The three common distillation methods that are tested than can be implemented at an oil refinery are True Boiling Point Distillation (TBP), ASTM Distillation (ASTM), and Equilibrium Flash Vaporization (EFV). They all have their advantages and disadvantages and specific uses at the oil refinery. True Boiling Point Distillation uses a batch distillation operation that uses more than 100 theoretical plates and a high reflux ratio of 100. These conditions are used mainly for crude oils and not petroleum products, and the distillation conditions allow for the lower boiling component to be distilled off without any contamination of the other components in the mixture. ASTM distillation also uses a batch process but does not include any theoretical plates or reflux in the operation. However there still might be some unavoidable reflux due to condensation of the vapor on the sides of the distillation column. This still allows for the different components in the column to be separated based upon their boiling points. This method is used for refinery products and property calculations and correlations for distillate fractions. The last method used is that of Equilibrium Flash Vaporization in which a flash drum is used to separate the liquid and vapor components of a mixture that is being heated while the mixture is at equilibrium. This used for obtaining data for flashing operations in the refinery. TBP distillation achieves the highest degree of separation of the mixture due to the plates and reflux being used. ASTM distillation does not have as good of separation that TBP distillation does, but it is better than EFV. Therefore depending on what information you need to obtain, you can choose the necessary method.