Separator

A separator is a device, piece of equipment, or a symbol used to divide a mixture into its constituent parts or to delineate sections of a data stream or text. Separators enable processes by isolating components, removing impurities, or structuring information.

In physical processes, separators distinguish by differences in properties such as density, particle size, magnetism, or phase. Common examples include centrifuges and gravity separators that remove solids from liquids, filters and screens that trap particulates, cyclone and decanter separators used in oil, gas, and chemical processing, and magnetic separators that attract ferrous materials. Advanced separation equipment may combine multiple steps, such as hydrocyclones and flotation cells, to increase purity and recovery.

In chemical and process engineering, separation methods rely on volatility, solubility, density, affinity, or chemical potential. Distillation, extraction, adsorption, crystallization, and membrane separation are typical techniques, often implemented in columns, contactors, or membrane modules. Separation performance depends on factors like throughput, target purity, phase behavior, and material compatibility.

In data processing and publishing, separators are characters that mark boundaries between fields or tokens, such as commas, tabs, semicolons, pipes, or hyphens. Delimiters organize structured text formats (CSV, TSV) and aid parsing by software. In typography, separators such as hyphens, en dashes, slashes, and brackets segment words and phrases and improve readability.

Design considerations for separators include efficiency, reliability, maintenance, corrosion resistance, cleanliness (in sanitary contexts), and compatibility with the substances or data being handled.