Steam Distillation Apparatus

Objectives
1.

To use a simple distillation setup in the separation of

2.

volatile substances from non-volatile materials.

To isolate essential oils from plant sample.

Distillation is a process of separating the component

substances from a liquid mixture by selective evaporation
and condensation. Distillation may result in essentially
complete separation (nearly pure components), or it may be a
partial separation that increases the concentration of
selected components of the mixture. In either case the
process exploits differences in the volatility of mixture's
components. In industrial chemistry, distillation is a unit
operation of practically universal importance, but it is a
physical separation process and not a chemical reaction.

Introduction
Plants have characteristic aromas because of volatile oils
contained in every part of the plant. These oils are often
concentrated in certain parts of the plant such as the seeds,
bark, or flowers. These oils give a plant its particular essence
thus the term essential oil. The essential oils of various
plants have been used for centuries as flavorings, fragrances,
and medicines. Some essential oils, such as limonene, are
common to many different plants while others, such as
eugenol, are more specific to a particular species of plant. In
the case of clove and cinnamon the flavor is primarily due to
one compound (eugenol and cinnamonaldehyde respectively)
although the full flavor is due to a mixture of several
compounds.

The isolation of essential oils is sometimes accomplished by

steam distillation. In this technique, compounds that are less
volatile than water are co-distilled with water. This allows for
distillation at temperatures lower than necessary to distill
the oil by itself. High temperatures will often cause an
organic compound to decompose. In this experiment you will
steam distill the essential oils from citronella grass, citrus
rind or other suitable plant material

Procedure
1. Steam Distillation
1. Weigh out about 500 grams of fresh finely cut citronella
2.

grass, citrus rind or other suitable plant material.

Mix the sample with distilled water in the sample flask.

3.
4.

Add enough water such that the flask is about 2/3 full.
Pour the mixer in the Boiler & start the boiler.
Collect about 200 mL of distillate into a 250-mL

5.

separatory funnel.
Record all observations.

B. Separation of the Essential Oil from the Steam

Distillate
1. If a distinct oil layer separates from the aqueous layer of
the steam distillate, drain the aqueous layer slowly out of the

separatory funnel. If the oil layer is not distinct or if some oil

droplets are dispersed in the distillate, salting out may be
necessary.
2. Place a spatula of the sodium chloride into the separatory
funnel and gently shake or swirl the contents. Let it stand
to allow the oil layer to separate then proceed with the
drawing out of the aqueous layer.
3. Transfer the remaining oily layer into a previously weighed
clean vial using a dry dropper.
4. Determine the weight of the oil.
5. Record all observations.