heartcut

A heartcut is a specific fraction collected during distillation, particularly in the fractional distillation of liquids. In this process, a mixture is heated, and the resulting vapors are cooled and condensed back into liquid. Different components of the mixture vaporize and condense at different temperatures, allowing them to be separated. The heartcut represents the fraction that boils within a narrow, desired temperature range, separating it from lower-boiling (heads) and higher-boiling (tails) fractions.

The term "heartcut" is often used in the context of producing refined products like ethanol, essential oils, or petroleum derivatives. For instance, in ethanol distillation for fuel or consumption, the heartcut contains the purest ethanol, while the heads might contain lighter, more volatile impurities and the tails could contain heavier, less volatile substances. Careful collection of the heartcut is crucial for achieving the desired purity and quality of the final product. The precise temperature range for the heartcut is determined by the specific components being separated and the intended use of the purified substance.