Distillation: Still towering over other options

Distillation dominates separations in the chemical process industries (CPI), at least for mixtures that normally are processed as liquids. The authors fully expect that distillation will continue to be the method of choice for many separations, and the method against which other options must be compared. So, in this article, they will put into some perspective just why distillation continues to reign as the king of separations, and what steps are being taken to improve its applicability and performance, as well as basic understanding of the technique.