fractionating column

British

noun

chem a long vertical cylinder used in fractional distillation, in which internal reflux enables separation of high and low boiling fractions to take place

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The crude oil is heated to high temperatures at the base of a tall fractionating column, vaporizing many of the components that rise within the column.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

The liquid there heated and changed state, rising as vapor through the fractionating column to catch in the condenser and trickle in droplets into the collection flask.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023