MEECO's Heritage

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.

Moisture Analyzers and Natural Gas

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.

MEECO Enters a New Era

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.

MEECO Markets Diversify and Grow Worldwide

In 1983, Lisa Bergson took over the business from her father. By then, moisture analyzers were the company's primary business. After instituting new quality and service procedures, she focused the company on product development, on-going technical innovation, global expansion, market diversification, and progressive management and manufacturing practices. By the late 1980's, her management team successfully diversified the company into a leading purveyor of moisture analyzers for the emerging semiconductor market worldwide.

MEECO Stands for Cutting Edge Innovation

MEECO's growth derives from constant innovation. In 1987, it launched the world's first ppb moisture analyzer for ultra-pure electronic gases used in the semiconductor industry. It came to dominate the market. Thereafter, in early 1991, MEECO rolled out several new, state-of-the-art analyzers. These comprised the TURBO™, for on-line, low ppb moisture monitoring; the L'EAU PRO™, the world's first commercially available, low ppb moisture generator; and the ACCUPOINT™, also a first. The ACCUPOINT, a transducer for industrial and natural gas, allows multi-point readings using an electrolytic sensor, a capability never before available.

By 1995, MEECO was ready with the TURBO 2™, capable of detecting down to one ppb and lower, and the WATERBOY™, an inexpensive easy-to-use, new portable for the natural and industrial gas industries. And, in 1997, another product outpouring occurred with the advent of the TRACER™, the first low-cost, modular ppb moisture analyzer; the NASTYBOY™, an innovative design for moisture in chlorine; the ACCUPOINT LP, a transmitter for measuring moisture at low pressures; and the UHP SPRITE™, a very simple, inexpensive go/no-go device for tracking moisture breakthroughs on the ultra-high-purity gas lines. Plus, MEECO became a distributor for a new line of oxygen analyzers, the O-BOY series.

By 1999, MEECO introduced the WATERBOY 2™, ACCUPOINT 2™ and ACCUPOINT LP 2™, updated versions of their microprocessor-driven predecessors. A fourth device, the ICEMAN™ , designed in collaboration with DuPont, measures moisture in Freon substitutes, a growing market. Further, MEECO launched a line of percent humidity devices, the AQUATEK™ series, for demanding industrial environments. At the end of 2001 MEECO introduced the AQUAVOLT™ and AQUAVOLT+™, updates of the AQUAMATIC. MEECO introduced the TRACER 2, an updatee of our flagship model, was introduced in 2005, it pairs 0.5 parts-per-billion (ppb) moisture detection with improved speed of response.

Today MEECO is proud to be a distributor of Tiger Optics's laser-based gas analyzer line.

More new units, as well as experimants delving into new technologies, are now in progress.

Tiger Optics: Detection at the Speed of Light

Founded in 2000, Tiger Optics, LLC (TO) is now an independent company., designs, develops, markets, and services laser-based analyzers worldwide. Its primary markets comprise medical, petrochemical, industrial gas, and semiconductor fabrication. It addresses their requirements for rapid, precise, and inexpensive diagnostic and analytical devices, as well as process controls. Tiger's core technology derives from its longstanding partnership with Princeton University, where it has supported seminal work in the development of Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) for commercial and public benefit. The upshot: Tiger's first laser-based moisture analyzer, the MTO-1000-H2O was introduced in 2001. Subsequent devices for a wide array of detections and matrices have been introduced, with more on the way. Please see the Tiger Optics, LLC. website for more information.

Award Winning Technology

Meeco's ICEMAN was awarded the R&D 100 award in 2000. Our innovative CRDS technology was recognized in 2002 by R&D again for the MTO-1000-H2O™. In 2005 Gases and Technology awarded the MTO-LP-H20™ with their "GASSY" Award for innovative technology.

Longevity, Loyalty and the Secret of MEECO's Success

Ms. Bergson explains MEECO's remarkable endurance by pointing to its adaptability and to the exceptional contributions of its staff. MEECO's employees work as a team in a free-wheeling, entrepreneurial environment that encourages the sharing of ideas and solutions. Ms. Bergson describes her experience with MEECO as "unusual, almost like starting a new company." At the same time, she stresses, "My father left a great foundation -- excellent products, many loyal customers, and virtually no debt." Now we face the challenge of leading MEECO into the future.