What Chemithon does

Chemithon Corporation is a privately held engineering and manufacturing company founded in 1954 in Seattle, Washington, specializing in sulfonation and sulfation process technology. The company designs, fabricates, and services complete plant systems for producing surfactants used in detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, and lubricating oil additives, anchored by its proprietary Annular Falling Film Reactor, Multi-Tube, Impact Jet, and Turbo-Tube reactors. It also supplies environmental systems for power generation (flue gas conditioning, SafeDeNOx urea-to-ammonia NOx reduction), custom ASME-certified fabrication (U/UM/R stamps), pilot plant R&D services, and a Surface Finishing division serving plating and printed circuit board industries. The company holds over 20 patents and claims at least 62% of the global market for heavy alkylate sulfonation plants, with more than 450 operating plants installed across consumer products, petrochemical, energy, and chemical manufacturing enterprises.

Chemithon generates revenue through one-time capital equipment sales (complete plants and individual reactors ranging from 5 kg/hr to over 20 MT/hr capacity), recurring spare parts supply, contract technical services (audits, training, troubleshooting), and contract pilot plant R&D for feedstock qualification. Its go-to-market combines direct sales from Seattle headquarters with a global alliance network: Mitsui Plant Systems in Japan (energy/petrochemical), Binacchi & Company in Italy (soap/glycerine/detergent plants in 100+ countries), and previously Trivedi Group in India. Enterprise customers include Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Lubrizol, Chevron, Dow, Shell, Stepan, Boeing, and multiple US utilities. The company has remained privately held and family/founder-led (Burton Brooks remains Chairman) since inception, with no disclosed funding rounds, M&A activity, or IPO.

Name

Chemithon

Legal name

The Chemithon Corporation

Website

https://chemithon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chemithon is a privately held Seattle-based engineering firm that designs, manufactures, and services sulfonation plant systems and proprietary reactors for surfactant production, serving consumer products, energy, petrochemical, and chemical manufacturing enterprises globally with 450+ installed plants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Chemical Process Equipment

NAICS

Surface Active Agent Manufacturing (325613), Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561)

SIC

Chemicals & Allied Products (2800), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)

akta.pro primary industry

Surfactants & Detergent Intermediates (LAB/LAS, Ethoxylates, Sulfonates) (IMAEADAL)

Keywords

• Sulfonation plant equipment
• Surfactant process systems
• Flue gas conditioning
• Custom process fabrication
• Surface finishing equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Plant Equipment Manufacturing and Sales: Design and fabrication of sulfonation plants, environmental equipment, custom process equipment, and surface finishing equipment. Chemithon provides complete plant systems from equipment only to turnkey installation.
2. Custom Fabrication Services: Licensed engineering firm designing and fabricating equipment for industries including detergent, environmental, pulp and paper, petrochemical, mining, surface finishing and chemical manufacturing. Holds ASME U, UM and R stamps.
3. Technical Services: Contract technical services including plant audits, engineering studies, training services, troubleshooting, and specialized maintenance for sulfonation and environmental equipment systems.
4. Pilot Plant Services: R&D services using approximately 1,000 square meter pilot plant facilities for experimental research, process development, feedstock qualification, and test marketing samples. Services provided under contract tailored to customer requirements.
5. Spare Parts: Comprehensive spare parts program for process equipment to maintain customer operations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Chemithon designs, engineers, manufactures, and commissions continuous sulfonation and sulfation plant equipment used to produce surfactants for detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, and oil additives. Its offering spans turnkey plant construction, custom ASME-certified fabrication of pressure equipment, environmental systems (flue gas conditioning, NOx reduction via SafeDeNOx), enhanced oil recovery surfactant systems, and a Surface Finishing division supplying metal finishing and PCB plating equipment plus proprietary plating chemicals.

