Tyhjiötislaus

Tyhjiötislaus, or vacuum distillation in English, is a distillation process performed under reduced atmospheric pressure. This lower pressure reduces the boiling point of the liquids being separated.

The principle behind tyhjiötislaus is that at lower pressures, molecules require less energy, and therefore less heat, to transition from a liquid to a gaseous state. This is beneficial for several reasons. Compounds that are heat-sensitive and would decompose or degrade at their normal boiling points can be distilled safely at lower temperatures. This is crucial for many organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, and essential oils.

The apparatus for tyhjiötislaus is similar to standard distillation but includes a vacuum pump, a vacuum gauge, and a tightly sealed system to maintain the reduced pressure. The liquid mixture is heated in a distillation flask, and as it vaporizes at a lower temperature, the vapors rise into the condenser, where they are cooled and condensed back into liquid form. This purified liquid, called the distillate, is collected in a receiving flask.

Tyhjiötislaus is widely used in laboratories and industries for purifying and separating compounds with high boiling points or those that are thermally unstable. It is a common technique in the production of fine chemicals, the refining of petroleum products, and the analysis of complex mixtures. The effectiveness of the separation depends on the difference in vapor pressures of the components at the operating pressure.