Steam distillation

Steam distillation is a separation process

that consists in distilling water together
with other volatile and non-volatile
components. The steam from the boiling
water carries the vapor of the volatiles to a
condenser; both are cooled and return to
the liquid or solid state, while the non-
volatile residues remain behind in the
boiling container.
Steam distillation apparatus in a lab.

Steam distillation apparatus, showing aniline steam

distillation

If the volatiles are liquids not miscible with

water, they will spontaneously form a
distinct phase after condensation, allowing
them to be separated by decantation or
with a separatory funnel. In that case, a
Clevenger apparatus may be used to return
the condensed water to the boiling flask,
while the distillation is in progress.
Alternatively, the condensed mixture can
be processed with fractional distillation or
some other separation technique.

Steam distillation can be used when the

boiling point of the substance to be
extracted is higher than that of water, and
the starting material cannot be heated to
that temperature because of
decomposition or other unwanted
reactions. It may also be useful when the
amount of the desired substance is small
compared to that of the non-volatile
residues. It is often used to separate
volatile essential oils from plant
material.[1] for example, to extract
limonene (boiling point 176 °C) from
orange peels.

Steam distillation once was a popular

laboratory method for purification of
organic compounds, but it has been
replaced in many such uses by vacuum
distillation and supercritical fluid
extraction. It is however much simpler and
economical than those alternatives, and
remains important in certain industrial
sectors.[2]
In the simplest form, water distillation or
hydrodistillation, the water is mixed with
the starting material in the boiling
container. In direct steam distillation, the
starting material is suspended above the
water in the boiling flask, supported by a
metal mesh or perforated screen. In dry
steam distillation, the steam from a boiler
is forced to flow through the starting
material in a separate container. The latter
variant allows the steam to be heated
above the boiling point of water (thus
becoming superheated steam), for more
efficient extraction.[3]

Principle
Every substance has some vapor pressure
even below its boiling point, so in theory it
could be distilled at any temperature by
collecting and condensing its vapors.
However, ordinary distillation below the
boiling point is not practical because a
layer of vapor-rich air would form over the
liquid, and evaporation would stop as soon
as the partial pressure of the vapor in that
layer reached the vapor pressure. The
vapor would then flow to the condenser
only by diffusion, which is an extremely
slow process.

Simple distillation is generally done by

boiling the starting material, because, once
its vapor pressure exceeds atmospheric
pressure, that still vapor-rich layer of air
will be disrupted, and there will be a
significant and steady flow of vapor from
the boiling flask to the condenser.

In steam distillation, that positive flow is

provided by steam from boiling water,
rather than by the boiling of the
substances of interest. The steam carries
with it the vapors of the latter.

The substance of interest does not need

to be miscible water or soluble in it. It
suffices that it has significant vapor
pressure at the steam's temperature.
If the water forms an azeotrope with the
substances of interest, the boiling point of
the mixture may be lower than the boiling
point of water. For example,
bromobenzene boils at 156 °C (at normal
atmospheric pressure), but a mixture with
water boils at 95 °C.[4] However, the
formation of an azeotrope is not
necessary for steam distillation to work.

Applications

A boiling water distiller. Boiling tank on top and

 g g p
holding tank on the bottom.

Steam distillation is often employed in the

isolation of essential oils, for use in
perfumes, for example. In this method,
steam is passed through the plant material
containing the desired oils. Eucalyptus oil,
camphor oil and orange oil are obtained by
this method on an industrial scale.[1]

Steam distillation is also sometimes used

in chemical laboratories as one of many
substance separation methods.

Steam distillation also is an important

means of separating fatty acids from
mixtures and for treating crude products
such as tall oils to extract and separate
fatty acids and other commercially
valuable organic compounds.[5]

Equipment

Hydrodistillation using the Steam distillation

apparatus, Clevenger-type apparatus. (A) Power
regulator; (B) Heating mantle with round bottom flask
containing water and aromatic leaves; (C) Clevenger-
type apparatus that returns the hydrosol to the still
and maintains the essential oil phase, but only for
essential oils that are less dense than water and
therefore float; (D) The condenser.[6]

On a lab scale, steam distillations are

carried out using steam generated outside
the system and piped through macerated
biomass or steam generated in-situ using
a Clevenger-type apparatus.[7]

See also
Azeotropic distillation
Batch distillation
Distillation
Extractive distillation
 Fractional distillation
Heteroazeotrope
Herbal distillates
Hydrodistillation
Laboratory equipment
Steam engine
Steam stripping
Supercritical fluid extraction
Theoretical plate

References
1. Fahlbusch, Karl-Georg;
Hammerschmidt, Franz-Josef; Panten,
Johannes; Pickenhagen, Wilhelm;
 Schatkowski, Dietmar; Bauer, Kurt;
Garbe, Dorothea; Surburg, Horst
(2003). "Flavors and Fragrances".
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial
Chemistry.
doi:10.1002/14356007.a11_141 .
ISBN 3-527-30673-0.
2. Zeki Berk (2018): Food Process
Engineering and Technology, 3rd
edition. 742 pages. ISBN 978-0-12-
812018-7 doi:10.1016/C2016-0-
03186-8
3. Manuel G. Cerpa, Rafael B. Mato,
María José Cocero, Roberta Ceriani,
Antonio J. A. Meirelle, Juliana M.
 Prado, Patrícia F. Leal, Thais M.
Takeuchi, and M. Angela A. Meireles
(2008): "Steam distillation applied to
the food industry ". Chapter 2 of
Extracting Bioactive Compounds for
Food Products: Theory and
Applications, pages 9–75.
ISBN 9781420062397
4. Martin's Physical Pharmacy &
Pharmaceutical sciences, fifth edition,
ISBN 0-7817-6426-2, Lippincott
williams & wilkins
5. M.M. Chakrabarty (9 November 2003).
Chemistry and Technology of Oils &
 Fats . Allied Publishers. pp. 12–.
ISBN 978-81-7764-495-1.
. Sadgrove & Jones, A contemporary
introduction to essential oils:
Chemistry, bioactivity and prospects
for Australian agriculture, Agriculture
5(1), 2015, DOI:
10.3390/agriculture5010048
7. Walton & Brown, Chemicals From
Plants, Imperial College Press, 1999.

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