Kaeser Compressors
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Kaeser Compressors, Inc. manufactures
compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches, and o ...
and vacuum products, including rotary screw compressors, oil-less reciprocating compressors, rotary lobe blowers, rotary screw blowers, high-speed turbo blowers, refrigerated and desiccant dryers, filters, condensate management systems and other related products. The company provides service, rentals, and consulting services. Kaeser Compressors, Inc. is a US affiliate of Kaeser Kompressoren headquartered in
Coburg, Germany Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...
.


History

Carl Kaeser, Sr. founded the Kaeser organization as an engineering workshop that produced car and engine parts in 1919. Soon after, the factory was reconditioning engines, producing gears and building special purpose machines for the local glass industry. It wasn’t until the post-war need for compressed air in the rebuilding of Germany that the company began manufacturing and developing air compressors. The company grew rapidly after turning out its first
reciprocating compressor A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. Pressures of up to 5,000 PSIG are commonly produced by multistage reciprocating ...
in 1948, and by 1960 had outgrown its facility of 38 years and moved to a new location in Coburg, Germany. Under the leadership of Carl Kaeser, Jr., Kaeser engineers developed a rotary
screw compressor A rotary-screw compressor is a type of gas compressor, such as an air compressor, that uses a rotary-type positive-displacement mechanism. These compressors are common in industrial applications and replace more traditional piston compressors w ...
that featured the "Sigma Profile" air-end in the early 1970s. The first compressor to incorporate the Sigma Profile was delivered in 1975. Now represented in every major
industrialized country A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
in the world, Kaeser established its first subsidiary in Switzerland by the late 1970s. The US subsidiary is the largest. Reiner Mueller started the US subsidiary in
Fredericksburg, VA Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg with ...
in 1982. Fredericksburg is near to several transport centers, and remains home to the US headquarters. The site includes a facility. Reiner Mueller retired in December 2008, and his son Frank assumed leadership in January 2009. Carl Kaeser, Jr., who started with Kaeser Kompressoren in 1937, worked until the day he died in 2009. Thomas Kaeser assumed leadership of Kaeser Kompressoren after his father, Carl, died at the age of 95. Kaeser’s manufacturing facilities in Europe consist of a group headquarters in Coburg, Germany that produces rotary screw, reciprocating, and portable compressors, and a plant in Gera, Germany that produces refrigeration dryers and rotary blowers. Also, the company has a
sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
plant near Coburg in Sonnefeld.


Sigma Profile rotors

When developing the Sigma Profile in the nineteen seventies, the Kaeser engineering team was faced with overcoming the disadvantages that previous screw designs presented to the market. Those previous designs included an energy-consuming symmetrical profile, and an asymmetric design introduced in 1962 that was an improvement over the symmetrical design but still consumed more energy than a reciprocating compressor. Kaeser engineers introduced the Sigma Profile with a five-to-six lobe asymmetrical design. The design required closer tolerances between the rotors and the housing, resulting in fewer air back-flow losses. Kaeser’s
design philosophy A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
remains to develop larger, slower running air-ends. Air-ends turning at slower speeds deliver more compressed air for the same drive power (up to 20% more efficient than conventional screw designs). Oil flooding at the point of compression provides cleaning, lubrication and cooling, which contributes to air-end efficiency. Sigma Profile air-ends are now found in a range of compressors from . Kaeser continues to refine and improve the air-end design up to 1000 hp.


Production

Kaeser's screw compressor rotors and air-end castings are created in climate-controlled environments. Precision milling machines mill the screw compressor rotors to fine tolerances, and CNC machining centers with pallet changing systems allow for 24-hour automatic machining of the air-end castings. A 3D
coordinate-measuring machine A coordinate measuring machine (CMM) is a device that measures the geometry of physical objects by sensing discrete points on the surface of the object with a probe. Various types of probes are used in CMMs, the most common being mechanical and l ...
automatically checks the critical dimensions of the air-end casing. CNC profile grinders finish the rotors to micrometre tolerances following solution hardening of the milled rotors within controlled atmosphere heat treating ovens.


Certifications, association memberships, and partnerships

*
ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 90 ...
Quality System Certification (US obtained certification in 1997) *
ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b ...
Environmental Standard Environmental standards are administrative regulations or civil law rules implemented for the treatment and maintenance of the environment. Environmental standards are typically set by government and can include prohibition of specific activities, ...
(US obtained certification in 1998) * Allied Partner with the US
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
(2001) * ENERGY STAR Partner (US Partnered in 2009) *Association of Equipment Manufacturers *American Rental Association *Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers *Compressed Air and Gas Institute *Food Processing Suppliers Association *Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute *Plastics Industry Association *Specialty Equipment Market Association *Water Environment Federation *Woodworking Machinery Industry Association


References

{{No footnotes, date=October 2009 #Kaeser Kompressoren (1999). “Kaeser Kompressoren: 80 Years of Tradition and Progress.” Kaeser literature #Freehling, Bill (2008, November 2). “Change comes to Kaeser.” Retrieved November 3, 2008 from https://archive.today/20130123234001/http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/112008/11022008/422108 #Kaeser Kompressoren (1992). “Kaeser Compressors.” Kaeser literature #US Department of Energy Office of
Energy Efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
and
Renewable Energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
(2002, April). “Kaeser Compressors” Partnering for Success, 22. #Pollok, Murray (2009, August 4). “Compressor pioneer Carl Kaeser passes away.” Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item41979/Compressor-pioneer%20-Carl-%20%20Kaeser-%20passes-away/
Kaeser breaks ground on new building expansion (2014)


External links


Company website
Compressed air power Industrial equipment