Kellex Corporation facts for kids
The Woolworth Building, headquarters of Kellex
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| Wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Industry | Nuclear material |
| Fate | Acquired by Vitro Corporation |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Defunct | 1950 |
| Headquarters |
Lower Manhattan, New York
,
U.S.
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| Products | Enriched uranium |
| Parent | M. W. Kellogg Company |
The Kellex Corporation was a special company created in 1942. It was part of a bigger company called the M. W. Kellogg Company. Kellex was formed to keep its work on the top-secret Manhattan Project separate and hidden. The name "Kell" came from "Kellogg," and "X" stood for "secret."
Kellex's main job was to design a huge factory. This factory would make a special type of enriched uranium. They planned to do this using a method called gaseous diffusion. Imagine turning uranium into a gas, then pushing it through a very fine filter. This process helped separate different kinds of uranium, like Uranium-235 from Uranium-238.
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How Kellex Helped the Manhattan Project
The M. W. Kellogg Company was known for its chemical engineering skills. Before the Manhattan Project officially started, a group called the S-1 Section asked Kellogg for help. They wanted to know if making enriched uranium using gaseous diffusion was even possible.
Kellogg worked with scientists from Columbia University, including John R. Dunning. They started a small test project. Percival C. "Dobie" Keith, a top engineer at Kellogg, led this early work. Because of their success, Kellogg and Keith were chosen to build a full-sized factory for the Manhattan Project.
Where Kellex Worked
The new Kellex company had its main office in the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan, New York. Many military personnel from the Special Engineer Detachment also worked there.
Kellex had other important locations too. They had facilities at Columbia University in New York City. They also worked in Decatur, Illinois, at Kellogg's plant in Jersey City, and at the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Building the K-25 Plant
Kellex was in charge of creating the methods and equipment for the new factory. They also designed the entire plant. There were many difficult problems to solve. For example, they needed a special filter material that gas could pass through. They also needed a pump that could handle the gas and pipes that wouldn't rust from the uranium gas.
Scientists and engineers worked hard to test different ideas. They even built a small test plant at Columbia University. They were designing the technology for the big factory at the same time architects were designing the building itself.
The huge factory project was called K-25. The "K" stood for Kellex, and "25" was a secret code name for uranium-235. The J. A. Jones Construction Company built the K-25 plant at the Clinton Engineer Works.
The K-25 plant was enormous. It was shaped like a "U" and was about a mile long. It covered 44 acres (about 18 hectares) and was four stories high. Inside, there were hundreds of miles of special pipes and equipment. The K-25 plant was the most expensive part of the entire Manhattan Project. After it was built, the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation operated it.
Kellex's Later Years
In 1950, the Kellex Corporation was bought by another company called Vitro Corporation.
See also
In Spanish: Kellex Corporation para niños
