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Rod Smith

Sustainable Operations in Practice at Klöckner Pentaplast

In most of our factories, we have installed detailed energy monitoring systems at multiple points along production lines, including air compressors, chillers and lights. These systems feed into a digital dashboard that displays energy consumption throughout the factory. For data visualisation, we use dashboards that aggregate data collected via SAP from production lines and allows us to visualise the data at a high level.

Food Packaging OEMs, Vacuum and Air Quality at IPPE

We visited the 2024 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) with the objective being to discuss hygienic vacuum and compressed air system designs within thermoforming and other meat/poultry/cheese packaging systems. We were able to discuss the sanitary designs they deploy and some protective measures they have in place, should the manufacturing plant provide compressed air which is not clean and dry and therefore conducive to hygienic manufacturing.

Aeration Blowers at Weftec 2023

Weftec 2023, a leading event for industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities took place October 2-5, 2023 at Chicago's McCormick Place. The objective of this article is to provide readers with a sampling of aeration blower technologies on display at the show. We regret not being able to include all exhibitors or visits made due to article length considerations.

Compressed Air, Nitrogen Generation and Chiller Systems at Fabtech 2023

FABTECH 2023, a leading event for metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing, successfully wrapped up its four-day run at Chicago's McCormick Place, achieving significant milestones for attendance, exhibitors, and show floor size. The 2023 show floor, spanning an impressive 825,325 square feet across three exhibit halls, featured an extensive showcase of over 1,500 world-class suppliers.

Kaeser Compressors Celebrates Growth

Kaeser Compressors’ President Frank Mueller held a ribbon cutting ceremony, with local and regional dignitaries attending, and in his address to the gathering said, “This 50% increase in office space, the new Rooftop Café, and the warehouse expansion are all dedicated to the well-being, health and productivity of our employees who continue to fuel our growth.”

The 2023 AICD Show Report

“The AICD enjoyed a record turnout of exhibitors,” said Jeff Brennan, President, AICD. “We’ve added over 20 member companies this year and our membership again has delivered a strong turnout at this year’s event.” Participating distributor members and guests enjoyed a few days of networking events, trade show, speakers, the AICD Golf Tournament and more.

Hannover Messe 2023 Show Report

The 2023 Hannover Messe was held April 17-21 at the Fairgrounds in Hannover, Germany. I have been visiting this event, since 1992, and it’s great to see old friends, new companies and the latest company and technology developments of firms in the compressed air industry. This article will provide readers with a sampling of compressed air technologies seen.

CheeseCon 2023 Show Report

The 2023 CheeseCon event was held April 4-6, 2023 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Co-produced by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) and the Center for Dairy Research, this event brings together more than 3,000 dairy industry leaders, suppliers, and marketers together to share information about the latest in cheese manufacturing technology, workforce, whey opportunities, product safety, marketing, and dairy exports.

Mattei Rotary Vane Technology Advancing Efficiency and Durability

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Mr. Bill Kennedy, Global Marketing Manager, Mattei Compressors. If the electricity costs 8x what you paid to purchase the compressor, and you can reduce that value by 20% or more, the compressor is virtually free as the energy savings provide a return-on-investment that exceeds the purchase price. Now, if you eliminate the need to ever have to overhaul the airend you gain a massive financial and long-term reliability advantage.

Five Decades of Innovation at Festo USA

The history of Festo began in 1925 in Germany. Festo USA was founded on March 15th, 1972 in Port Washington on Long Island, with the focus of being a full-line supplier of pneumatics – a focus we continue with today.

Continuing Education at the Best Practices 2021 EXPO & Conference

The EXPO & Conference focuses on “Optimizing On-site Utilities Powering Automation.” Experts from all over the world convened to discuss compressed air, pneumatics, motors and drives, vacuum, aeration blower and chiller/cooling and water treatment systems. Held November 2-4, 2021, this 3rd installment of the event continued to provide continuing education, certification and networking opportunities to equipment sales engineers, engineering firm and manufacturing plant personnel.

Making an Impact at Berry Global

Berry Global was established in 1967 as a small hometown company, based in Evansville, Indiana. Today it is still headquartered in Evansville but has grown to 48,000+ global employees and more than 295 locations. Generating $12.6 billion in 2019 pro forma net sales, Berry Global creates innovative packaging and protection solutions.

Brewing Energy Conservation at Molson Coors Canada

In 2021, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed members of the Molson Coors Canada team, at their Toronto Brewery, to gain an understanding of the work being done to improve energy efficiency. The team members interviewed were Doug Dittburner (Chief Engineer), Antonio Mayne (Utilities Optimization Engineer) and Khalil Daniel (Engineering Intern).

Sustainability Pillars at Intertape Polymer Group Inc.

