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.
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.