Emerson Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Copeland Compressors

St. Louis, Missouri (U.S.)-based Emerson is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Copeland brand of compressors with new innovations planned over the next 12 months, the company announced.

The Copeland line, part of Emerson’s Commercial & Residential Solutions business, includes a variety of compressors designed for CO₂ (R744) and propane (R290) applications. 

Last year, reflecting its continued focus on developing Copeland products, Emerson completed a US$100 million expansion of its Copeland engineering facility in Sidney, Ohio. adding 110,000ft² (10,220m²) of development labs.

Much of the work in the Sidney labs focuses on compressor technologies that enable more environmentally responsible refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) – such as CO₂ – “to meet and exceed efficiency standards and regulations,” Emerson said in a statement.

Last month, Emerson launched Copeland Commercial Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) designed for use in a wide variety of commercial and industrial refrigeration applications, including with Emerson’s natural refrigerant compressors.

“The Copeland brand has a proud legacy and even brighter future,” said Jamie Froedge, executive president of Emerson’s Commercial & Residential Solutions business. “Through our Copeland brand and our inventive approach, Emerson is using our stewardship position and deep history in this space to drive innovation for a more sustainable world.”


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History of Copeland

The Copeland brand traces its history to inventor Edmund Copeland, who founded a refrigeration manufacturing company in Detroit, Michigan (U.S.), in 1921. In 1937, the company’s assets were sold and its operations were relocated to Sidney, Ohio, where four of the company’s engineers purchased the business and its compressor patent.

Emerson acquired Copeland in 1986 and made significant investments in the development of a new scroll compressor product that the Copeland company had been working on. The following year, Emerson introduced the first scroll compressor sold under the Copeland brand, and its success led to the introduction of a family of Copeland scroll compressors for applications ranging from residential and light commercial air conditioning to refrigeration systems for the food and healthcare industries and marine containers.    

In addition to Copeland scroll compressors, Emerson designs, manufactures and markets a full range of Copeland semi-hermetic and hermetic reciprocating compressors, as well as condensing units, for commercial refrigeration applications.