---
title: 'Distillation Process Engineer at Kunin Technologies'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/distillation-process-engineer-kunin-technologies-chattanooga-28qmb6vc4cz0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-14'
---

# Distillation Process Engineer at Kunin Technologies

- **Company:** Kunin Technologies
- **Location:** Chattanooga, TN
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin/c107a5a4-6d00-4114-aa84-f9cbc9b156cb

## Job description

## WHO WE ARE

Kunin Technologies is revolutionizing the critical mineral supply chain by implementing advanced separation technologies to capture value from overlooked resources. Metals are everywhere, in solar panels, smartphones, electric vehicles, but as ore grades plummet globally, traditional extraction methods are failing. China dominates critical minerals markets by developing superior separation technologies that extract value from materials American mines discard as waste. Utilizing Kunin Technologies' breakthrough performance, ion-exchange media significantly more value can be produced from each resource, reducing waste, and unlocking metal abundance. To achieve metal abundance, humanity must bring separation science down its own Moore’s Law: fix the idiot cost index for micro and nano scale separation materials. This requires mass manufacturing novel ion-exchange media form factors which previously struggled from high costs.

## THE ROLE

Group 14 metals (germanium, tin, silicon) are critical materials of the data center build-out, and Kunin is designing, guaranteeing and commissioning a group 14 metal chlorination plant overseas for an industrial partner: metal-bearing feeds from the partner's own process are converted by chlorination, purification and hydrolysis to an electronic-grade metal product, with Kunin's proprietary ion-exchange media recovering the metal from the dilute process liquors. Bench and mini-pilot process development runs in Chattanooga from December 2026 to May 2027, basic engineering issues in May 2027, the plant is built from modular skids in parallel with civil works, and commercial operation is targeted for last quarter of 2028. The plant is built and operated by our partner; Kunin owns the process, the design package, the performance guarantee and the training of the operating team. You own the purification train: taking the metal chloride from crude chlorination product to electronic grade, with every metal at or below 10 parts per billion. Several volatile chlorides boil within tens of degrees of the product chloride; the number of distillation passes, the cut points, the reflux ratio and the handling of heads and tails set the plant's capital cost, energy and yield. From December 2026 you run the bench distillation program on a packed laboratory column, map where every impurity reports, and produce the first electronic-grade samples for the partner's qualification trials. From March 2027 you design, build and run the continuous mini-pilot, and from the mini-pilot data you set the column design, the cut points and the performance test protocol the plant is guaranteed against. In 2028 you are the commissioning lead for the distillation train at the partner's site. You work with the Lead Organic Chemist on chlorination chemistry, with the Senior Process Engineer on the design basis, and with the Analytical Chemist on ppb-level release testing. This is the first of a series of Kunin-designed metal recovery and conversion plants. You are a founding member of Kunin's Capital Projects team, whose goal is 100 critical metal projects in 10 years. Once this plant is through its gates you are expected to be executing design and delivery work on two to three projects in parallel. By 12 February 2027 we expect three electronic-grade metal chloride samples delivered to the partner. By 7 May 2027, the distillation design basis and test protocol. By 17 March 2028, a distillation train at the partner's site passing its 30-day performance test.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Bench fractional distillation program: cut design, reflux studies, impurity deportment and heads/tails recycle on a packed laboratory column
- Design, build and operation of the continuous chlorination and distillation mini-pilot, including HCl recovery and the product polishing and fill station
- Column and condenser design for the commercial plant: theoretical stages, packing, reflux, energy, materials, and the vendor specification
- The performance test protocol for the plant guarantee: test duration, sampling, acceptance criteria and deviation rules
- Commissioning lead for the distillation train at the partner's site: start-up, total reflux, first heart cut, ramp to nameplate and the performance test

## QUALIFICATIONS AND PREFERRED SKILLS

- Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering or chemistry required; PhD or Master's with a distillation or separations focus preferred.
- 5+ years operating or designing fractional distillation of volatile halides or electronic specialty gases: chlorosilanes, group 14 metal chlorides, TiCl4, BCl3, or semiconductor-grade precursors; ppb-level purity targets.
- Has designed or rated a packed or trayed column against measured vapor-liquid data and then run it; comfortable with Aspen Plus or equivalent.
- Hands-on with glass, PFA and lined equipment in HCl and chlorine service; safe handling of moisture-sensitive, hydrolysable chlorides under nitrogen.
- Ability to work in fast paced and demanding atmosphere
- Creative problem solving that brings together distillation theory, impurity chemistry and plant practice to reach electronic grade in the fewest passes.

