destructive distillation

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. 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.

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destructive distillation British  

noun

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

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destructive distillation Scientific  

/ dĭ-strŭk′tĭv /

1. A process by which organic substances such as wood, coal, and oil shale are broken down by heat in the absence of air. This causes them to break down into solids, liquids, and gases, which are then used to make products such as coke, charcoal, oils, and ammonia.

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Etymology

Origin of destructive distillation

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

It is obtained from wood by destructive distillation in close vessels.

From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by Dadd, George

COAL-TAR, the black, viscous, sometimes semi-solid, fluid of peculiar smell, which is condensed together with aqueous “gas liquor” when the volatile products of the destructive distillation of coal are cooled down.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

The true bitumens appear to have arisen from coal or lignite by the action of subterranean heat; and very closely resemble some of the products yielded by the destructive distillation of those bodies.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Salter, Thomas

Coal then meant the carbonaceous residue obtained in the destructive distillation of wood, or what is known as charcoal, and the name collier was applied indifferently to both coal-miners and charcoal-burners.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

In the mean time, artificial oil had begun to be produced in large quantities from different minerals, principally, however, from cannel coal, by the process of destructive distillation.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 2, February, 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various