VITOK Engineers brings an abandoned distillery back online after 24 years. New life brings the distillery up to the current state of the art.

The former Charles Medley Distillery in Owensboro, KY was purchased by the Terressentia Corporation of North Charleston, SC in May 2014. It was renamed the O.Z. Tyler Distillery in memory of the individual who had developed Terressentia’s patented TerrePURE® technology. In the late summer of 2015, they turned to VITOK to resurrect the distillery, which had not operated for 24 years. Although not in production, the facility had been maintained fairly well and many of the original process characteristics could be reutilized, most notably the use of year-round 600F well water for cooling. Much of the original stainless steel tanks could also be reused, but almost all of the piping required replacement along with new pumps and a new boiler, chiller and cooling tower. VITOK worked closely with the piping contractor to match up the old with the new, while still meeting numerous code requirements that had been established well after the distillery had ceased production. Working seven days per week, the facility was completed in just over a year and the new owners held their grand opening celebration on September 1, 2016. Since then, the decision has been made to triple the distillery capacity to 71,000 barrels annually.

Engineering and Project Functions Included:

  • Mechanical
  • Chemical
  • Process Design
  • Automation Design
  • Controls Design
  • Piping Design
  • Hazardous Area Design
  • Area Classification
  • Project Management
  • Construction Management
  • Cost Estimating