26-03-2024

Koch Modular to expand state-of-the-art pilot plant in Houston

Koch Modular Process Systems, a market-leading provider of engineered and fabricated modular mass transfer systems for the chemical processing industry, announces the expansion of its Houston, TX pilot plant. The expansion will improve Koch Modular's analytical lab and testing capabilities to address customers' demand in industries spanning Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Petrochemical, Biotech, Food, Flavor and Fragrance. The extra square footage will also improve office and conference facilities for Koch Modular’s clients, employees, and

The original facility was approximately 5,000 sq ft; the expanded facility will be more than three times the size, at approximately 18,000 sq ft. The announcement of the expansion also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the company taking on the name Koch Modular.

The expanded and well-equipped Koch Modular pilot plant enables companies to run both bench and pilot-scale tests to generate data required to develop and test mass transfer processes. These processes include distillation, liquid-liquid extraction, stripping, and reaction chemistry for successful scale-up from pilot to commercialization.

“Our mission at Koch Modular has always been to provide companies of all sizes the tools, resources, and expertise they need to accomplish groundbreaking technologies that will create positive change for our future,” said Wendy Parker, Vice President of Koch Modular. “Increasing our size will dramatically grow our analytical lab and testing capabilities for clients across various industries.”

The facility, originally leased from Koch-Glitsch, is now owned by Koch Modular. The expansion will take place in phases. The first renovation phase, office and laboratory work, started in Q1 of this year.

“Rolling this expansion out this year means a lot to our team because 2024 marks our twenty-fifth year of Engineered Innovation as an organization when our company became Koch Modular Process Systems,” said Tom Lightfoot, Pilot Plant Manager at Koch Modular.

“We are very pleased to see Koch Modular’s pilot plant expansion announcement and believe it will offer significant value in developing future technologies,” said Jeff Kanel, Fellow for the Algae Initiative at Neste. "Koch Modular played an instrumental part in our process, and our success was in part due to their full range of pilot testing services, extensive process experience, and unrivaled analytical capabilities,” Kanel added.

To learn more about pilot plant testing, Tom Schafer, Vice President of Koch Modular, will be presenting at the AIChE Conference in New Orleans, LA, on March 27 at 4:30 pm CST on the topic of “Modular Pilot & Demonstration Scale-Plants: A Cornerstone for Accelerating the Global Transition to Clean Energy.” As an exhibitor, Koch Modular looks forward to networking opportunities and sharing its expertise on pilot plant testing within the chemical processing industry.