Distillation vs. Filtration — What's the Difference?

Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation. Dry distillation is the heating of solid materials to produce gaseous products (which may condense into liquids or solids).

Filtration is a physical or chemical separation process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture using a filter medium that has a complex structure through which only the fluid can pass. Solid particles that cannot pass through the filter medium are described as oversize and the fluid that passes through is called the filtrate.

The evaporation and subsequent collection of a liquid by condensation as a means of purification:the distillation of water.

The action or process of filtering something

The extraction of the volatile components of a mixture by the condensation and collection of the vapors that are produced as the mixture is heated:petroleum distillation.

The act or process of filtering.

A distillate.

The act or process of filtering; the mechanical separation of a liquid from the undissolved particles floating in it.

The act of falling in drops, or the act of pouring out in drops.

A totally ordered collection of subsets.

That which falls in drops.

The act or process of filtering; the mechanical separation of a liquid from the undissolved particles floating in it.

The separation of more volatile parts of a substance from less volatile ones by evaporation and condensation.

The process whereby fluids pass through a filter or a filtering medium

Purification through repeated or continuous distilling; rectification.

The act of changing a fluid by passing it through a filter

(petroleum) Separation into specific hydrocarbon groups; fractionation.

The substance extracted by distilling.

The act of falling in drops, or the act of pouring out in drops.

That which falls in drops.

The separation of the volatile parts of a substance from the more fixed; specifically, the operation of driving off gas or vapor from volatile liquids or solids, by heat in a retort or still, and the condensation of the products as far as possible by a cool receiver, alembic, or condenser; rectification; vaporization; condensation; as, the distillation of illuminating gas and coal, of alcohol from sour mash, or of boric acid in steam.

The substance extracted by distilling.

The process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors

A purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling