Turblex (Howden/Chart Industries)

Turblex, now a brand within Howden (a Chart Industries company since 2023), manufactures single-stage integrally geared centrifugal turbo compressors primarily for wastewater aeration and industrial gas handling. Guy Mace founded the company in Springfield, Missouri in 1989 as the North American partner of Denmark-based HV-TURBO, later passing through Siemens ownership before joining Howden. The KA Series turbo compressor line spans eight models — KA2, KA5, KA10, KA22, KA44, KA66, KA80, and KA100 — covering actual flow rates from 1,000 to 125,000 cubic meters per hour with differential pressures reaching 2.25 bar single-stage or 4 bar in two-stage configuration and power ratings from 10 kW to 2,000 kW. The proprietary DUAL POINT CONTROL system combines Inlet Guide Vanes with Variable Diffuser Vanes to sustain high efficiency across the full turndown range down to 45 percent capacity, delivering claimed power savings exceeding 30 percent compared to alternative compressor designs. Impellers are machined from solid forged high-grade aluminum alloy with backward-leaning blades optimized through computational fluid dynamics. Three gearbox configurations serve different application scales: GL and GB helical-cut types with hydrodynamic multi-pad bearings rated for 100,000 operational hours, GK ball-bearing types for smaller plants, and GC planetary two-stage units for combustion engine drives. Over 9,000 Turblex and HV-TURBO compressors operate globally. Testing follows ISO 5389-2, ASME PTC 10-1997, and API 672 standards. Applications extend from municipal and industrial wastewater aeration to flue gas desulfurization, fermentation, pulp and paper processing, and sulfur recovery.