The Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference included 89 presentations, 84 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 registered attendees.
The Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference was the busiest one yet, with 89 presentations, 84 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 registered attendees. It included two conference tracks, five workshops and five EXPO classroom pavilions. The event was so big, we’re splitting our show report into three reports to capture all the activity.
“We’re seeing an upward trend in engineering firms, distributors and rep firms able to advise manufacturing plants on the central utility plant encompassing compressed air, chilled water, water treatment, nitrogen, vacuum and blower systems,” said Roderick Smith, Publisher, Compressed Air Best Practices Magazine, during the event’s Opening Session. “That’s why we’ve integrated these central utility plant technologies into one publication. That’s why you see a growing presence of cooling on the show floor and in our speaker lineups. We’re responding to demand from our industrial readers.”
Roderick Smith, Compressed Air Best Practices Magazine, kicked off the event’s Opening Session.
Judging by the responses from manufacturing plants, distributors, rep firms and engineering firms in attendance, the event was a success.
“I’m looking to establish a strong network of some of the world’s best compressed air experts, because we need some assistance writing best practices and refinery engineering practices. It all starts with first getting the right network of people,” said Raymond Hooks, Utilities and Chemical Transfer Engineer, Phillips 66.
“Today, I’ve gone to a couple of the conferences and the Maintenance Pavilion,” said Steve Leining, Engineering Department Manager, Plastipak Packaging. “I got to learn a lot more about air filtration and microbial contamination that could be in the compressed air system that I didn’t think to look for before. I spoke to CS Instruments about different types of dew point monitoring and compressed air systems, and the new communications technology it has available.”
“The most valuable thing for me has been talking with all the refrigerated dryer manufacturers and vendors who could give me information on all the different technologies that are out there,” said Jesse Becker, Mechanical Systems Engineer, Mayo Clinic. “I learn from our maintenance team what the issues are, and here I can talk to experts who can help me with those issues. I’ve spoken to Mikropor and BEKO. I’ll present different options to our maintenance teams about what’s available and have solutions for them.”
“There are several more air compressor manufacturers here than in previous years. It seems like the show is growing,” said Chad Gooding, President, G3 Industrial Solutions. “I’ve been catching up with a lot of good people in the industry. New people came in looking for new vendors on certain products, so we talked with them a little bit. Since we’re a distributor, we’re focused on building relationships with some of the vendors.”
Conference Tracks and Five Technical Workshops
Attendees who purchased a Full Conference pass were able to take in two conference tracks and five specialized workshops. Conference Track One, devoted to energy and cooling water conservation, included speakers from Kaeser Compressors, Ingersoll Rand, Atlas Copco Compressors and FS-Elliott. Track Two, on maintenance, reliability and safety, included speakers from EVAPCO, Trace Analytics and Kaishan.
Neil Mehltretter, Kaeser Compressors, gave a presentation on solving leaks and moisture issues in industrial plant compressed air systems.
The Hard Hat Compressed Air Maintenance Workshop gave attendees hands-on experience with fully operational table-top compressed air labs with pneumatic circuits.
Food safety was a hot topic, with a full conference session devoted to issues impacting food processing plants. Tyler Morrell, Vice President, Sales and Operations, Airmatic Compressor Systems, discussed nitrogen generation and compressed air enclosures for space-constrained plants, while Francisco Lara, Managing Director, Airtec Global, looked at air quality testing for sustainable production. Nikki Smith, Air Quality Business Leader, Trace Analytics, explained testing safeguards for safe breathing air.
Compressed air, industrial cooling and blower and vacuum sales engineers gathered for the standing-room-only Sales Engineering Workshop led by Mark Allen Roberts, CEO, OTB Solutions. Engineers and technicians often take on sales roles, as they have a deep understanding of products and applications. However, over 50% of salespeople never receive sales skills training. This workshop was designed to turn technical product experts into top-performing salespeople. “You can demonstrate competence and build trust by the nature of the questions you ask,” said Roberts.
