NUREMBURG, Germany — The familiar Copeland and Alco brand names are undergoing a bit of fine-tuning to more closely identify those businesses with their parent company, Emerson.

In a statement released to the worldwide press during the International Trade Fair for Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Ventilation (in German, Internationale Facfhmesse Kalte, Klima, Luftung, or IKK), St. Louis-based Emerson said, “In an effort to match the company structure with changing global market requirements, Emerson has created a more market-oriented organization using the Emerson brand as common denominator.

“With this new structure, Copeland becomes part of Emerson Climate Technologies.” Under a banner identified as “Emerson Climate Technologies-Copeland” were three product brands: Copeland Scroll, DWM Copeland, and Alco Controls, with DWM Copeland representing semi-hermetic compressor operations.

At the same time, officials at the Emerson booth on the IKK expo floor said it will be “business as usual” in terms of product availability. They said U.S. contractors will be able to continue to obtain familiar Alco and Copeland products through existing distribution channels. Technical support will also continue as in the past, they said.

In all, Emerson has restructured itself into eight business sectors employing about 120,000 people and operating some 350 factories.

Compressors, Controls

Emerson also used the occasion of IKK to provide updates on developments regarding compressors and controls.

In scroll technology for air conditioning, it was noted that Copeland currently has equipment in the 2- to 5-hp range for use with R-410A. Officials noted that after an initial interest in Europe in R-407C as the preferred alternative to R-22, the move to R-410A has already started in Europe with smaller equipment. “Many OEMs are now working with prototype systems incorporating the first generation of Copeland scrolls,” the company stated. “As Copeland develops larger 410A scroll models, it is expected that R-410A will become a strong contender in the heavy commercial market sector.”

Emerson also announced that the line of Copeland refrigeration scroll compressors has been extended with new models up to 15-hp. Four new compressors are available in 7.5, 10, 13, and 15 hp. It was added that the “new, larger ZBKC compressors feature an optimized scroll set that achieves higher energy efficiency across the medium- and high-temperature operating range.”

At the IKK show, Alco Controls introduced the EC3-67x, “a controller for capacity controlled compressor packs with network functions.” And Alco announced for the first time at IKK that it “offers a complete family of electronic expansion valves for capacity ranges from 5 to 800 kW.”

For more coverage of the IKK show, see pages 67-68.

Publication date: 01/27/2003