Why cant rectified spirit be converted into absolute alcohol by simple distillation?
Dear Student,
Absolute alcohol cannot be obtained by simple distillation of rectified spirit because the consitituents present in rectified spirit i.e. 95.57% ethyl alcohol and 4.43% water form a constant boiling mixture i.e. azeotropic mixture which cannot be separated by simple fractional distillation because both the components will distill together in a fixed proportion. Therefore, for such mixtures, azeotropic distillation is carried out.
Absolute alcohol cannot be obtained by simple distillation of rectified spirit because the consitituents present in rectified spirit i.e. 95.57% ethyl alcohol and 4.43% water form a constant boiling mixture i.e. azeotropic mixture which cannot be separated by simple fractional distillation because both the components will distill together in a fixed proportion. Therefore, for such mixtures, azeotropic distillation is carried out.