Molecular Still Separation

• Molecular Still Separation has been around since the 1930's. High vacuum distillation, which has been termed "molecular" or "short path" distillation, is a process tool to separate mixtures of organic or silicon compounds. The degree of separation is a function of the difference in molecular weights of any distilled mixture. The greater the variance in the molecular weights, the purer the distillate. The closer the molecular weights of the mixture, the less efficient is the desired fractionation,

• Molecular Still Separation is normally used in the oil industry to separate components from the distillate (waste stream of a deodorizer). For example Vitamin E (tocopherol) is removed from soybean oil distillate.

• This process is not normally used in oil processing because it has been shown to be very costly and ineffective in removing some components.