This book discusses capital separation processes of industrial interest and explores the potential for substantial improvement offered by a promising class of substances: ionic liquids. These low melting point salts, with their unique characteristics, have been gaining relevance in the field of separation through a variety of approaches. The chapters are structured from an application perspective, and cover the utilisation of ionic liquids in different unit operation contexts (distillation, liquid-liquid extraction, and solid-liquid extraction), giving an idea of their remarkable versatility. The final chapters focus on the use of ionic liquids in analytical applications based on separation procedures.

This volume combines the review of the main advances to date with the analysis of the potential future use of ionic liquids in separation processes across a variety of fields, ranging from enhancement of state-of-the-art technologies to a revolution in the technological bases currently in use. It provides a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of separation, as well as for all readers generally interested in ionic liquids, in particular from an application standpoint.

Héctor Rodríguez is a faculty member of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Héctor Rodríguez received his Chemical Engineers degree from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in 2001. Five years later, he completed his Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the same university. He was a visiting researcher at Queens University Belfast (2004, 2005), University of Notre Dame (2006) and The University of Alabama (2007), before returning to Queens University as a postdoctoral research fellow (2008-2009). Since January 2010 he has been a faculty member of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Within this period, he also completed a short-term research stay at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the use of ionic liquids for the development of improved separation processes of industrial interest, with an emphasis on phase equilibria and thermodynamics for process design.

Ionic liquids in the context of separation processes.-Extractive distillation with ionic liquids: Pilot plant experiments and conceptual process design.- Ionic liquids for extraction processes in refinery-related applications.- Ionic liquids for metal ions separation.- Aqueous biphasic systems based on ionic liquids for extraction, concentration and purification approaches.- Extraction of Sandalwood Oil Using Ionic Liquids: Towards a Greener More Efficient Process.- Leaching of active ingredients from plants with ionic liquids.- Chiral ionic liquids in separation sciences.- Analytical applications of ionic liquids in chromatographic and electrophoretic separation techniques.