Vapor-liquid equilibrium and relative volatility, the McCabe-Thiele graphical method for stage calculation, reflux ratio tradeoffs, and column internals — trays vs. packing.
Distillation is one case of the general separation processes covered in Module 7, but it underlies the majority of separations in petroleum refining and bulk chemical manufacturing — worth its own dedicated module. This module builds the McCabe-Thiele graphical method from relative volatility and vapor-liquid equilibrium, works through the reflux ratio tradeoff between column height and reboiler duty, and compares trayed and packed column internals.
By the end of this module you should be able to explain why an azeotrope is a hard physical limit no amount of extra reflux can overcome, and why two columns achieving the identical separation can still end up different diameters — the hydraulic step Module 9's heat exchanger module and Module 13's P&ID module both build on from here.