As already indicated in Fig. , the prefractionator of the pilot plant consists of three sections, the middle column of two sections, and the main column of six sections. All the 11 separation sections are made of double-walled, evacuated, mirrored borosilicate glass 3.3. The DN80 top and bottom section have an inner diameter of 80 mm, while the remaining DN50 sections have an inner diameter of 50 mm. To avoid heat losses to the environment, all sections are equipped with actively controlled heating jackets. Every section has a packing height of 1060 mm. The packing used in the pilot plant is Sulzer DX packing, which, according to the manufacturer, offers approximately 20 theoretical stages per meter for an F-Factor of 1 Pa 0.5 under standard test conditions . The reboiler of the column is made of stainless steel and has a liquid holdup of around 35 L. The top product of the column is directly withdrawn from the condenser. This is common in laboratory and pilot columns and is realized using a controlled on-off-valve. The valve is located at the bottom of the condenser and can switch periodically between reflux, in case the valve is closed, and product withdrawal, in case the valve is open.