## COMPENSATION

This role will pay $110,000 - $225,000, benefits, and equity.

## ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

- Position located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Travel to the partner's site for commissioning; on site for late quarter of 2027.
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- Extended hours and weekends frequently required to support critical project milestones.

Chattanooga is more beautiful than expected, and Tennessee has no income tax. "The Whole World Is Ion-Exchange And The Rest Are Merely Details!" Dr. Robert Kunin of Rohm and Haas, The Pioneer of the Ion-Exchange Industry, 1951

## About Kunin Technologies

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kunin Technologies develops modular ion-exchange equipment to recover critical minerals from U.S. mining waste streams, helping mines unlock byproduct metals.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Early-stage, pre-revenue)
- **Headquarters**: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Daniel Rau (CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Critical mineral extraction, mining technology, industrial process engineering
- Target customers: U.S. mining operations (B2B, Industrial/Enterprise), particularly mines that produce copper, lithium, or other primary metals and want to recover secondary byproducts like gallium, germanium, scandium, rhenium, and vanadium
- Mission or purpose statement: “Bringing mining back to America” by recovering trillions of dollars in stranded critical minerals from existing mining waste

## Products & Services
- **Modular Ion-Exchange Skids**: Pre-assembled, prefabricated treatment trains that use proven ion-exchange resin technology (invented by the company’s namesake, Robert Kunin, during the Manhattan Project) to separate target metals from mining wastewater and tailings streams.
- **Byproduct Financing & Asset Ownership Model**: Kunin helps mine owners finance critical mineral byproduct assets, sharing upside from recovered metals that would otherwise be lost.
- **Multiphysics Digital Twins & Process Controls**: Automated optimization systems that maximize metal capture rates and speed of recovery for each specific mining operation.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (early-stage startup)
- **Key Metric**: Small team of ~2-6 employees (as of mid-2026); active hiring spree with 4 open positions
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Tied into Department of Energy projects; selected by the DOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to restart domestic primary gallium recovery; based at Brickyard in Chattanooga
- **Growth Signals**: Selected for DOE critical minerals program; reports its technology can uplift mine revenue by 10–30% over 10 years; U.S. mining industry facing critical supply shortages due to Chinese export restrictions on gallium, germanium, and other metals — creating massive tailwind for its market

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven Chemistry, Novel Form Factor**: Uses ion-exchange resin chemistry with decades of in-field operating experience — no new material science required. The innovation is in the modular form factor and automated process controls, which dramatically reduce cost.
- **Vertically Integrated**: Kunin is America’s only vertically integrated ion-exchange technology developer, covering design, manufacturing, deployment, and financing.
- **Strategic Positioning**: Headquarters in Chattanooga strategically near Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory — all hubs for engineering talent.
- **Massive Addressable Market**: Estimates over $3 trillion in stranded critical minerals across U.S. mining waste that are currently not recovered.

## Strategic Focus
- Moving from pilot-scale demonstration to full production and deployment across the United States
- Scaling manufacturing to apply a lithium-ion battery-style learning curve to skidded system costs
- Building automated process controls for optimized metal recovery at existing mine sites
- Helping restore U.S. competitiveness in critical mineral production amid geopolitical supply chain disruptions

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Mission**: Directly contribute to U.S. critical mineral independence, domestic manufacturing, and national security — with measurable environmental benefit by recovering metals from existing waste rather than new mining
- **Tiny Team, Huge Ownership**: Currently 2-6 people; new hires (titles include “Damn Good Engineer,” Senior Scientist, Hydrometallurgist, Mechanical Lead) will have outsized influence on technology and company trajectory
- **Engineering-First Culture**: Emphasis on chemical process engineering, mechanical design, and multiphysics simulation — building real hardware that goes into the ground
- **Location**: Chattanooga, Tennessee — lower cost of living with proximity to top engineering universities and DOE national labs
- **EY: Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Likely onsite/hybrid given the hardware and lab focus; careers page does not specify remote options
- **Backed by DOE**: Credibility from federal selection for critical mineral recovery projects
- **Growth Trajectory**: Active hiring spree signals company is scaling from R&D toward deployment — early-stage equity opportunity

## Sources
1. [kunin.tech](https://www.kunin.tech/)
2. [Jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kunin)
3. [Hypepotamus](https://hypepotamus.com/startup-news/kunin-technologies-critical-minerals-mining-waste/)
4. [LinkedIn - Kunin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kunin)

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