150 years AERZEN, part 1, 1864-1930 A pioneer emerges from its traditional roots In 2014, AERZEN looks back on 150 years of company history, characterised by an ability to meet demand for high quality products and coming up with innovative product ideas. We present here, to mark our anniversary, some of the product highlights of our family-owned company. Björn Irtel, Managing Director AERZEN The development, and further refinement, of blowers primarily took place at Aerzener Maschinenfabrik. This product “has been alive” since 1868 and still finds new fields of application today. At the beginning of the 1930s AERZEN concentrated on the production of positive displacement blowers.Harrows, tedders, drinking fountains and grave crosses. In 1864, when AERZEN was founded in the town ofthe same name, its scope of products was relatively unspectacular. Today, 150 years later, AERZEN is among the leading manufacturers of machines for the conveyance and compression of gases in the world. Despite great challenges, for example ram- pant inflation in the 1920s, the world economic crisis and the threatened shutdown in the post-war period, AERZEN was always one step ahead of the competition insofar as developing innovative products was concerned, and always maintained a targeted focus on the needs of its customers. AERZEN rotary piston machines conquer the world Four years after the foundation of the company, the first rotary piston machines were manufactured in the own iron foundry as per procedures developed by Francis Marion Roots. These machines worked with only two gear wheels, which increased their efficiency considerably. First of all, AERZEN manufactured blowers with wooden rotary pistons and a plaster cast for the required external sealing. Soon, AERZEN supplied blowers as well as individual items, including accessories for self-manufactured units. Starting in the 1880s, AERZEN manufactured patented rotary pistons made of iron, which extended considerably the application fields of the blowers. The rotary pistons could be used in almost all branches of industry. By the beginning of the 20th century, AERZEN was already one of the most efficient blower manufacturers in the world. Die Drehkolbenmaschinen waren in nahezu allen industriellen Branchen einsetzbar und so galt AERZEN zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts in Technikkreisen als einer der weltweit leistungsfähigsten Gebläsehersteller.Die Bereitschaft und Fähigkeit von AERZEN, jederzeit auf besondere Kunden- wünsche einzugehen, zeigt der Einstieg in die Produktion von Turbogebläsen für Eisengießereien, Bergwerke und chemische Industriebetriebe 1911. In enger Abstimmung mit Kunden wurden damals die Her- stellungsverfahren erprobt und kontinuierlich verbessert. Turbo blowers manufactured according to customer specifications AERZEN’s willingness and ability to provide individual customer solutions at any time was shown by its move into the production of turbo blowers for iron foundries, mines and the chemical industry in 1911. In close co-operation with customers, production processes were tested and continuously improved. Soon, turbo blowers could be made with a drilled-out housing and horizontally divided side plates in vertical and horizontal designs. Their point of differentiation was that the housing and the bearings were kept separate. The milled gear wheels ran in an enclosed gear case, and an overpressure of up to 6,000 mm water column could be attained. Inspectors from the University of Technology in Berlin certified the biggest turbo blower manufactured in 1911, with type reference N1, as demonstrating “considerable increase of reliability of service and convenience in operation”. In this respect, the reduced construction weight, improvements in the control range to enable quick responses to strong fluctuations in air- flows, as well as to adapt flexibly to various performance levels by means of the housing types, all played a key role. Rotary piston gas meters - a step towards specialisation Then, as a result of the stock market crash in New York in 1929, followed by the world economic crisis, the company-owned foundry had to be closed and numerous products were discontinued. At the same time, AERZEN started the production of rotary piston gas meters, wherein the company reverted to the proven Roots-principle - a decisive step on the path towards a special factory for positive displacement machines. One of the advantages of the new product was its ease of maintenance. Furthermore, the rotary piston gas meters worked without water, so they could operate regardless of the outside temperature and could thus be used outdoors. The rotary piston gas meters made by AERZEN were able to measure larger gas quantities, independent from pressure, specific weight, temperature and other conditions of the gas, and thus replaced the expensive and large wet gas meters. Among the early customers were Ruhrgas AG and Friedrich Krupp AG. Starting in 1932 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik supplied gas meters for medium pressures up to 1 at (gauge) and for high pressures up to 6 at (gauge). The success of rotary piston gas meters continues right up to the present day. In the field of industrial gas measurement, AERZEN continues to enjoy a large market share in Europe.
