mixture into its pure constituents. Separations are carried out based on differences in chemical properties such as size, shape, mass, or chemical affinity between the constituents of a mixture, and are often classified according to the particular differences they use to achieve separation. In the case that no single difference can be used to accomplish a desired separation, multiple processes will often be performed in combination to achieve the desired end.

VARIOUS TYPES OF SEPARATION PROCESSES.

I. Hand Separation An example which could be separated by hand might be a dry mixture of salt and sand. Manually picking out the sand does not change the chemical identity of the salt or the sand. Even though this technique is crude, it does show up in making an important discovery. It was the discovery of optical isomers by Louis Pasteur in 1844, the first major discovery of his scientific career. He was able to separate what had been thought to be one compound into two. He carefully crystallized the compound and, the key insight, saw that it crystallized into right-handed and left-handed crystals. II. Filtration Filtration is a bit more sophistication than manually picking out stuff. Mix the sand/salt with water. The salt dissolves, the sand does not. Pour through a filter to separate the sand, then heat the salt water to drive off the water. All physical changes. Often, in chemistry, a reaction will be carried out and a solid material formed where there was none before. Filtration is the most common technique to remove the solid material. Filters range widely in sophistication. Common ordinary filter paper (as might be used to make coffee) is inexpensive. The filter used in an oil filter for a car costs a bit more and so on. There are special application filters in various areas, both chemistry and other, where the filters are quite expensive. Sometimes, the solid portions is what you want and sometimes it is the material you discard, keeping what passed through the filter. In 1943, Glenn Seaborg discovered element 94, later named plutonium. He and his co-workers carried out a series of steps, both chemical and physical, to purify the plutonium, one of which was a filtration. They kept the solid and discarded what passed through the filter. Filtration, Mesh, bag and paper filters are used to remove large particulates suspended in fluids (e.g., fly ash) while membrane processes including microfiltration III. Distillation-Imagine a solution of alcohol and water. Heat it. The lower boiling component (alcohol) will come off first, so you hold the temperature until all the alcohol is gone. You've separated the water and the alcohol with only physical changes involved. (The actual technique is a bit more sophisticated, but you get the idea.) Distillation, used for mixtures of liquids with different boiling points. IV. Chromatography-Chromatography is a family of analytical chemistry techniques for the separation of mixtures. It involves passing the sample, a mixture which contains the analyte, in the "mobile phase", often in a stream of solvent, through the "stationary phase." The stationary phase retards the passage of

the components of the sample. When components pass through the system at different rates they become separated in time, like runners in a marathon. Ideally, each component has a characteristic time of passage through the system. This is called it's "retention time." A chromatograph takes a chemical mixture carried by liquid or gas and separates it into its component parts as a result of differential distributions of the solutes as they flow around or over a stationary liquid or solid phase. Various techniques for the separation of complex mixtures rely on the differential affinities of substances for a gas or liquid mobile medium and for a stationary adsorbing medium through which they pass; such as paper, gelatin, or magnesium silicate gel. Chromatography separates dissolved substances by different interaction with (i.e., travel through) a material.

V. Centrifugation-In Centrifuges the centrifugal force is mechanically generated by turning the

equipment containing the fluid in a circular path causing the fluids to separate. This method has been used in the laboratories and primitive industries for over a century. It has mainly been used to separate fluids in static state, i.e. ,specific volumes which needed to be separated. When the volume was large or it was in a dynamic state , i.e., flowing, centrifuges were not capable to deal with the situation. Relatively recently , however, new equipment were designed to deal with such conditions. Please refer to manufacturers sites for more information on these equipment Sublimation This is the name given to the process where a substance changes straight from a solid to a gas missing out the liquid stage. Sublimation is found in relatively few chemicals, for example iodine, carbon dioxide, and ammonium chloride. Iodine therefore cannot exist as a liquid: It is either a solid or a gas. Don't get confused: liquid iodine solution is iodine dissolved in a solvent such as alcohol or potassium iodide. Magnetism Magnets are used in everyday life for doorbells, car lifting, trains, and doors. A mixture of sulphur and iron filings can be separated using a magnet. Density If a mixture of oil and water is shaken up and then allowed to settle, the oil rises to the top and separates from the water below. This is because the oil is less dense than the water. By using a separating funnel the water can be drained off first followed by the water.

Centrifugation Centrifugation is used when we want to separate small amounts of suspension. The suspension of solid in liquid is poured into a centrifuge tube, then spin around very fast in a centrifuge. The spinning motion forces the solid to the bottom of the tube. Then the liquid can be poured off from the solid. Centrifugation is commonly used in dairies to separate milk from cream to make skimmed milk. It is possible because milk has less density than cream. The idea of centrifugation is applied in washing machine for drying clothes. There are many small holes in the washing drum in a washing machine. After the washing is completed, the washing will then rotate at high speed, this will forces the water on the wet clothes out through all the small holes. Decantation Decantation is a very quick method for separating a mixture of a liquid and a heavier solid. If we want to separate a mixture of water and same, First, we should allow the sand to settle on the bottom of the container. Then we poured off the water at the top. The advantage of this method is quick, but there is a disadvantage of this method which is rough. It cannot be used to separate a mixture of a liquid and a light sold, such as chalk in water. The particles of chalk are suspended in the water. They are so light that they do not sink down to the bottom for a long time. Evaporation We cannot separate a mixture which is a solution using filtration or centrifugation. Since it is spread all through the solvent in tiny particles. The solution is heated so that the solvent evaporates, and just leave the solid behind. The diagram below show by using this method, salt can be obtained from its solution. Only solute can be obtained, and solvent will evaporate away in the process of EVAPORATION. Fractional Distillation Miscible liquids are much more difficult to separate. Mixtures of miscible liquids can be separated by fractional distillation. It will provide the boiling points of the liquids are not too close. If we want to separate a mixture of ethanol and water. The diagram below is suitable for this process. The fractionating column is packed with glass bead. It provides a large surface area for vaporization and condensation of the liquid mixture. Sublimation Some solids can change to vapor state without melting when heated. We called it SUBLIMATION. When the vapor is cooled, the solid forms again. We often use sublimation to separate a mixture of two solids in which one sublimes, but the other does not. For example, iodine from a mixture of sand and iodine by sublimation. When heated, only iodine changes to vapor. The vapor changes back to solid on the side of the funnel. An inverted test tube is placed over if too much vapor is escaping from funnel. Substances which sublime include anhydrous aluminum chloride, iodine and benzoic acid, anhydrous iron (III) chloride and anhydrous aluminum chloride. Determining the Melting Point of a Solid We can determine the melting point of a solid by putting some of the dry solids into a capillary tube. Then the tube is to be attached to the bulb of a thermometer. The thermometer together with a stirrer are placed in a test tube of water and then heated gently. When the solid melts, record down the temperature.

The pure solid have sharper melting points. This means they melt within narrow temperature range less than 0.5 C. Solids which are impure do not have a sharp melting points. Therefore they melt over a wide temperature range. We often used water bath to determine the melting point of a solid. An oil bath will be used if a water bath is not hot enough to melt solid which has a melting point above 90 degree Celsius. Determining the Boiling Point of a Liquid We can put the liquid into a test tube fitted with a thermometer to determine the boiling point of a liquid that does not catch fire easily. Add some anthibumping graniles and heat the liquid gently until it boils and record down the boiling point.