In a binary tower, what are the two primary product streams called?

• A. Bottom Product and Overhead Product
• B. Feed and Product
• C. Top and Middle Product
• D. Light and Heavy Gas

Answer: (A)

In a distillation tower, the mixture is separated into two product streams: a lighter portion that exits from the top and a heavier portion that stays at the bottom. For a binary tower, these two streams are called the overhead product and the bottom product. The overhead product is the distillate condensed from the top, while the bottom product is the liquid collected at the bottom. The feed is the input to the tower, not a product, and terms like top and middle product or light and heavy gas don’t describe the standard two outputs of a binary distillation column.