“I like that he involved us in it. He asked the audience questions and had us role-play,” said Bonnie Nichols, Sales Specialist, ADG Concepts, about the Sales Engineering Workshop. “I learned about asking higher quality questions, open-ended questions. This was better than any conference I went to last year.”
“This was one of the best sales engineering workshops I’ve been to in the last several years,” said Nathan Toro, Sales Consultant, Mobile Mechanical Services. “This was totally relevant information for industry.”
EXPO Pass Offers Opening/Plenary Sessions, Networking Events and Classroom Pavilions
Opening and Plenary Sessions were open to all attendees, including those who purchased an EXPO pass, and included presentations from CAGI, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Trane, Pactiv Evergreen, 3M, ALPLA and Johnson Controls. EXPO pass holders were also able to attend the Women in Compressed Air, Vacuum & Cooling Networking Breakfast and the Best Practices Networking Event.
The Plenary Session provided a trove of tactics manufacturing personnel can implement to save energy and optimize compressed air systems. Edison Kivatsi, Principal Energy Engineer, Novolex – Pactiv Evergreen, shared how to reduce energy use with smarter compressed air management. “As you fix your leaks, your compressed air system pressure may increase. You should have a strategy of monitoring and controlling your system pressure,” said Kivatsi. Tim Wamser, Founder and CEO, The Wamser Company, shared a case study on a project for Kirsh Foundry focused on the optimization of its compressed air and nitrogen generation systems, resulting in energy savings of 550,874 kWh per year and \$49,579 in annual energy costs.
The Women In Compressed Air, Vacuum & Cooling Networking Group hosted its third annual in-person meeting. Women from all experience levels and job functions came together to enjoy a buffet breakfast, make connections, and get inspired by keynote speaker Stephanie Roberts, Chief Communications Officer at Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems. “It has been shown time and time again gender diverse leadership helps companies be more profitable, resilient and innovative,” said Roberts. “Representation helps unlock potential that’s currently sitting on the sidelines.”
The annual in-person meeting of the Women in Compressed Air, Vacuum & Cooling Networking Group.
The Best Practices Networking Event took place in Kansas City’s Power & Light District at the end of Day 1. Attendees enjoyed connecting with colleagues, a delicious buffet and endless games. Representatives from the event’s sponsors, BEKO Technologies and Mikropor, ended the night with speeches.
Nearly 300 attendees joined the Best Practices Networking Event.
The EXPO included five classroom pavilions – on aluminum piping, new technology, food safety, leak detection and maintenance. The Technology Pavilion hosted 15 presentations on new technologies and innovations from leading global manufacturers of oil-free and lubricated air compressors, compressed air dryers, filters, condensate drains and measurement instruments, nitrogen generators, chillers and cooling towers. Tilo Fruth, President, BEKO Technologies, shared 10 practical tips to help reduce energy costs and improve the overall performance of a compressed air system. “Split the quality of your compressed air by the application within your factory. Don’t treat all the compressed air the same way if you need different quality for different applications or manufacturing lines,” Fruth said.
Tilo Fruth, President, BEKO Technologies, presented “Efficiency, Connectivity, Reliability of a Compressed Air Treatment System – 10 Easy Tips” at the Technology Pavilion.
Nikki Smith, Air Quality Business Leader, Trace Analytics, delivered the presentation “Air Quality Testing Best Practices for Food Safety” at the Food Safety Pavilion.
Patrick Kraemer, Director – Oil Free Compression, ELGi Compressors USA, spoke about oil-free rotary screw air compressors at the Maintenance Pavilion.
Distributors, cooling reps, engineers and manufacturing personnel participated in the daily EXPO \$1,000 Energy Treasure Hunt Raffle. To enter, attendees collected a stamp from 10 Energy Treasure Hunt sponsor booths. Employees from Ardagh Group, Cushman & Wakefield, CT Compressor, G3 Industrial Solutions and Air Specialty & Equipment took home prizes of \$250 or \$500.
