Technology & Plant Services

The Technology Behind the Oil

We distill, fractionate and extract aromatic materials, and help other producers design plants, build equipment and process oils.

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Research & Development

Our R&D division develops new technologies, products and services. In practice, that means running continuous and batch distillation side by side with vacuum fractionation, and supercritical CO₂, including CO₂ extraction systems, methods and dewaxing.

Inspecting essential oil as it collects in the receiver during distillation.
Inspecting essential oil as it collects in the receiver during distillation.
A row of polished stainless steel still columns, steam rising
Polished stainless still columns at our plant in Leakey.

OUR DISTILLATION AND EXTRACTION CAPABILITIES

We haven't settled on one way to get oil out of a botanical. We run, and build, a range of platforms.

Continuous Distillation

Our own continuous process, designed by our family. It gives a remarkably consistent oil, batch after batch.

Explore Continuous Distillation →

Batch Distillation

Classic steam distillation, still at the heart of our plant. Complete control over every run, and decades of knowing how each botanical behaves in the still.

Vacuum Fractionation

Our fractionation columns turn our oils into the fractions and isolates perfumers ask for, from redistilled grades to cedrol crystals.

Supercritical CO₂

CO₂ extraction from bench to commercial scale, with in-line dewaxing.

Explore CO₂ Extraction →
Dewaxed oil glowing amber in a glass flask

Supercritical CO₂, From Bench to Commercial Scale

Benchtop, pilot and commercial CO₂ extraction, with in-line dewaxing and consulting.

Explore CO₂ Extraction

Engineering & Plant Solutions

Whether you need a plant engineered, a system fabricated, capacity to process your material, or advice from people who have done it, the team that runs our plants can help.

Engineering

Process and structural design, analysis and construction for essential-oil facilities, drawn from three generations of plant-building.

Consulting

Thinking of producing and marketing essential oils anywhere in the world? We can help, from feedstock to finished oil. For CO₂ projects, see CO₂ consulting.

Fabrication

Our own shop builds and repairs our equipment, and designs and builds complete turnkey distillation plants for other producers.

Toll Processing

For select partners, we redistill and refine your oil on our equipment, for a fee: processing capacity without building a plant.

Distribution

We are a distribution partner for distillers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, bringing their oils to the world market alongside ours.

Our blue steel plant in Leakey against a deep blue sky

Plants We Built Ourselves

Our plants in Leakey were designed, fabricated and commissioned by our own team: the same caliber of plant we build for clients. When we say turnkey, this is what we mean.

How a Project Works

  1. A first conversation

    Tell us about your material, your goals and where you want to produce. We will tell you plainly whether we can help.

  2. Feasibility and design

    We look at the feedstock, the process and the site, and propose a design and a budget.

  3. Fabrication

    Equipment is built in our own shop in Leakey, Texas.

  4. Installation and start-up

    We help install and commission the plant, and stay on hand as it comes up to speed.

Discuss a Plant Project