New service station for Aerzen Polska The Aerzen subsidiary in Poland, Aerzen Polska, officially inaugurated its new service station at the end of last year. After extensive renovation of its spacious, newly acquired building in Katowice, all Aerzen blowers situated in Poland can now be maintained and repaired there. Three new crane systems with a load capacity of up to 10,000 kilograms provide a better and more extensive scope of service. The service team, under the leadership of Przemyslaw Tomczak, has grown to 29 employees. At the official opening ceremony, Aerzen Polska welcomed about 160 customers and guests, besides the Aerzen management and employees of the headquarters. Aerzen Polska is already planning for further growth: The rental machinery business will be developed. Therefore, an agency of AIR will move in within a short time.
New size Delta Hybrid D 152 The new and successful rotary lobe compressor range Delta Hybrid made by AERZEN has now been extended with the addition of a unit of a new size. Customers can select from an extensive range the optimal unit for their application. Delta Hybrid is a synergy of blower and compressor technology, and offers completely new possibili- ties in overpressure and negative pressure gen- eration of air and neutral gases by combining the technical advantages of both concepts.With 16 sizes in all, the Delta Hybrid units now cover intake volume flows of 110 m3/h to 9,000 m3/h and overpressures up to 1,500 mbar. The new sizes D 152 S and D 152 H are used in the upper volume flow range of from 2,400 to 9,000 m3/h with driving powers of up to 400 kW.
Automatic re-lubrication devices AERZEN has for many years been offering service contracts in various categories. These contracts are handled up to twice a year by an Aerzen service technician. Packaged units with high annual operating times may require more service calls for the relubrication interval of the electric motors.AERZEN has included automatic re-lubrication devices in the After Sales Service Programme, in order to offer a solution to the users. These systems are driven by electric motors; the dispensers are provided with the necessary power supply by an integrated removable battery which guarantees an operational period of at least 12 months. Cartridges for the dispensers are available in 3 different sizes and various types of lubrication. The devices can be applied at temperatures from 10 °C to +60 °C. Thanks to corresponding programming, the dispensed quantity can be very accurately dosed and adjusted to the requirements of the electric motor. Therefore, an efficient and safe lubrication without downtime is guaranteed. In this way it can be ensured that the system is permanently available.Retro-fitting of new AERZEN machine lubrication devices is also possible for existing standard motors.
AERZEN goes App Of late, AERZEN has been offering company- designed applications in the famous App stores. These include a unit converter specially for compressors applications, converting important parameters like pressures, temperatures, volume flows and performance data simply and quickly into diverse units. In addition, there are Apps available for the latest products, including Delta Hybrid, Delta Screw and AERZEN Turbo. All Apps are designed for Android as well as for Apple Systems. And best of all: AERZEN Apps are free of charge.
Personnel changes at Aerzen Turbo Mr. Chungsup Um started work as Managing Director of Aerzen Turbo on 2nd December 2013, succeeding Rob Lammers. Prior to taking up this role the 44 year-old had worked as a consultant for various other internationalcompanies. Early in 2014, Lammers returned to Europe to become Director Turbo Business for Aerzen International Sales GmbH. After working for three years in Korea for Aerzen Turbo, which he set up with a number of other colleagues, Lammers is now responsible for sales development, organisation of the Turbo business and improving of the Turbo production network.
New regional manager for America At the beginning of 2014 Friedrich Harten was appointed regional manager within Aerzen International Sales, and he is thus responsible for the control and operational leadership of the sales and servicenetwork of the AERZEN group in America. The graduate engineer in mechanical engineering has many years of experience in the capital goods industry. He has worked in various positions with international orientation, in both big concerns as well as in small and medium-sized enterprises. In his most recent role he worked for a German-American pump manufacturer focussing on the oil and gas industry.
