Fractionation Research, Inc. is a non-profit research consortium supported by memberships which include the largest petroleum and petrochemical companies in the world. It was founded in the 1950's to engage in research that was too expensive for any one company.
That research includes the only commercial, full-scale distillation experimentation program operating with hydrocarbon systems at pressures ranging from deep vacuum to 500psia. Thirty-seven member companies completed the organizational framework that has now grown to over sixty members, including many leading companies in the field of distillation, of which more than 60% are international.