Liquefaction

{{short description|Process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas}} {{About|the physical process|the end of a business|Liquidation}} [[File:Liquefaction on roads - North New Brighton centre in Christchurch Feb 2011 quake.jpg|thumb|right|The effects of soil liquefaction, seen after 2011 Canterbury earthquake ]] In materials science, '''liquefaction'''<ref>Some authors contend that there is a distinction between '''liquefaction''' and '''liquification''' (which is more commonly considered a misspelling), with the latter term applying only to processes involving heat. {{cite book|last1=Knox|first1=Ray|last2=Stewart|first2=David|title=The New Madrid Fault Finders Guide|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNwwnle8NIQC&pg=PA36|year=1995|publisher=Gutenberg-Richter Publications|location=Marble Hill, MO|isbn=978-0-934426-42-8|page=36|chapter=3. Recognizing Seismic Landforms|lccn=91-91374}}</ref> is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas<ref>{{cite magazine |date=20 April 1899 |title=Pharmaceutical Processes: Processes of Liquefaction |magazine=The Pharmaceutical Era |issue=21 |page=503 |quote=[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.}}</ref> or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Pickett |editor-first=Joseph P. |encyclopedia=The American Heritage Science Dictionary |title=Liquefaction |date=2005 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |location=Boston, MA |isbn=978-0-618-45504-1 |lccn=2004019696 |page=363}}</ref> It occurs both naturally and artificially. 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."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Mavrikis |editor-first1=Peter |editor2-last=Horobin |editor2-first=Wendy |encyclopedia=How It Works: Science and Technology |title=Liquefaction |edition=3rd |date=2003 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |volume=20 |location=Tarrytown, NY |isbn=0-7614-7314-9 |lccn=2001028771 |page=64}}</ref> Another is the conversion of solid coal into a liquid form usable as a substitute for liquid fuels.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Speight |first1=James G. |title=The Chemistry and Technology of Coal |date=2013 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, FL |isbn=9781138199224 |pages=545–607 |edition=3rd |series=Chemical Industries |volume=132}}</ref>

In geology, soil liquefaction refers to the process by which water-saturated, unconsolidated sediments are transformed into a substance that acts like a liquid, often in an earthquake.<ref name="definition">{{cite web|author=USGS|title=About Liquefaction|url=http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/liquefaction/aboutliq.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412163427/http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/liquefaction/aboutliq.html|archive-date=2013-04-12}}</ref> Soil liquefaction was blamed for building collapses in the city of Palu, Indonesia in October 2018.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Nicola |title=Indonesia earthquake: soil liquefaction blamed for building collapses |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/indonesia-earthquake-soil-liquefaction-blamed-for-building-collapses |work=The Guardian }}</ref>

In a related phenomenon, liquefaction of bulk materials in cargo ships may cause a dangerous shift in the load.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gourvenec |first1=Susan |author-link=Susan Gourvenec |date=2 September 2018 |title=Mystery of the cargo ships that sink when their cargo suddenly liquefies |work=Ars Technica |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/09/mystery-of-the-cargo-ships-that-sink-when-their-cargo-suddenly-liquefies/ |access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="NYT_Indonesia_2018">{{cite news |last1=Marcolini |first1=Barbara |last2=Koettl |first2=Christoph |title=How the Indonesia Earthquake Made Soil Flow Like Water |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000006138189/indonesia-earthquake-damage-liquefaction.html |work=NYT |date=2 October 2018 |issue=International}}</ref>

In physics and chemistry, the phase transitions from solid and gas to liquid (melting and condensation, respectively) may be referred to as liquefaction. The melting 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 as liquefaction of gases. Coal liquefaction is the production of liquid fuels from coal using a variety of industrial processes.

Liquefaction is also used in commercial and industrial settings to refer to mechanical dissolution of a solid by mixing, 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.

In biology, liquefaction often involves organic tissue turning into a more liquid-like state. For example, liquefactive necrosis in pathology,<ref name="RobbinsCotran">Robbins and Cotran: Pathologic Basis of Disease, 8th Ed. 2010. Pg. 15</ref> or liquefaction as a parameter in semen analysis.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Kavid|title=Textbook of Assisted Reproductive Technology Laboratory and Clinical Perspectives|year=2001|publisher=Taylor and Francis|page=63|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BuS2CqreU3gC|access-date=2013-11-03|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102015431/http://books.google.com/books?id=BuS2CqreU3gC&dq|archive-date=2014-01-02|isbn=9780415448949}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist|30em}}

== External links == {{Wiktionary|liquefaction|liquefier|liquify|liquefy|liquidiser|liquidizer|liquidise|liquidize}} {{commons category|Liquefaction}} * [http://amigo.geneontology.org/amigo/term/GO:0070684 Seminal Clot Liquefaction]

Category:Condensed matter physics Category:Earthquake engineering Category:Food preparation techniques Category:Laboratory techniques Category:Food science