Today Andover Protection Systems, LLC, a rapidly expanding family-owned business, announces that it has expanded its line and now manufactures more than 1100 models of refrigeration and air-conditioning compressors for use in the presence of flammable and explosive gases and dusts.
Thirty-five years ago, the owner, Ed Roston, began the business and has been marketing and manufacturing industrial refrigeration products ever since. More than 25 years ago, he found a growing need for refrigerant compressors that worked efficiently, quietly, with little vibration, and without leaking, and especially that had specific approval for use in hazardous locations by a nationally-recognized testing laboratory (NRTL). Since 1998, Andover Protection Systems, LLC has been the only manufacturer in the world of such compressors.
When APS started making the UL-recognized compressors, the most common approach used by manufacturers was open compressors connected to special motors approved for use in hazardous areas. Like many air compressors, the compressor was connected to the motor by a belt. As a result, they took up much space inside the cabinets, were noisy, vibrated continuously, weighed more than ordinary compressors, and also took up much space, and perhaps most annoying of all, most leaked refrigerant gas. In addition, they required special belts that did not build up static electricity and risk causing a spark that could start a fire, and those belts stretched requiring periodic adjusting and then ultimately wore out.
APS’ hermetically-sealed compressors are based on the most modern, energy-efficient, quiet, and compact scroll and reciprocating technologies in the industry. As a result, converting an ordinary chiller or other hazardous-duty cooling unit to make it safe for hazardous areas requires little if any, adaptation to the manufacturer’s ordinary design. The compressors do not weigh much more than ordinary ones, make no more noise, are just as energy-efficient, and require no additional skills to install. They also generally avoid the need to redesign any of the other refrigerant components in the system such as the evaporator, condenser, and controls (although if the controls are electrical, they may need relocating or replacement).
APS offers models for a wide range of applications.
Different compressors can run on virtually any electrical configuration, use almost any common or new refrigerant gas, and almost any hazardous environment — dust, gas, or flyings, division/zone 1 or 2. Capacities range from small fractional units for drinking-water coolers and refrigerators to large, tandem systems for large applications.
Additionally, using a UL-recognized APS compressor enables an original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) to obtain the listing of its product by UL or another NRTL relatively easy, quick, and inexpensive.