Process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas
This article is about the physical process. For the end of a business, seeLiquidation.
Inmaterials science,liquefaction[1] is a process that generates aliquid from asolid or agas[2] or that generates a non-liquidphase which behaves in accordance withfluid dynamics.[3] It occurs bothnaturally andartificially. As an example of the latter, a "major commercial application of liquefaction is the liquefaction of air to allow separation of the constituents, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and the noble gases."[4] Another is the conversion of solid coal into a liquid form usable as a substitute for liquid fuels.[5]
Ingeology,soil liquefaction refers to the process by which water-saturated, unconsolidatedsediments are transformed into a substance that acts like a liquid, often in an earthquake.[6] Soil liquefaction was blamed for building collapses in the city of Palu,Indonesia in October 2018.[7]
In a related phenomenon, liquefaction of bulk materials in cargo ships may cause a dangerous shift in the load.[8][9]
Inphysics andchemistry, thephase transitions fromsolid andgas to liquid (melting andcondensation, respectively) may be referred to as liquefaction. Themelting point (sometimes called liquefaction point) is the temperature and pressure at which a solid becomes a liquid. In commercial and industrial situations, the process of condensing a gas to liquid is sometimes referred to asliquefaction of gases.
Liquefaction is also used in commercial and industrial settings to refer to mechanicaldissolution of a solid bymixing, grinding or blending with a liquid.
In kitchen or laboratory settings, solids may be chopped into smaller parts sometimes in combination with a liquid, for example in food preparation or laboratory use. This may be done with a blender, orliquidiser in British English.
Liquefaction of silica and silicate glasses occurs on electron beam irradiation of nanosized samples in the column of transmission electron microscope.[10][11]
^Some authors contend that there is a distinction betweenliquefaction andliquification (which is more commonly considered a misspelling), with the latter term applying only to processes involving heat.Knox, Ray; Stewart, David (1995)."3. Recognizing Seismic Landforms".The New Madrid Fault Finders Guide. Marble Hill, MO: Gutenberg-Richter Publications. p. 36.ISBN978-0-934426-42-8.LCCN91-91374.
^"Pharmaceutical Processes: Processes of Liquefaction".The Pharmaceutical Era. No. 21. 20 April 1899. p. 503.[by] a process of liquefaction is meant any process the effect of which is to cause a solid or gaseous body to assume or pass into the liquid state.
^Pickett, Joseph P., ed. (2005). "Liquefaction".The American Heritage Science Dictionary. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 363.ISBN978-0-618-45504-1.LCCN2004019696.
^Mavrikis, Peter; Horobin, Wendy, eds. (2003). "Liquefaction".How It Works: Science and Technology. Vol. 20 (3rd ed.). Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish. p. 64.ISBN0-7614-7314-9.LCCN2001028771.
^Speight, James G. (2013).The Chemistry and Technology of Coal. Chemical Industries. Vol. 132 (3rd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 545–607.ISBN9781138199224.
