Distillation transforms substances through heating, cooling, and separating liquids from solids. It's for brewing spirits, and is an integral process in medicine and in alchemy. All alchemists must learn the art of distillation if they are to succeed in this competitive world.
Distillation has been an integral part of human civilization for centuries. One of the oldest and most basic processes, distillation is a process to transform raw materials into purer forms. It's used to create perfumes, spirits, essential oils, health tonics and Elixirs of Life.
The technique becomes popular in ancient Greece and Rome in an atmosphere of natural philosophy and medicine. Figures such as Aristotle explore principles of distillation. By the time of the Islamic Golden Age, distillation techniques advance significantly.
The process of distillation can be broken down into several key steps:
Heating: The mixture is heated in a distillation apparatus until it reaches the boiling point of the component with the lowest boiling point.
Vaporization: As the temperature rises, the lower boiling component vaporizes and rises through a column.
Condensation: The vapor is passed through a condenser, where it is cooled by currents of water or air. This results in the vapor condensing back into a liquid.
Collection: The condensed liquid, known as the distillate, is collected in a separate container.
Repetition (if necessary): Depending on the desired purity, the distillation process may be repeated multiple times.
Essential Equipment Used by Ancient Alchemists for Distillation
Alembic
Perhaps the most iconic piece of distillation equipment, the alembic consists of two to three main parts: the cucurbit, still or mattrass, a gourd-like vessel containing the material to be distilled. The bulbous shape allows for heating substances, separation and direction of vapor.
The condenser or head, cup, capital or alembic proper has a pipe or condenser in which the vapor cools and returns to liquid state. The vapor flows through a tube (the condenser) where it cools and reverts back into liquid form. The condenser is inserted into a collection vessel.
The alembic is essential for producing distilled spirits and medicinal extracts. The entire apparatus is sometimes constructed of glass, allowing visibility of the whole process. More often, the cucurbit is of copper or ceramic, and just the head of glass.
Retort
Another critical device is the retort, a type of distillation flask designed with a curved neck. The retort allows chemists to heat a mixture and condense vapors efficiently. It's widely used in alchemy and medicine.
Similar to an alembic, a retort is a single vessel used for heating and condensing. It features a long neck that allows distilled vapors to escape, cool, and condense back into the liquid form, providing a more straightforward distillation process.
Bain-marie
Also known as a water bath, this indirect heating method is commonly used to prevent thermal shock to delicate substances. Alchemists use it to gently heat liquids, thereby enhancing the distillation process without the risk of burning or damaging elements.
Basically, it's a double boiler. The invention is credited to Mary the Jewess, (c. 100 AD), after whom it's named. A similar piece of equipment is a sand bath.
Aludel
This is a pear-shaped pot with an opening at each end, so the neck can be fitted into the bottom of a similar pot in succession of separation or purifying through sublimation. Sublimation is the process of a solid becoming a gas without a liquid phase first.
This earthenware vessel has a specialized top to collect vapors as they rise. The aludel allows for a closed-loop system of collection, maintaining the potentially volatile components of a mixture. The aludel is also known as the Orphic Egg.
Cohobation Vessel
Heated from below, fluid turns to steam and condenses at the top of the apparatus. It cools and runs down the tube as liquid. Cohobation is the process of distilling a substance multiple times.
Furnaces and Heat Sources
Early alchemists use various heat sources, including wood fires and coal, to heat their distillation vessels. The control of heat was vital for the success of the distillation process, and over time, different designs of furnaces evolve to enhance efficiency.
Below, one alembic sits on a shelf while another occupies boiling water of the bain-marie. A rag hangs over the edge of the vessel lower left. It filters impurities and drips the purified water into the collector. This is one of the earliest, simplest ways of purifying liquid.
Vessels for Collection
Distilled liquids are carefully collected in various vessels made from clay, bronze, or glass. The choice of material depends on the intended use of the distilled product. Glass is popular in ancient Alexandria, a center of glass making, alchemists, physicians and philosophers.
Principles of Distillation
In distillation a mixture of liquids is heated, on the principle the component with the lowest boiling point vaporizes first. The vapor is then cooled, condensed back into a liquid, and collected separately, separating it from the original mixture.
Ancient Distillation - c. 2000 BCE
Distillation is a fundamental technique in scientific fields such as chemistry and engineering. It uses evaporation and condensation to separate components of mixtures based on difference of boiling points.
This method is used for millennia. It has many applications, from purifying solvents to brewing booze. Early records of Egypt and Mesopotamia mention distillation for extraction of essential oils and perfumes. Beer is made in Mesopotamia by c. 4000 BCE by fermentation alone.
Early distillation evidence relates to alchemists working in Alexandria in Roman Egypt in the 1st century AD. Distilled water has used since at least c. 200 AD, when Alexander of Aphrodisias describes the distillation process.
Alchemists and scholars through time time seek to refine and improve the brewing methods of the ancestors. The introduction of distillation in brewing gives a concentration of flavors and a higher alcohol content.
It also aids in removal of undesirable substances, producing spirits pretty, potent and pleasing to the palate. Distillation equipment in the breweries of monasteries has important benefits to medieval European alchemy.
With distillation, alchemists seek to separate the essence of substances from physical form. Through separation and recombination alchemists and physicians, some of whom as the same person, ultimately strive to create that which is more than the sum of its parts.
For brewers, distillation refines beverages, producing spirits more potent and concentrated in flavor. This process allows for the creation of a wide variety of alcoholic drinks, from whiskey to gin. Distillation can also remove impurities, resulting in a smoother product.
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