destructive distillation

English

Noun

destructive distillation (countable and uncountable, plural destructive distillations)

1. (organic chemistry, physical chemistry) The heating of a material, such as coal or wood, in an inert atmosphere, at a high temperature such as to cause decomposition; the principal products include oils and tars from which many useful organic compounds may be obtained; town gas and coke were obtained in this way.