Miller process Miller process The Miller process is an industrial-scale chemical procedure used to refine gold to a high degree of purity (99.95%). It was invented by Francis Bowyer Miller ( patented 1867). This chemical process involves blowing a stream of pure chlorine gas over and through a crucible filled with molten, but impure, gold. This process purifies the gold because nearly all other elements will form chlorides before gold does, and they can then be removed as salts that are insoluble in the molten metal. When all impurities have been removed from the gold (observable by a change in flame color)
Industrial separation processes which restricts the movement of one compound but not of the other one (semipermeable membranes) is less common; external fields are used just in special applications. Industrial separation processes Industrial separation processes are technical procedures which are used in industry to separate a product from impurities or other products. The original mixture may either be a natural resource (like ore, oil or sugar cane) or the product of a chemical reaction (like a drug or an organic solvent). Separation processes are of great economic importance as they are accounting for 40 – 90% of capital and operating costs in industry.