PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2015

COMPRESSION 33 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 09/15 www.petpla.net 45 years of Compression by Ruari McCallion Gardner Denver, the global vacuum pump and compres- sor manufacturer, is celebrating 45 years of production at its site in Redditch, which is just south of Birmingham, in the English Midlands – the historical heart of the UK’s manufacturing industry. The company’s week-long series of celebratory events included the launch of a new machine: the WH35 high-pressure reciprocating compressor. Ruari McCallion took a tour of the factory and spoke with Trevor Perry, Product Director for High Pressure Solutions at Gard- ner Denver, about the market, products and the impact of Lean manufacturing. Gardner Denver proudly describes itself as “the only company in the UK to offer both vacuum and pressure solutions”. It is now part of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), is headquartered in the USA and has 36 manufacturing facili- ties across the world. Its portfolio of brands includes Hydrovane, Com- pAir, Elmo Rietschle, Reavell, and Belliss & Morcom founded in 1852. The plant at Redditch, England, has been manufacturing for 45 years and now makes Hydrovane, Belliss & Morcom and Reavell products. It saw a major investment in 2010, with the opening of a brand new, purpose- built facility for oil free compressors. Just over 300 people now work from the site, which also hosts a training school that caters for the needs of the company’s own employees, as well as distributors and customers, globally. “We make up to 2000 training places available each year and regu- larly train around 1200 people annu- ally,” said Colin Mander, Regional Director for North Europe and the Middle East. Training and devel- opment is an important part of the company’s strategy for the future. “We currently have nine apprentices and five graduate recruits at this site and we have plans to increase the number of trainees in the future.” The company held a week-long series of events to celebrate 45 years of manufacturing at the Red- ditch site. It took the opportunity to launch an addition to its range of high-pressure reciprocating com- pressors, which are widely used in PET bottling plants. The new WH35 model sits between the existing WH29 and WH40 models in the Bel- liss & Morcom range. “We identified a gap in the market between our WH29 model, which has an output of 1800m 3 /hr and the WH40, with its output of 2300m 3 /hr, both at 40 barG,” said Trevor Perry, Product Director for High Pressure Solutions at Gardner Denver. The gap was identified at around 2100m 3 / hr – the WH35’s output is stated to be 2120m 3 /hr at 40barG – and the company used the design process to respond to market demands for higher output, less power consumption and lower cost of ownership. “We talk directly to and visit our distributors and bottlers of water, still beverages and CSD – our ultimate customers, who use these machines in the process of blow-moulding PET bottles,” Mr Perry said. “We devel- oped the WH35 as a result of hearing what they have to say”. Gardner Denver supplies all the major beverage manufacturers across the world and noted that demand for a machine that would sit in the 2100m 3 / hr segment was particularly strong from bottlers in the Turkish, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. The WH35, which delivers oil-free air to ISO 8573-1 Class 0 standard, is claimed to be one of the most efficient PET com- pressors, in terms of power consump- tion, currently available. “This has been achieved with the use of the latest extended life materi- als along with key components such as variable speed drives and a high- efficiency, water-cooled, shaftless motor, resulting in up to 20% savings on energy costs”, Mr Perry explained. “When we set about designing the new machine it was important to retain many of the key features and benefits of the successful oil-free systems developed under the Belliss & Morcom brand. Utilising the latest finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), key features such as component inter- changeability, low interstage pressure drops and low stress levels have all been added”. A particular feature highlighted during the presentation was the fact that the WH35 does not require special foundations. It is described as ‘dynamically balanced’, features cylinders inclined at an angle and is equipped with inbuilt anti-vibration Trevor Perry with WH series high-pres- sure reciprocating compressor crank- cases