The Best Practices team with Day 2 Treasure Hunt Raffle winners: Roderick Smith, Mark Tholen of Cushman & Wakefield (1st place), Ted Moser of Ardagh Group (2nd place), Kevin King of CT Compressor (3rd place) and Erik Klingerman of Best Practices (left to right).
Unipipe sponsored the Piping Pavilion and raffled off three do-it-yourself compressed air aluminum piping kits. Jamie Ray of G3 Industrial Solutions won an eight-drop kit (worth \$2,095), Bonnie Nichols of ADG Concepts won a five-drop kit (worth \$1,495) and Chad Carpenter of Brandon & Clark won a three-drop kit (worth \$975). CS Instruments sponsored the Leak Detection Pavilion and raffled off a LeakCam 600 kit (worth \$16,990), which was won by Bill Mellot of Ball Corporation.
Air Compressor Technology
BAUER COMPRESSORS is known for its high-pressure air compressors; however, EXPO attendees were able to witness its latest innovation. The BAUER BLP™3 Series is the company's first low-pressure rotary screw air compressor. Available in multiple standard configurations, the tank-mounted designs produce either 125, 150, or 175 psi. The company also offers made-to-order configurations. The BAUER BLP™3 Series is backed by a 10-year airend warranty and a 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Tony Corletto, Paul Cenzon, Eric Phelps and Daniel Pinete with the BAUER BLP™3 Series rotary screw air compressor.
BOGE America showcased the S 46-4 LF N for the first time, a new VSD rotary screw air compressor in the BOGE S-4 Series. The series offers models ranging from 60-200 horsepower (hp) and features a premium airend developed in-house. “We’ve optimized the efficiency of the airend and have created a quiet machine that’s well-priced,” said Kevin Miller, Sales Director. BOGE also highlighted its sister company INMATEC’s nitrogen and oxygen generators offering purity up to 6.0 for N2 and up to 95% for O2.
Brian Stober and Joseph Pollitt of BOGE America (left to right) displayed an S 46-4 LF N VSD rotary screw air compressor.
The Compressed Air and Gas Institute (CAGI) was on hand to discuss the organization’s January 2025 partnership with Compressed Air Challenge, with CAC becoming CAGI’s education foundation. CAGI introduced the Certified Compressed Air System Specialist certification a few years ago, and the Certified Compressed Air System Assessor certification more recently. As the organization’s education foundation, CAC will help professionals prepare for those exams. “The integration is going to help compressed air professionals set themselves apart by associating themselves with the leaders in the industry,” said Matt Smith, President, CAGI, adding it will raise the level of education and professionalism across the industry.
FS-Curtis highlighted the ECO-Rotary line of air- or water-cooled rotary screw air compressors introduced earlier this year. This water-injected line creates its own water from an integrated compressed air dryer, providing a constant supply of cool water for the compression area. The series ranges from 20-150 hp and delivers 125 psi. “The condensation from the compressed air dryer gets recycled through the system,” said Kyle Trandum, Product Manager. “The condensation that comes off the dryer is pure water, so you don’t need to run it through an oil-water separator.”
FS-Elliott showcased a centrifugal air compressor design that allows for the quick removal of the airend, as well as a program that stores and maintains replacement airends for customers to ensure quick replacements when needed. “That takes your downtime from weeks or months into days,” said David Sleeman, Director of Aftermarket Sales.
Nicholas Durazo, FS-Elliott (right), met with Raymond Hooks, Phillips 66 (left), at the FS-Elliott booth.
GlobalVac & Air displayed a facsimile of its mobile engineered systems. The company assembled all the components, pretreated the air and built a mobile mechanical room. This mockup was displayed for the first time. “Mobile engineered systems are becoming more popular because it’s so expensive to build actual physical space in a plant. You need engineers, contractors, surveyors and permits. When you build those systems, all that is negated. It just shows up completed,” said Bob Littman, Vice President of Sales.
