Question

Explain the main principles of distillation

Answer 1

Distillation principles

Distillation is a method of separating the constituents of mixture (either a liquid or q gaseous one). It is a physical process and not a chemical reaction using the different boiling temperatures of the constituents to separate them from the others. In the rhum agricole context, we are dealing with alcoholic distillation, a way of separation alcohol from water. Alcohol can be segregated from water thanks to the different boiling temperatures (78,4°C/173°F for ethanol and 100°C/212°F for water). Alcoholic vapours are first to get out of the heated solution. Cooling those vapours creates a solution more concentrated in alcohol than the first one.