The effects of an applied electric field on distillation were investigated using a laboratory-scale two-stage column. The electric field was applied in the liquid region between a distillation plate and a rod-shaped electrode immersed in the liquid and placed parallel to the plate. It was found that the distillation column performance, i.e., the plate efficiency and distillate flow rate, can be increased by application of a direct-current (DC) electric field to the liquid phase of the plate. The cause for such an increase in the distillation efficiency appears to be the enhancement in mass- and heat-transfer rates under the applied electric field. For a binary system of water and 2-propanol, a 2.2% increase in the plate efficiency of the second stage and a 4-fold increase in the distillate flow rate were obtained by application of a voltage of 14 kV. A 20% increase in the heat energy input was observed under this voltage. These enhancements were not observed in the distillation of a nonconductive binary system containing 2-butanone and toluene with applied voltages of up to 30 kV.