In February 2021, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed members of the Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (IPG) Sustainability Pillars team to gain an understanding of the work being done to improve energy efficiency. The team members interviewed were Michael Jones (Director of Corporate Energy), Michael Deitering (Senior Project Engineer), Jarrod Knapp (Maintenance Manager) and Mark Secord (Engineering Group Leader).

Built for the Long-Term: Kaeser Kompressoren Celebrates 100 Years

This story begins in Coburg, Germany in the year 1919. Coburg was first mentioned in a monastic document dated 1056, but to speed forward almost nine centuries, Coburg would join the Upper Franconia Region of Bavaria in 1920 where it remains today. Back here in 1919, the United States passed the 19th Amendment allowing women the right to vote and Pancho Villa was attacking Juarez, Mexico. So it was in 1919 that in Coburg a gentleman named Carl Kaeser Senior would open a small workshop producing parts for the early automotive industry, along with gear wheels and special machines for the glass industry.

Reducing the Global Warming Potential of Refrigerated Compressed Air Dryers

Long gone are the days when cost and performance could be the only concern for companies manufacturing refrigerated compressed air dryers using refrigerant compressors. In 2019, accelerated governmental (Europe) regulations and a global concern for sustainability have brought new considerations to the table. What is the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the refrigerants used in dryers and what is their environmental impact?

Profile: Hertz Kompressoren USA

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Bob Groendyke, Vice President and General Manager, of Hertz Kompressoren USA. Hertz Kompressoren USA is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. We’re a premium brand of the Dalgakiran Group Company, a leading international compressed air sales and service producer with a well-established worldwide network. Our parent company was founded in Turkey more than 50 years ago and currently sells and services machines in 130 countries. Hertz Kompressoren has built a solid reputation by creating and manufacturing high-quality products offered at reasonable prices to satisfy our worldwide customer base.

Oil-Free Turbo Air Compressors from Finland

Compressed Air Best Practices interviewed Timo Pulkki (CEO), Hannu Heinonen (President, Tamturbo Inc.) and Mike Batchelor (Director of Sales Americas) from Tamturbo. Since the 1960’s, the Tampere region in Finland has been a birthplace of several air compressor innovations – many of which involved Kimmo Laine, a co-founder of Tamturbo. Mr. Laine was a leader in R&D in the air compressor business for many years since the 1960s. This included bringing a high-speed turbo air compressor to market later at Tamturbo. Working together in the 1980’s in a division of Tamrock, called Tamrotor-where Hannu Heinonen also worked, Mr. Laine met a gentleman named Jaakko Säiläkivi.

NMR Spectroscopy Lab Requires a -112°F Dew Point and Pure Nitrogen

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Mr. Warwick Rampley, the National Sales Manager for Sydney (Australia) based, Basil V.R. Greatrex Pty Ltd. It’s not every day one is asked to deliver a system able to provide both a reliable compressed air dew point of -80°C (-112°F) and high purity nitrogen. We work with some excellent technology suppliers and have engineered a rather interesting system. Although our firm was founded in 1919, this application is one of the most demanding we’ve encountered. Basil V.R. Greatrex is a unique company as we focus only on compressed air measurement, compressed air quality and compressed air efficiency.

Show Report: 2017 WEEC Chiller & Compressed Air Control Technology

The WEEC is the largest energy conference and technology expo held in the U.S. specifically for business, industrial and institutional energy users. Widely known for its recognized energy certification programs, including the Certified Energy Manager CEM® program, the AEE has led the development of the fields of energy engineering and energy management since its’ founding in 1977.

Kaeser’s Uniform Focus on System Specific Power Benefits UniFirst

UniFirst is one of North America’s largest workwear and textile service companies. They outfit nearly two million workers in clean uniforms and protective clothing each workday. Founded in an eight-stall garage in 1936, the Company has grown to 240 customer servicing locations throughout the U.S. and Canada servicing 300,000 business customer locations. The subject of this article is an energy-saving Air Demand Analysis (ADA), conducted by Kaeser Compressors, at UniFirst’s centralized 320,000 square foot hub Distribution Center located in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Aggreko Assists Refineries with Fluctuating Demand

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine spoke with Mark Shedd, Head of Oil-free Air, Aggreko Rental Solutions - There are two distinct compressed air systems in a refinery or petrochemical environment: plant air and instrument air systems. Instrument air systems are almost always 100% oil-free air compressors on both the permanent and temporary systems. The demand for compressed air purity, in instrument air systems, is so high that the permanent install back-up system is usually nitrogen.

Kaeser Rotary Screw Blowers for Wastewater Aeration

Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Frank Mueller (President) and Stephen Horne (Blower Product Manager) from Kaeser Compressors. Kaeser Compressors continues to grow both in the U.S. and internationally. We currently employ approximately 4800 people globally. In order to support the demand and maintain our superior quality and quality service levels, we continue to invest in people, facilities and technology.