Sieve tray efficiencies for the distillation of methanol/water, acetic acid/water and cyclohexane/n-heptane mixtures were measured as a function of composition under fixed vapour and liquid rates in a 0.15 m diameter distillation column. Experimental results show that surface tension has a significant effect on tray efficiency and the number of transfer units. Further tests in a simulator column with air/water, air/methanol and air/(water + surfactant) systems having different surface tensions revealed that bubble sizes in froths are mainly determined by surface tension. The results also show that bubble break-up and coalescence occurs in the froths.