destructive distillation

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Related to destructive distillation: Destructive Distillation of Wood

destructive distillation

In the destructive distillation of powdered coal, heated coal turns to coke, ammonia dissolves in water to form an ammoniacal liquor, and coal gas and coal tar are produced.

destructive distillation

A process by which organic substances such as wood, coal, and oil shale are decomposed by heat in the absence of air and distilled to produce useful products such as coke, charcoal, oils, and gases.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

destructive distillation

(Chemistry) the decomposition of a complex substance, such as wood or coal, by heating it in the absence of air and collecting the volatile products

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

destruc′tive distilla′tion

the decomposition of a substance, as wood or coal, by heating with a minimal exposure to air, and the collection of the volatile products formed.

[1825–35]

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Noun

destructive distillation - heating a solid substance in a closed container and collecting the volatile products

carbonisation, carbonization - the destructive distillation of coal (as in coke ovens)

fractional process, fractionation - a process that uses heat to separate a substance into its components

References in periodicals archive ?

Methanol acquired the name 'wood alcohol' because it was once produced chiefly by the destructive distillation of wood.

SOCAR discloses volume of methanol production

To produce turpentine, the new companies put the stump wood through a process known as "destructive distillation." This process had originated around 1904 in stump country near Hinckley, Minnesota and had been imported to Michigan, where several million acres dotted with pine stumps promised prosperity to enthusiastic investors.

Turpentine's boom ad bust

Acetone was created from the "destructive distillation of wood," which involves heating wood to a temperature of 450 C to 550 C in the absence of air.