MEECO
Since 1948, MEECO has produced durable, high-quality gas analyzers for industry. Chief among our customers are semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as natural and industrial gas producers and their distributors, utilities, and chemical and petrochemical companies. Headquartered in Warrington, PA, MEECO was founded by Dr. Gustav Bergson, a Harvard trained physicist. He produced equipment to measure such disparate elements as color, radio frequencies, the micro vapor pressure of jet fuels and oxygen in gases. By the 1950's, an arrangement with E.I. DuPont DeNemours enabled MEECO to pioneer instruments that measure trace moisture in solids, natural gas, and industrial specialty gases. As such, the electrolytic method is presently MEECO's core technology.
At first, moisture analyzers were mainly used to measure H2O in fluorocarbons. They came into wider use when experts in the natural gas industry found that monitoring moisture in gas pipelines helped avert corrosion, compressor breakdowns, and freeze-ups caused by large pressure drops. In response to the need for on-site pipeline testing, MEECO created a portable moisture analyzer for field technicians. Tennessee Gas bought the first of these units in 1959. Since then, MEECO has sold over 10,000 portable units to the "Southwest Oil Patch". In addition, natural gas utilities depend on continuous, accurate moisture readings because gas prices are based on BTU ratios, which are in turn affected by moisture levels.
The market for moisture analysis technology expanded further as utilities, industrial gas manufacturers, and other industries began using the instruments. In one instance, electric utilities, like the Philadelphia Electric Company, must eliminate moisture in their instrument air systems to avoid corrosion. In another, Union Carbide, Liquid Air and other industrial gas manufacturers monitor moisture content to meet industry specifications for pure, dry gas. Likewise, semiconductor manufacturers, like Intel, must control moisture down to the low parts-per-billion (ppb), in the high-purity gases used to assure IC quality.