Product overview

Chemithon is a multinational technology, engineering, and manufacturing company that offers a comprehensive portfolio of chemical process equipment and services. The core offering centers on sulfonation and sulfation systems for producing surfactants used in detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, and industrial products. Key products include multiple reactor types (Annular Falling Film Reactor, Multi-Tube Reactor, Impact Jet Reactor, Turbo-Tube Reactor), the Turbo Tube Dryer for concentrated actives, and Dioxane Removal/Destruction systems. Environmental systems encompass Flue Gas Conditioning (SO3, Ammonia, Dual), SafeDeNOx urea-to-ammonia for NOx reduction, and Enhanced Oil Recovery technologies. The company also operates a Surface Finishing division providing equipment, chemicals, and supplies for plating and PCB industries. Services include custom fabrication (ASME-certified), pilot plant R&D, technical services, and plant engineering. With over 450 operating plants globally, Chemithon provides complete plant systems from concept to turnkey installation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sulfonation/Sulfation Plants Continuous sulfonation and sulfation plant systems with capacities from 5 kg/hr to over 20,000 kg/hr of 100% active product, available with multiple reactor configurations (Annular Falling Film, Multi-Tube, Impact Jet, Turbo-Tube), for production of surfactants used in detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, and industrial products.
• Turbo Tube Dryer (TTD) Patented high active neutralization dryer that produces detergent pastes at 20–25% moisture and further processes them into solid detergent actives with 1–5% moisture; applicable to alcohol sulfates, alpha olefin sulfonates, alpha sulfo methyl esters, and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates.
• Dioxane Removal System (DRS) Compact, low-energy-consumption drying apparatus that removes 1,4-dioxane from detergent slurry under controlled temperature and pressure; reduces 1,4-dioxane by a factor of 8 in one stage.
• Dioxane Destruction System (DDS) PLC-controlled batch treatment system using hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst to oxidize 1,4-dioxane to CO2 and water; accepts condensate from the dioxane stripping process.
• Flue Gas Conditioning Systems SO3, Ammonia, and Dual Conditioning systems for coal-fired power plants that improve electrostatic precipitator performance by reducing flyash resistivity; patented sulfur burning system with energy consumption less than 10% of competing systems and a two-stage converter achieving 96–99% conversion efficiency.
• SafeDeNOx Urea-to-Ammonia System Patented catalytic process that economically generates ammonia from urea on demand for Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) of NOx, eliminating the safety and logistics burden of transporting aqueous ammonia.
• Methyl Ester Sulfonation Plants (MES) Patented sulfonation technologies for manufacturing Methyl Ester Sulfonates from palm and coconut derivatives in commercial free-flowing powder form, including the first commercial scale MES operation.
• Lube Oil Sulfonation Plants Air-SO3 sulfonation systems producing surfactant packages for lubricating oil additives, capturing more than 62% of the global heavy alkylate sulfonation plant market and serving major lube additive companies.
• Enhanced Oil Recovery Systems Surfactant-based processes and equipment for tertiary oil recovery, including mobile commercial plant designs and access to pilot plant facilities for proprietary surfactant development.
• Oleo Chemical Systems Oleochemical technologies including batch and continuous hydrogenation for processing palm stearin and other feedstocks into pharmaceutical glycerine, biodiesel, and detergent intermediates.
• Sulfuric Acid Plants Sulfuric acid production plant systems including the patented SO3 generator based on Chemithon's core sulfur-burning technology.
• Environmental Systems Portfolio Comprehensive environmental equipment line including flue gas conditioning (SO3, ammonia, dual), ammonia conditioning, NOx reduction (SafeDeNOx), SO2 generation for the mining industry, and related systems.
• Pilot Plant Services R&D services using approximately 1,000 square meters of pilot plant facilities covering sulfonation, neutralization, dioxane removal, drying, flaking, grinding, and agglomeration for experimental research, process development, feedstock qualification, and test marketing samples under contract.
• Technical Services Contract technical services including plant audits, engineering studies, training services, troubleshooting, and specialized maintenance for sulfonation and environmental equipment systems.
• Custom Fabrication ASME U/UM/R-stamped licensed engineering and manufacturing of pressure vessels, tanks, heat exchangers, modular equipment systems, and control panels for industries including detergent, environmental, pulp and paper, petrochemical, mining, surface finishing, and chemical manufacturing.
• Chemithon Surface Finishing (Division) Equipment, processes, and proprietary supplies for surface finishing and printed circuit board industries, including cleaning chemicals, plating equipment, and specialty chemicals, marketed through a wholly-owned subsidiary in Portland, Oregon.
• Proprietary Plating Chemicals Specialty chemicals for copper, zinc, nickel, silver, brass, chrome plating, and precious metals — including ROHS/WEEE compliant options — distributed through the Chemithon Surface Finishing division.
• Contract R&D Services R&D staff and pilot plant services for producing samples, experimental studies, and demonstration runs under confidentiality and joint development agreements.
• Spare Parts Program Comprehensive spare parts inventory program for process equipment to keep customer operations running with fast response times.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sulfur burning system energy consumption is less than 10% of other systems
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Binacchi & CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance Partner based in Gazzada Schianno, Italy. Founded in 1969, Binacchi is a world leader for technical know-how, quality of construction and spirit of innovation. The only company in the world able to supply everything necessary to the soap maker: oil treatment plants, saponifications, glycerine recovery plants, soap dryers, soap finishing lines, and packaging machines. Binacchi plants operate in more than 100 countries.
• Mitsui Plant SystemscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales Representative based in Tokyo, Japan. Mitsui Plant Systems provides plant and equipment to the energy, refinery and petrochemical industries. They establish business systems to meet needs for plant construction and are engaged in various industrial systems, infrastructure business, and global environment and energy conservation. Also handles investment and financing in collaboration with Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
• Trivedi GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance Partner based in Mumbai, India. Privately held group of companies offering global network for comprehensive services in edible oil, oleo chemicals, sulphuric acid, liquid SO3, surfactants, pollution control equipment, hydrogenation, and industrial products. Services include project management, design consultancy, CDM assessment, equipment supply, and turnkey installations. Managed by Board of professional Directors with wide operational experience.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chemithon