Mixtures of two or more liquids

Mixtures of two or more liquids with different boiling points can be separated with a more complex distillation apparatus. One example is the refining of crude petroleum into a range of useful products: aviation fuel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, and lubricating oil (in the approximate order of decreasing volatility). Another example is the distillation of alcoholic spirits such as brandy or whiskey. (This relatively simple procedure caused more than a few headaches for federal authorities in the 1920s during the era of Prohibition, when illegal stills proliferated in remote regions of the United States!)