A good example is petroleum refining. Crude oil is a very complex mixture of hydrocarbons with literally thousands of different molecules. Nearly all commercial distillation is multicomponent distillation. The theory and practice of multicomponent distillation can be very complex. Processing Mode Processing mode refers to the way in which feed and product are introduced and withdrawn from the process.
Distillation occurs in two modes, continuous distillation and batch distillation .
Continuous distillation is feed is sent to the still all the time and product is drawn out at the same time. The idea in continuous distillation is that the amount going into the still and the amount leaving the still should always equal each other at any given point in time. Batch distillation is when the amount going into the still and the amount going out of the still is not supposed to be the same all the time. The easiest example to use is like old fashioned spirit making. The distiller fills a container at the start, then heats it, as time goes by the vapors are condensed to make the alcoholic drink.