What are the types of distillation?

The main types of distillation include: 

• Simple Distillation: In this distillation method, a liquid mixture is heated to boiling point and the resulting vapors are condensed immediately. Simple distillation is effective only when there is a minimum 25°C difference in the boiling points of the liquids in the mixture.
• Fractional Distillation: Fractional distillation utilizes a fractionating column and a series of vaporization-condensation steps to separate mixtures containing liquids with almost similar boiling points (the difference in boiling points is less than 25°C). 
• Steam Distillation: In steam distillation, steam is passed through a slightly heated mixture and the resulting vapor is condensed to obtain the desired distillate. This technique is typically used to isolate heat-sensitive components in a mixture such as obtaining herbal distillates and essential oils from aromatic botanicals.  
• Short Path Distillation: Short path distillation is used to separate two liquids in a compound based on their volatility under low-pressure conditions. The technique involves heating the sample mixture, allowing the vapor or distillate to and travel a short distance before being collected. 
• Vacuum Distillation: Vacuum distillation involves lowering the pressure of the surroundings, which enables the components in the mixture to boil at lower temperatures. The component gets converted into a vapor when its vapor pressure equals the surrounding pressure. This distillation technique is ideal for separating mixtures containing liquids with very high boiling points and for obtaining high-purity samples of compounds that degrade at high temperatures.
• Air-Sensitive Vacuum Distillation: This is a variation of the vacuum distillation technique and is used to separate compounds that are sensitive to air and react with it readily. In air-sensitive vacuum distillation, an inert gas is used to replace the vacuum on completion of the process.  
• Zone Distillation: In the zone distillation method, a pure distillate is obtained by partially melting a substance and condensing the resulting vapors in a long container with a zone heater.