Is an absorption tower a distillation tower? What’s the difference between the two?

The absorption tower is called such because the absorbent can absorb the components in the gas phase, and this occurs due to an imbalance between the gas and liquid phases, with the liquid phase being below its bubble point. If the liquid phase is at the bubble point and the gas phase is at the dew point, with no energy input or output, then a phase equilibrium will be established in the absorption tower, and the absorbent will no longer be able to perform its absorption function. The distillation column is different; it relies on the repeated reverse contact between the gas and liquid phases on the tray levels to achieve separation. Energy is supplied at the top of the column while energy is input at the bottom, which allows for a state of phase equilibrium in which there are more light components in the gas phase and fewer heavy components in the liquid phase. Equilibrium is established on each tray level, thereby enabling the separation of light and heavy components. In an absorption column, since the absorbent enters from the top of the column and absorbs the light components, the components at the bottom of the column are the lightest

Absorption is generally used for the separation of gas components, while distillation is used for the separation of liquid mixtures

Starting from the definition, absorption occurs due to the difference in solubility of gas components in the absorbent, which leads to their separation； Distillation is a separation method that takes advantage of the different relative volatilities of various components. Please give extra points: lol

This post was last edited by Adventure Wang on 2017-6-19 at 13:47. A absorption tower is not considered a distillation tower.