Kansai Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd.
Japanese plant-engineering firm specializing in distillation, evaporation, reaction, fermentation and solvent-recovery process equipment.
Last updated September 26, 2026
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Overview
Kansai Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (KCE) is a Japanese engineering company headquartered in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, that designs and supplies process plants and proprietary internals for the chemical, food, pharmaceutical and bio-industries. Its stated motto is "simple and reliable technology," and its core business is plant engineering covering distillation, evaporation, rectification, reaction, fermentation, extraction and solvent recovery. The company was founded in Kyoto in 1948 and moved its head office and factory to its present Amagasaki location in 1956 as its business expanded. KCE's offering spans two main pillars. The first is plant engineering: distillation, solvent-purification, vacuum-rectification and evaporation plants; extraction plants; gas-absorption and gas-scrubbing plants; stripping plants; reaction plants; and fermentation/culture plants. The second is a portfolio of developed products and tower internals, including the Lift Tray, Wall Wetter, MS Column, Change Tray Tower, multi-chamber evaporator, Hi-U Brusher, Eva Reactor, Active Turbine, Recovery, ultra-high-vacuum rectification system, a continuous tartaric-acid concentration control process for wine, and HIDiC (heat-integrated distillation column). Many of these have received awards from Japanese academic and industrial bodies. Alongside hardware, KCE runs a bio-engineering line that includes culture devices and biomass-related technology, and it maintains a technical-information program: it publishes commemorative technical books (for its 60th, 74th and 75th anniversaries, including English-language editions of "Basic Chemical Engineering"), organizes an annual Chemical Engineering Training Course, and presents papers at academic societies. Its affiliated company, Bio-energy Co., Ltd., was established in 2001 and renamed in 2004, with an R&D laboratory completed in 2006. The company is privately held and does not appear to be listed on a stock exchange. It serves customers in the chemical products, food and pharmaceutical sectors as well as research institutes and universities, and it exhibits at major trade shows such as INCHEM TOKYO. Its headquarters address is 2-9-7 Minaminanamatsu-cho, Amagasaki, Hyogo 660-0053, Japan.
History
Kansai Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. was founded in 1948 in Kyoto, Japan. In 1956, as its business expanded, the company relocated its head office and factory to its current site in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. It subsequently increased its capital in several steps: to 2,000 thousand yen in 1958, 5,000 thousand yen in 1963 (when a factory was completed), 10,000 thousand yen in 1965, 20,000 thousand yen in 1969, 40,000 thousand yen in 1978, and 44,000 thousand yen in 1991. In 1970 the company held its first Chemical Industry Training Course, an educational activity it has continued in later years as the Chemical Engineering Training Course. In 1996 it completed an engineering building, and in 2001 it rebuilt its experimental building, expanded experimental equipment, and established Bio-energy Co., Ltd. as an affiliated company. The factory was rebuilt in 2004, the same year the affiliate was renamed Bio-energy Co., Ltd. (from Bio-energy K.K.). A research and development laboratory for Bio-energy Co., Ltd. was completed in 2006. KCE completed an administration building in 2011 and a research center in 2016. Technologically, KCE's history is a sequence of proprietary developments. In the 1950s it developed a methyl column. In the 1960s it co-developed a powder switching valve, began supplying experimental equipment to industrial and agricultural high schools nationwide, and developed the Lift Tray, the Hi-U Brusher and a multi-chamber evaporator; it received the CP Idea Award three times and the CP Excellent Product Award. In the 1970s it developed an air-seal shaft sealing system and co-developed a bioreactor, receiving two Science and Technology Agency Director-General Awards, the Society of Chemical Engineers Technical Award for the Lift Tray, and a Small and Medium Enterprise Research Center Award. In the 1980s it began gene-culture testing, developed a microcomputer-controlled fully automatic culture device, a guillotine mixer with replaceable cutting blades, the Eva Reactor, and a wine tartar-removal device (co-developed, receiving a Separation Technology Award), and received an Invention Promotion Achievement Award. In the 1990s it developed the Eddy Cell, a high-vacuum distillation unit, Change Tray, Active Turbine, MS Column (Separation Technology Award), Recovery, Wall Wetter (Society of Chemical Engineers Technical Award and Separation Technology Award), HIDiC, and an intelligent bioreactor; the multi-chamber evaporator also received a Separation Technology Award. In the 2000s a HIDiC demonstration plant went into operation (receiving awards from the Society of Separation Process Engineers and the Society of Chemical Engineers), and the company developed WW Crystallization Plus (Separation Technology Award), Rakusho, an ultra-high-vacuum rectification system (Separation Technology Award), Change Tray (Separation Technology Award), and the EvaCon jacket. In the 2010s Wall Wetter received the Kinki Chemical Association Chemical Technology Award and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry New Machinery Development Award for small and medium enterprises; a bioethanol production plant went into operation; and the company developed WW Sukkiri-kun, a balance column, EvaCon (Separation Technology Award), WW Mutton, and WW Distillation Plus (Hyogo Prefecture Invention Award). In recent years KCE has continued to publish commemorative technical books (for its 60th, 74th and 75th anniversaries, including English editions of "Basic Chemical Engineering"), run its annual Chemical Engineering Training Course, present at academic meetings, and exhibit at trade shows such as INCHEM TOKYO. In 2026 it announced that its WW Mixer had won the 2025 Technical Award from the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan.
- 2026
WW Mixer wins the 2025 Technical Award from the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan.
- 2016
Research center completed.
- 2011
Administration building completed.
- 2006
Bio-energy Co., Ltd. R&D laboratory completed.
- 2004
Factory rebuilt; affiliate renamed Bio-energy Co., Ltd.
- 2001
Experimental building rebuilt and experimental equipment expanded; Bio-energy Co., Ltd. established.
- 1996
Engineering building completed.
- 1991
Capital increased to 44,000 thousand yen.
- 1978
Capital increased to 40,000 thousand yen.
- 1970
First Chemical Industry Training Course held.
Products and positioning
Engineering-led supplier of proprietary distillation, evaporation and bio-process technology for chemical, food, pharmaceutical and research customers, built on a "simple and reliable technology" philosophy.
Lift Tray
Developed in the 1960s; received the Society of Chemical Engineers Technical Award in the 1970s.
Wall Wetter
Developed in the 1990s; received the Society of Chemical Engineers Technical Award and Separation Technology Award, and in the 2010s the Kinki Chemical Association Chemical Technology Award and a New Machinery Development Award.
MS Column
Developed in the 1990s; received a Separation Technology Award.
Change Tray Tower
Developed in the 1990s; received a Separation Technology Award in the 2000s.
Multi-chamber evaporator
Developed in the 1960s; received a Separation Technology Award in the 1990s.
Hi-U Brusher
Developed in the 1960s.
Eva Reactor
Developed in the 1980s.
Active Turbine
Developed in the 1990s.
Recovery
Developed in the 1990s.
Ultra-high-vacuum rectification system
Developed in the 2000s; received a Separation Technology Award.
HIDiC (heat-integrated distillation column)
Developed in the 1990s; a demonstration plant went into operation in the 2000s, receiving awards.
WW Mixer
A stirring impeller for mixing two liquid phases or solid-liquid phases with low power; won the 2025 Technical Award from the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan.
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