Elizabeth Fleming (left) and Bob Littman (right) of GlobalVac & Air showed the company’s mobile engineered system to Andrea Fabris, Sales Area Manager, Josimo (middle).
Kaeser Compressors showed its ability to provide manufacturer-designed and -built packages containing full compressed air systems. Systems can be created as skids or weather-proof enclosures. All work is done in-house. Plants can purchase the compressed air system or opt for compressed air-as-a-service. They can also sign up for regular monthly maintenance checks. “We’ve been a partner with Compressed Air Best Practices since the magazine began,” said Michael Camber, Marketing Services Manager, Kaeser Compressors. “We feel it’s important to be here. We have colleagues who attend the conference sessions for learning and presenting. It’s a way to keep tabs on what’s going on in the market.”
Michael Camber, Kim Pulford, Tareq Saasaa and Tim Pickering (left to right) of Kaeser Compressors.
Sauer Compressors USA brought a reciprocating compressed air booster to its booth. Model 4399, part of the company’s Hurricane line of high-pressure compressed air boosters, has three stages and four cylinders and is capable of 1668-5075 psig at 18-70 scfm. The company’s goal was to build awareness about the role of a booster in a compressed air system. “Often, a facility will have normal low-pressure shop air, but it will have an application that needs much higher-pressure air than its current air compressor puts out,” said Sean Dempsey, Southeast Regional Sales Manager. The company’s compressed air boosters can be rented, allowing customers to prove a concept without spending capital dollars.
Kyle Ricks, Chuck Westhofen, Patrick Lamon, Dawn Ryan, John Temple, Crystal Wilson and Sean Dempsey (left to right) of Sauer Compressors.
South-Tek Systems had multiple new hardware releases in its booth, including the N2GEN-FLEX line of modular nitrogen generators. These pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) generators can be equipped with two to 10 towers, all providing up to .99999% nitrogen purity. The system offers an efficiency gain compared to twin tower designs. “You might get a 25 psi pressure drop across a twin-tower nitrogen generator. This is only a 5 psi pressure drop,” said Dustin Parscal, National Sales Manager. The company also displayed its first line of air compressors, introduced earlier this year. It includes 5-600 hp, single-stage and VSD, air-cooled and water-cooled rotary screw air compressors capable of 100-218 psi, and one series capable of 290 psi.
At Sullivan-Palatek, the focus was on isentropic efficiency, engineering many small improvements – with airend profiles, total package pressure drop, specific power and rotor profiles – that add up to meaningful results. This focus can be seen in the company’s recently released rotary screw air compressors: the SP16+ series (75, 100 and 125 hp, oil-flooded VSD) and the SP20+ series (125 and 150 hp, fixed speed and VSD). “We know we’ve had a reliable, dependable product for many years,” said Bob Groendyke, Senior Product Marketing Manager. “We’re now increasing isentropic efficiency to present an even better product.”
Austin Wilkins, Larry Colley, Bob Groendyke, Bruce McFee, Scott Seibert, Brice Schultz and Drew Benner (left to right) at the Sullivan-Palatek booth.
Co-owners of Tamsan-USA Compressors Kyle Green and Josh Wamser highlighted the TVK 15-S package unit, which features a 15 hp, servo-driven rotary screw air compressor with a refrigerated dryer and an inline filter. It’s tank-mounted on twin torpedo tanks, making it lower to the floor and easier to access for service. Also at the booth was a TVK 60-S, a 60 hp, direct drive, base-mounted, servo-driven rotary screw air compressor. “The owners and engineers of this company are service technicians. We understand the trials and the work, as well as the expectations and needs of service people,” said Wamser.
Thomas Wamser, Lisa Lewis and Kyle Green (left to right) of Tamsan-USA Compressors.
