Cryogenic turboexpanders

American cryogenic turboexpander manufacturer (Santa Maria CA; Atlas Copco Gas and Process subsidiary); world's leading producer of turboexpanders for cryogenic gas processing applications including helium liquefaction, natural gas liquefaction, and air separation. Atlas Copco (Stockholm, Sweden; NYSE: ATCO) is a Swedish engineering conglomerate (founded 1873; world's leading air compressor and vacuum technology company) that acquired Mafi-Trench in 1997. Mafi-Trench's cryogenic turboexpanders convert the energy of expanding high-pressure gas into refrigeration — the thermodynamic trick that allows helium to reach liquefaction temperature (-269°C). Mafi-Trench turboexpanders operate at speeds up to 100,000 RPM on gas bearings (no contact, no lubrication required at cryogenic temperatures where oil would freeze). The same Atlas Copco that makes the air compressor at your neighborhood mechanic also makes the 100,000 RPM turbine at the heart of helium liquefaction plants serving hospital MRI machines.

French cryogenic turbomachinery company (Hésingue, Haut-Rhin, Alsace; acquired by Chart Industries in 2023 through Chart's Howden acquisition); manufactures cryogenic turbines (turboexpanders), pumps, and compressors for helium, LNG, and air separation applications. Cryostar's turboexpanders are installed in helium liquefaction plants globally. The acquisition by Chart Industries (US; Ball Ground GA) created a company with unusual vertical integration in helium plant equipment: Chart now makes the BAHX cold boxes (via Clarksburg WV plant), the cryogenic storage dewars (Houston), and the turboexpanders (via Cryostar Alsace) — three critical components of helium liquefaction plant equipment under one US publicly-listed company. Alsace (where Cryostar is located) is the historical border region between France and Germany that changed nationality four times between 1870 and 1945 (French → German Empire 1871 → French 1919 → Nazi Germany 1940 → French 1945); Cryostar's Hésingue factory makes cryogenic turbines at the same Franco-German border that has been the site of some of modern history's most consequential political disputes.

American oilfield services and industrial equipment company (Nasdaq: BKR, HQ Houston TX; ~$23B revenue); Turbomachinery & Process Solutions (TPS) division formerly operated as GE Oil & Gas (General Electric's oilfield equipment arm) — Baker Hughes acquired GE Oil & Gas in 2017 to form Baker Hughes GE (BHGE), later renamed Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes TPS produces turboexpanders and centrifugal compressors for LNG liquefaction, gas processing, and cryogenic helium applications under the Nuovo Pignone brand (Italian precision engineering heritage dating to 1842 in Florence). Baker Hughes/Nuovo Pignone turboexpanders compete with Atlas Copco Mafi-Trench and Cryostar for the limited number of large-scale helium liquefaction plant contracts. The same Baker Hughes that services oil and gas wells for ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco also makes the precision turbomachinery inside helium plants that supply hospital MRI systems.