Kellex Corporation
| Company type | Division (wholly owned) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chemical engineering, Nuclear engineering |
| Predecessor | M. W. Kellogg Company |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Percival C. "Dobie" Keith (engineering vice-president), A. L. Baker (project manager), J. H. Arnold (R&D director) |
| Products | Design and development of uranium enrichment facilities using gaseous diffusion |
| Parent | M. W. Kellogg Company (until 1950), Vitro Corporation (from 1950) |
Kellex Corporation functioned as a fully owned division of the M. W. Kellogg Company, created in 1942 to isolate and protect Kellogg's involvement with the Manhattan Project. The name "Kellex" was derived by combining "Kell" from Kellogg and "X" symbolizing secrecy. The corporation's main mission was to design a facility dedicated to producing enriched uranium through the gaseous diffusion method, which separates Uranium-235 from Uranium-238 by transforming uranium metal into uranium hexafluoride gas and passing it through a selective barrier.
History
Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, the M. W. Kellogg Company specialized in chemical engineering services. Prior to the Manhattan Project, the S-1 Section of the Office of Scientific Research and Development contracted Kellogg to work alongside researchers at Columbia University to evaluate the practicality of gaseous diffusion. The pilot initiative was overseen by Percival C. "Dobie" Keith, Kellogg’s engineering vice-president, with A. L. Baker managing the project and J. H. Arnold directing research and development efforts. Their combined expertise secured Kellogg’s role as the lead contractor responsible for designing a full-scale production facility.
Kellex established its main offices within the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan, co-located with the New York Area Engineers Office that supervised the contract and nearly 100 personnel from the Special Engineer Detachment. Additional Kellex operations took place at Columbia University’s Nash Garage Building in New York City, Kellogg’s plant in Jersey City, Decatur, Illinois, and at the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Kellex was charged with developing the necessary processes, designing equipment, and planning the plant layout. Significant technical hurdles included fabricating a porous barrier material, engineering an efficient gas pump, and producing corrosion-resistant piping suitable for handling uranium hexafluoride gas. Prototype gaseous diffusion plants were trialed at various locations such as Columbia University’s Nash Garage Building.
The endeavor, designated as the K-25, where "K" stood for Kellex and "25" referred to uranium-235, culminated in constructing a mile-long U-shaped enrichment plant at Clinton Engineer Works by J. A. Jones Construction Company. Spanning 44 acres with four floors, K-25 incorporated hundreds of miles of hermetically sealed pipes coated with specialized materials. It represented the most costly installation within the Manhattan Project and was operated after completion by Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation.
In 1950, ownership of Kellex Corporation transferred to Vitro Corporation.