Tamturbo highlighted the benefits of its touch-free centrifugal air compressors. Built with active magnetic bearings, these air compressors’ impellers levitate in the air, with strong magnetic forces keeping them in place. Non-contact seals and non-contact rotation keep parts from wearing out, with the only consumable material being the air intake filter. The company offers air compressors from 240-1890 cfm, 30-130 psi and 42-470 hp. The company also showed its controller that lets air compressors work in parallel. Cost savings of 15-20% are typical, it finds. “A sustainable air compressor with the highest capital expense to purchase can be by far the lowest in terms of operating costs and total cost of ownership,” said Hannu Heinonen, Vice President, Americas.
Jay Mottley, Juho Ojuva and Hannu Heinonen (left to right) of Tamturbo.
New Products Debuted at the Best Practices 2025 EXPO & ConferenceBauer BLP Low-Pressure Rotary Screw Air Compressor |
Compressed Air Treatment and Condensate Management
Located at the center of the EXPO floor, the BEKO Technologies booth was a hive of activity. Much of the attention went to the company’s recently released DRYPOINT RX refrigerated compressed air dryers. Fully redesigned, this line features a heat exchanger offering improved compressed air flow, pressure drop and refrigerant distribution. All the models in the line include pressure transducers. “You don’t have to connect refrigerant gauges to see what the refrigerant is doing,” said Josh Borrego, Senior Technical Service Specialist. “If you don’t have a refrigerant-certified technician and you’re having a problem with the system, you can troubleshoot without breaking EPA guidelines for connecting to a refrigerant circuit.”
Brian Speed, Randall Corthouts, Chris Gibson, Kyle Shipman, Tad Carriveau, Tilo Fruth, Adrian Fernandez, Josh Borrego and Miguel Ceron (left to right) of BEKO Technologies.
KSI Technologies showcased its TPK25 dew point meter, recently released in the U.S. market. “It’s a three-in-one solution that measures the dew point, temperature and pressure in one neat, little unit,” said Mirko Krebs, President. “It has a replaceable sensor chamber, so you don’t need to send it in for recalibration. The TPK25 is designed with refrigerated dryer systems in mind, offering a calibrated range of -4°F to 68°F PDP (-20°C to 20°C) and operating pressure of 0 to 232 psig.
Mirko Krebs, Heike Krebs and Holger Krebs (left to right) of KSI Technologies.
Mikropor America displayed its wide range of cleanup compressed air equipment. An updated version of one of the company’s flagship products, the MK-US-Pro Series of refrigerated compressed air dryers, was recently released. The series supports air flow capacities from 10-5,000 scfm, and uses low-GWP R-513A. “We put a 10-year warranty on this heat exchanger, upgrading it from a five-year,” said Jeff Crutchfield, Area Manager. A variety of desiccant compressed air dryers were at the booth, including a MEHD Series externally-heated dryer, an MBL Series heated blower purge dryer and an MMD-VP Series modular purge heatless desiccant dryer.
Eric Bush, Todd Nelson, Jeff Crutchfield, Huseyin Celik, Hallie Utsler, Mike Kinnucane, Volkan Ayhan, Patrick Lapalme and Allan Hoerner (left to right) of Mikropor.
Walker Filtration presented condensate management products, including zero-loss and timer drains, as well as mechanical float drains. The company offers original equipment such as its CondenSmart Drain Series and the SmartSep Oil-Water Separator Series, but also provides variations of aftermarket elements for OEMs. “Energy efficiency and sustainability is something people are looking for, so we’ve focused on that,” said Simon Taylor, General Manager. “We’re creating energy-efficient products and sustainable products. We’re also removing a lot of the PFAS, the forever chemical, from our materials.”
Yates, Simon Taylor, Ben Laiweneek and Amy Oligeri of Walker Filtration (left to right).
