Compressor Manufacturing: From Linde to ABB Robots

Compressor manufacturing sits behind almost every refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner and heat pump. The compressor squeezes the refrigerant so the cooling cycle can run, and it is built from closely fitted parts and sealed for life. This post follows the job from the first ammonia machines to scroll compressors, looks at the Hitachi scroll compressor debut at Chillventa 2026, and describes the one ABB cell for refrigerator compressors we could verify. It also asks where newer ABB robots such as the IRB 1700 could fit.

A small hermetic compressor from a Necchi Americold refrigerator, the sealed unit that cools most homes. Photo: ErRizzo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

From ammonia machines to sealed compressors

Jacob Perkins built the first working vapor-compression refrigeration system in 1834, a closed cycle that could run continuously. In 1876 Carl von Linde patented an improved gas-liquefaction method that gave the first reliable compressed-ammonia refrigerator. Skilled workers built and fitted these large machines one at a time, on site, with little standardization between plants. Home use started slowly. In 1913 Frederick W. Wolf Jr. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, produced early electric home refrigerators that sat on top of an icebox, and designs that became Kelvinator and Frigidaire came soon after.

Large refrigeration compressors in the NASA Altitude Wind Tunnel plant in 1944. Photo: NASA Glenn Research Center via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Putting the compressor inside the appliance made the home refrigerator common. Alfred Mellowes built a self-contained refrigerator in 1916 with the compressor at the bottom of the cabinet. William Durant bought him out and founded Frigidaire in 1918. By 1923 Frigidaire had a self-contained unit, and Kelvinator held 80% of the electric refrigerator market. The General Electric Monitor-Top of 1927 put its compressor on the roof of the cabinet, and more than a million were made. Modern refrigerators use a sealed unit, with the motor and compressor in one welded container.

A belt driven refrigeration compressor with its flywheel at the Tide and Time Museum. Photo: Ashley Dace / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The scroll compressor took far longer to arrive than its idea. Léon Creux patented it in France and the United States in 1905 as a rotary steam engine, but the metal casting of the day could not hold the tight tolerances. Better machine tools after the Second World War made it practical. Sanden began producing the first commercial scroll compressors in 1981, for car air conditioners, and in 1983 Hitachi launched what is described as the first room air conditioner with a hermetic scroll compressor. Two spirals trap pockets of gas, so the design depends on precise machining.

A small scroll compressor unit on a workshop floor, with its electric motor beside it. Photo: Kludge2 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Scroll lines, Chillventa and the cobot that fits terminals

Heat pumps are pulling compressor makers forward. At Chillventa in Nuremberg, held 13 to 15 October 2026, Hitachi Scroll Compressor made its first independent appearance. According to Refindustry's report, it showed R290 and R454C inverter compressors aimed at heat pumps, plus units for transport and battery storage cooling. The show drew more than 36,000 visitors and 1,170 exhibitors. The report describes a clear industry shift toward natural refrigerants and high efficiency compressors, which means more variants on each line and more parts to assemble.

Compressors on display at the Kulthorn stand at the China Refrigeration exhibition in 2013. Photo: Lobachev Vladimir / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Robots already work in this field. In January 2021 the Italian magazine PubliTec described a robotic cell for refrigerator compressors built by BDG, BAI and ABB's Italian subsidiary. ABB supplied a single-arm YuMi cobot that fits a terminal block and a plastic connector with cable onto the compressor. Its built-in vision checks the insertion point by finding the three pins on the compressor, and a load cell checks the insertion force. The cobot also reads the terminal block code so the right part goes on the right compressor, and the same cell can fix a screw or use a clip, depending on the batch.

A single arm YuMi cobot at work on GE Healthcare's prototype assembly line, the kind of arm used in the compressor terminal cell. Photo: ABB

That cell shows a pattern other ABB models could follow. The IRB 1700 and IRB 1700ID, announced on 13 October 2026, carry 6 to 12 kg. ABB lists arc welding, material handling and machine tending among their tasks and claims up to 20% shorter cycle times than comparable robots, so they could plausibly handle shell welding or part loading. No ABB source we found places them in a compressor plant, so that remains a possibility. Our post on heat pump manufacturing covers the pipework and brazing next to the compressor.

An ABB arc welding robot with a positioner that turns heavy parts. Photo: Ana 2016 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What compressor lines will need next

Cleaner refrigerants will change the lines. R290 is propane, which burns, so makers will likely need tighter leak tests and careful handling around the compressor and charging stations. That favors cells where a robot loads parts into a sealed test chamber and takes them out, so no person stands near the gas. Inverter compressors add electronics and more connector steps, so the vision and traceability checks seen in the YuMi cell will spread. Cell builders can test the layout and reach in RobotStudio before steel is ordered.

A scroll compressor chiller with several compressors in its frame. Photo: Mori2000 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For homes, the effect is indirect. Heat pumps are replacing gas boilers, and each one contains a compressor that someone had to assemble to a tight tolerance. If robots keep quality steady and make extra variants cheap, makers can offer more models and ship them faster. Buyers will never see the robot, and no maker has promised them anything for it, but steady assembly quality is what keeps an outdoor unit running for years, and every connector pressed on correctly is one less warranty call.

The three terminal pins on a hermetic compressor, where connectors are fitted. Photo: Antonin Ryska / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The open problems are familiar. Scroll parts are machined to tight tolerances, so a robot cell can only be as good as the machining before it. Customers want many compressor versions in small batches, and cobots have to change over quickly without long reprogramming. Skills matter too. BDG noted that many compressor makers had moved production outside Europe, so the automation work often ends up at appliance factories. A fast cell that nobody on site can maintain will not last, so training for technicians has to be planned along with the hardware.

An ABB GoFa CRB 15000 connecting test equipment to a refrigerator. Photo: ABB

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