Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc. (CIL), the world leader in stable isotope chemistry and the separation of carbon-13 (13C), recently began a significant capacity optimization of one of the production cascades at the 13C separation facility in Xenia, Ohio. This optimization, which began this past summer and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2021, will increase the cascade’s 13C production by 10%. This follows the most recent expansion completion earlier this year, which increased 13C production capacity by 25%.  

“In response to increased demand for 13C and 13C urea, our engineering team has been working on initiatives designed to provide the additional capacity required to ensure meeting our long-term contractual obligations for our customer demand” states Cliff Caldwell, CEO.  

“As we work to increase our operations and capabilities for our customers we sometimes need to think creatively for better solutions. This project is an example of using different problem-solving methods to achieve a better operating production cascade,” says Mike Steiger, VP of Project Engineering and Execution.  

CIL’s isotope-separation facility houses the world’s largest ¹³C and one of the world’s largest ¹⁸O isotope-separation facilities. This facility also has the world’s only commercial D₂O enrichment columns. These factors allow CIL to continue to be the world’s leading producer of stable isotopes and stable isotope-labeled compounds for analytical and research applications. Having process control of stable isotope starting materials ensures inventory of needed synthetic precursors and allows tight control over the product quality demanded by CIL.