Kemvera, Formerly New Iridium, Completes FEL-1 Design for Bio-Based Chemicals Plant

Kemvera announced it has completed the front-end loading 1 (FEL-1) process design package for a planned 50,000-metric-tons-per-year commercial facility producing bio-based acetic acid and ethyl acetate, the company said. 

According to the company, the FEL-1 work builds on recent scale-up progress, including the design of a 500-metric-tons-per-year pre-commercial demonstration reactor and the commissioning of a 20-metric-tons-per-year pilot reactor. The pilot unit has demonstrated continuous operations, validating process robustness as the technology advances toward commercialization.

The Denver, Colorado-based firm also announced it has rebranded from New Iridium to Kemvera, aligning its name with its focus on scaling bio-based chemical production using domestic agricultural feedstocks. Kemvera said its proprietary catalytic platform converts bio-based and CO₂-derived feedstocks, including domestically sourced corn ethanol, into drop-in chemicals suitable for existing manufacturing infrastructure.

Kemvera said its approach integrates partnerships with ethanol producers and agricultural stakeholders to establish a domestic supply chain for bio-based chemical manufacturing. The company cited growing demand for green chemicals as a driver for expanding production capacity using non-petroleum feedstocks.

“Having reached these milestones, we are entering a new phase of development that brings us significantly closer to customer delivery,” said Chern-Hooi Lim, founder and CEO of Kemvera, in a company statement.

The bio-based chemical maker said it is raising funding and seeking partnerships with ethanol producers and chemical manufacturers to support future development.