Fractionation

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  fractionation \frac`tion*a"tion\ n.
     the act or process of separating a mixture into portions of
     different composition, as in distillation or {fractional
     crystallization}.
  
     Syn: fractional process.


          [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
  
     2. (Petroleum industry) Separation of crude oil into
        components of differing composition by {fractional
        distillation}.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fractionation
       n 1: a process that uses heat to separate a substance into its
            components [syn: {fractional process}]
       2: separation into portions