According to Frost & Sullivan, each year it presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in technology leadership within its industry. The award recognizes the recipient's excellence in all stages of the technology life cycle - incubation, adaptation, take-up, and maturity - to ensure a continuous flow of improvements.

"AERCO was the first company in the North American boilers market to develop and manufacture fully modulating and condensing high-efficiency boilers that enable remarkable energy savings for users," stated Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Jorge Moreno. "The company has since preserved its reputation as the leader in developing and exploring high-efficiency boiler technology."

In designing its high-efficiency boilers, AERCO was determined to develop a way for customers to quickly and accurately change the firing input levels, says Frost & Sullivan. For this, the company realized that it had to produce its own boiler components and take the lead in research and development.

The first effort - the KC-1000 model - was launched in 1987 and was designed to condense and fully modulate at a 14 to 1 turn down rate. In contrast, the traditional on and off boiler types are set up to burn at maximum capacity when the boiler is turned on.

"With a market need to adjust the boilers' firing rates to different load levels, AERCO's high-efficiency boiler technology was nothing short of a breakthrough," noted Moreno. "It allowed end-users to adjust the firing levels across a 14 to 1 turn down rate, enabling much greater fuel burning efficiency of up to 95 percent."

In 1998, AERCO introduced the Benchmark model, which was able to satisfy the need for large applications using high-efficiency technology. Not only did the company successfully increase the capacity of its existing high-efficiency boiler, but it also improved the firing rate to an impressive 20 to 1 turn down rate, says Frost & Sullivan.

Part of AERCO's success in developing high-efficiency technology is attributable to its patented air fuel valve that was designed to enable its boilers to have highly stable combustion levels over the entire operating range.

Publication date: 02/07/2005