Leak Detection, Nitrogen Generators, Instruments, Piping
The CS INSTRUMENTS booth displayed the company’s latest leak detector, the LeakCam 600. With only 64 ultrasonic microphones instead of the 128 typically used, it’s able to keep costs down, yet quality is comparable. The leak detector includes a high-resolution 13 megapixel camera, laser measuring and advanced leak reporting with a smartphone-like interface. “We’re able to take up to two pictures per leak, which is a new feature,” said Martin Zeller, Managing Director. “Sometimes in a leak audit, you need to take a picture from far away, but that doesn’t give the auditor enough information. Now, you can take a second picture for the same leak and attach it.”
RJ Bennett, Alia DeLong, Janet Goodwin, Enrico Capetanis and Martin Zeller (left to right) of CS Instruments.
Prevost’s Demo Truck was the centerpiece of its booth. “We offer technical products, so we need our customers to see, touch and test our products,” said Nicolas Maupillé, Sales Director. The Demo Truck allows people to see all of the company’s products and assemble and test a small piping system. Prevost also previewed a new product launching in 2026: AMS, an air monitoring system. This smart valve is able to measure temperature, dew point, humidity, pressure and fluoride.
Austin Hensley, Carlo Gatti, Chucody McNiven, Chris Rapp and Nicolas Maupillé (left to right) of Prevost with the Prevost Demo Truck.
“We’ve had a good time at the show. We’ve had good quality leads and good conversations with customers, said Jon Jensen, National Product Sales Manager, SMC. Many of those conversations were about monitoring equipment that lets compressed air system operators monitor KPIs, including dew point, temperature, pressure and flow. The company promoted scalable wireless systems, letting plants add monitoring without huge costs. Wireless systems also let plants stream information from areas that were previously cost-prohibitive to reach. Better monitoring leads to increases in productivity and quality, as well as decreases in scrapped product.
Parker Beck, Chris Adams, Nathan Eisel, Leslie Noel and Jon Jensen (left to right) of SMC.
SUTO iTEC exhibited its S600 portable compressed air purity analyzer, an all-in-one device that measures particle concentration, dew point, oil vapor, temperature and pressure. “We’ve been acquired by Atlas Copco, but, for our customers here in the U.S., nothing will change. The team will remain the same, but we’ll have a bit more horsepower and speed to the market with our ideas,” said Jan Hoetzel, Managing Director. Hoetzel shared there are new products on the horizon for 2026, including mobile dew point sensors and flooring sensors.
Matt Roden, Jan Hoetzel and Marius Hoetzel (left to right) of SUTO iTEC.
Unipipe Solutions demonstrated the large size of its piping material, with eight-inch aluminum pipe on display. “With Unipipe, there’s no crimping, no grooving, no special tools and no extra hardware,” said Michael Heine, Director of Marketing. “Our piping is all plug-and-play. Plus, it’s reusable, so you can take it apart and reconfigure it.” The company also highlighted UnipipeHP, its aluminum piping system designed for pressures exceeding 232 psi up to 1,015 psi.
Holly Wysong, Joe Koenig, Derrick Taylor, Michael Heine and Rebeka Nekolová of Unipipe (left to right).
The Best Practices 2026 EXPO & Conference will take place October 13-15 in Indianapolis. Mark your calendar now, as it’s bound to be a must-attend event. The staff of Compressed Air Best Practices Magazine gives a heartfelt thank you to all participants and attendees who made this year’s show such a success.
To learn more about the Best Practices 2026 EXPO & Conference in Indianapolis, visit https://cabpexpo.com.
To read more Compressed Air System articles, visit https://www.airbestpractices.com/technology/air-compressors.
To read the second part of the report showcasing Blower & Vacuum Technology, visit https://www.blowervacuumbestpractices.com/technology/industrial-blowers/best-practices-2025-expo-conference-blower-vacuum-show-report.
To read the third part of the report showcasing Chiller & Cooling Technology, visit https://www.coolingbestpractices.com/technology/chillers/best-practices-2025-expo-conference-chiller-cooling-show-report.
