Written by Barry L. Karger
Written by Barry L. Karger

separation and purification

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Written by Barry L. Karger

Barrier separations


Unrestricted migration of the individual components of a solution results in equalization of the concentration of each component throughout the solution. All the components take part in this process: there is just as much tendency for the solvent to diffuse from regions where its concentration is high (and the solution is therefore dilute) to regions where its concentration is low (and the solution is concentrated) as there is for the dissolved substance to diffuse from regions where it is concentrated to those where it is dilute. In many separations, attention is focused on the tendency of the dissolved particles to migrate, while the corresponding tendency of the solvent particles to migrate is largely ignored. Osmosis, however, is a phenomenon in which only the solvent is free to migrate through a membrane that separates two regions of different composition. The solvent, driven by its tendency to move from the region where its concentration is higher, passes from the dilute solution into the concentrated one and would continue to do so indefinitely if the liquid levels on the two sides of the membrane remained the same. But, as the solvent passes through the membrane, the amounts of the two solutions become unequal, and the resulting difference in pressure eventually brings the migration to a stop. This pressure difference is called the osmotic pressure of the solution.

In a separation technique called reverse osmosis, a pressure is applied opposite to and in excess of the osmotic pressure to force the solvent through a membrane against its concentration gradient. This method is an effective means of concentrating impurities, recovering contaminated solvents, cleaning up polluted streams, and desalinizing seawater. Dialysis, a technique frequently used in biochemistry, is a membrane-separation method used for removing dissolved salts from solutions of proteins or other large molecules.

Particle separations



Filtration and screening

In filtration, a porous material is used to separate particles of different sizes. If the pore sizes are highly uniform, separation can be fairly sensitive to the size of the particles, but the method is most commonly used to effect gross separations, as of liquids from suspended crystals or other solids. To accelerate filtration, pressure usually is applied. A series of sieves is stacked, with the screen of largest hole size at the top. The mixture of particles is placed at the top, and the assembly is agitated to facilitate the passage of the particles through successive screens. At the end of the operation, the particles are distributed among the sieves in accordance with their particle diameters.


In this method, the particles are placed in a vertical tube in which water (or another fluid) is flowing slowly upward. The particles fall through the water at speeds that vary with their size and density. If the flow rate of the water is slowly increased, the most slowly sinking particles will be swept upward with the fluid flow and removed from the tube. Intermediate particles will remain stationary, and the largest or densest particles will continue to migrate downward. The flow can again be increased to remove the next smallest size of particles. Thus, by careful control of flow through the tube, particles can be separated according to size.

Particle electrophoresis and electrostatic precipitation

As the name implies, particle electrophoresis involves the separation of charged particles under the influence of an electric field; this method is used especially for the separation of viruses and bacteria. Electrostatic precipitation is a method for the precipitation of fogs (suspensions of particles in the atmosphere or in other gases): a high voltage is applied across the gas phase to produce electrical charges on the particles. These charges cause the particles to be attracted to the oppositely charged walls of the separator, where they give up their charges and fall into collectors.

Foam fractionation and flotation

There are a few methods that employ foams to achieve separations. In these, the principle of separation is adsorption on gas bubbles or at the gas-liquid interface. Two of these methods are foam fractionation, for the separation of molecular species, and flotation, for the separation of particles. When dissolved in water, a soap or detergent forms a foam if gas is bubbled through the solution. Collection of the foam is a means of concentrating the soap. Flotation is a process in which particles are carried out of a suspension by a foam. In this case, a soap or other chemical agent first adsorbs on the surface of the particle to increase its ability to adhere to small air bubbles. The clinging bubbles make the particle light enough to float to the surface, where it can be removed. This method is extremely important in concentrating the valuable constituents of minerals before chemical processing to recover the metals present.

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