Extractive Distillation

This process is very similar to azeotropic distillation. Extractive distillation refers to those processes in which a high-boiling solvent is added alter the relative
volatilities of components in the feed. Click here for a comparison between the 2 processes.

The boiling point of the solvent is generally much higher than the boiling points of the feed mixture that formation of new azeotropes is impossible. The high
boiling point will also ensure that the solvent is will not appreciably vapourise in the distillation process. Click here for more information on selection of a
solvent.

As an illustration, consider the simplified system shown in the Figure below for separation of toluene and iso-octane using phenol as the solvent.

The separation of toluene (boiling point 110.8 oC) from iso-octane (boiling point 99.3 oC) is difficult using conventional distillation. Addition of phenol (boiling
point 181.4 oC) results in the formation of phenol-toluene mixture that leaves the extractive distillation column as bottoms, while relatively iso-octane is
recovered as overhead product. The phenol-toluene mixture is further separated in a second column (solvent recovery column) whereby toluene appears as
distillate and the bottoms product, phenol, is recycled back to the first column.

In the above example, when the solvent is added to the original feed mixture it forms a new mixture with one of the feed components by "absorbing" that
component. This new mixture has a much higher boiling point than the other feed component that is not absorbed so that it leaves as bottoms product from the
extractive distillation column. The unabsorbed feed component then leaves as the overhead product.

The absence of azeotropes plus the fact that the solvent can be recovered by simple distillation makes extractive distillation a less complex and more widely
useful process than azeotropic distillation.

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