ALL meanings of destructive distillation
de·struc·tive dis·til·la·tion
D d - noun destructive distillation the decomposition of a complex substance, such as wood or coal, by heating it in the absence of air and collecting the volatile products 3
- noun destructive distillation the decomposition of a material, as coal, wood, etc., by heat in the absence of air, followed by the recovery of volatile products of the decomposition by condensation or other means: a type of calcination 3
- noun destructive distillation the decomposition of a substance, as wood or coal, by heating with a minimal exposure to air, and the collection of the volatile products formed. 1
- noun destructive distillation (chemistry) The heating of a material, such as coal or wood, in an inert atmosphere, at a high temperature such as to cause decomposition; the principal products include oils and tars from which many useful organic compounds may be obtained; town gas and coke were obtained in this way. 0