Heritage Hamon Research-Cottrell
Hamon Research-Cottrell: The U.S. company and the European organization are not the same thing
If you operate a Hamon Research-Cottrell electrostatic precipitator or a Hamon Environmental flue gas treatment system, the ownership changes in 2022 have raised a pressing question: Who now owns the engineering rights to your facility? The answer lies in a distinction that is easy to overlook. Hamon had organized its flue gas treatment business into two separate entities, each of which has since gone its own way.
Two organizations, as documented by Hamon
The Hamon annual reports divided the company's operations into two business units:
Air Pollution Control & Heat Recovery — NAFTA
The North American organization (United States, Canada, Mexico), through Hamon Research-Cottrell, Inc., specializes in electric power generation, utilities, coal, steel, and refining.
Signature technologies: Hi-R electrostatic precipitators, MIGI impact filters, Low Pressure High Volume (LPHV) bag filters, and a large fleet of U.S. utility vehicles.
Air Pollution Control — EMEA / Brazil
The organization, headquartered in Europe and led by Hamon Research-Cottrell SA in Belgium, serves Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and the growing Asian market through a network of subsidiaries.
Documented centers of excellence: ESP and DeSOx in Belgium and Germany, bag filters in China, and an engineering center in India.
Where Everyone Went in 2022
The assets of the U.S. entity, Hamon Research-Cottrell, Inc., were acquired by Babcock & Wilcox as part of an asset sale under Chapter 11 in the United States. Babcock & Wilcox owns the assets of this North American business.
The European organization—Hamon Research-Cottrell SA (company number BE 0401.881.292, incorporated in 1929) and Hamon Environmental Europe—was not included in this acquisition. Its engineering expertise, project portfolios, and former engineers are now part of Studybel and Leroux & Lotz Technologies.
Addition, not substitution
The European organization was not a regional copy of the American one. It had fully mastered the American-developed Hamon Research-Cottrell technologies—Hi-R and MIGI electrostatic precipitators, electrodes, collector plates, high-voltage chassis, insulators, strikers, T/R sets, controllers, and gas distribution systems—and supplied, retrofitted, and rebuilt them worldwide outside of North America. Building on this foundation, it added its own European technologies:
- Compact Electrostatic Precipitators
- Mechanical hammering using rotating hammers / tumbling (shafts, anvils, gearmotors)
- Medium-pressure pulse-jet bag filters, in addition to the LPHV
- Comprehensive chemical treatment of flue gas (dry and semi-dry; lime and bicarbonate injection; activated carbon; HCl, HF, SOx, dioxins, heavy metals)
- DeNOx
- Turnkey multi-pollutant systems for waste-to-energy, incineration, and biomass
The European organization thus covered the broadest spectrum—American heritage + European technologies + a global network—while the North American organization was a strong but regional hub. Acquiring the American entity alone does not provide the Compact ESP and rotary hammer expertise, the waste-to-energy and biomass capabilities, or the markets outside North America.
What This Means for Your Facility
For Hamon Research-Cottrell or Hamon Environmental installations outside North America, the original engineering was provided by the European organization. Studybel:
- Inspects, repairs, and troubleshoots these systems
- Provides parts based on the original design, drawing on the direct experience of former engineers at Hamon Research-Cottrell SA and the available technical documentation
- Reverse-engineer obsolete or undocumented components
- Performs retrofits, modernizations, and rebuilds, including EPC through Boccard and combustion-to-stack integration through Leroux & Lotz Technologies
Studybel does not claim OEM status or any rights to the Hamon Research-Cottrell brand. Its stance is rooted in Europe’s engineering heritage and the men and women who carry it forward.
Hamon Research-Cottrell
Hamon Research-Cottrell: The U.S. company and the European organization are not the same thing
If you operate a Hamon Research-Cottrell electrostatic precipitator or a Hamon Environmental flue gas treatment system, the ownership changes in 2022 have raised a pressing question: Who now owns the engineering rights to your facility? The answer lies in a distinction that is easy to overlook. Hamon had organized its flue gas treatment business into two separate entities, each of which has since gone its own way.
Two organizations, as documented by Hamon.
The Hamon annual reports divided the company’s operations into two business units:
Air Pollution Control & Heat Recovery – NAFTA
The North American organization (United States, Canada, Mexico), through Hamon Research-Cottrell, Inc., specializes in electric power generation, utilities, coal, steel, and refining.
Signature technologies: Hi-R electrostatic precipitators, MIGI impact filters, Low Pressure High Volume (LPHV) bag filters, and a large fleet of U.S. utility vehicles.
Air Pollution Control – EMEA/Brazil
The organization, headquartered in Europe and led by Hamon Research-Cottrell SA in Belgium, serves Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and the growing Asian market through a network of subsidiaries.
Documented centers of excellence: ESP and DeSOx in Belgium and Germany, bag filters in China, and an engineering center in India.
Where everyone went in 2022:
The assets of the U.S. entity, Hamon Research-Cottrell, Inc., were acquired by Babcock & Wilcox as part of an asset sale under Chapter 11 in the United States. Babcock & Wilcox owns the assets of this North American business.
The European organization—Hamon Research-Cottrell SA and Hamon Environmental Europe—was not included in this acquisition. Its engineering expertise, project portfolios, and former engineers are now part of Studybel and Leroux & Lotz Technologies.
Addition, not substitution
The European organization was not a regional copy of the American one. It had fully mastered the American-developed Hamon Research-Cottrell technologies—Hi-R and MIGI electrostatic precipitators, electrodes, collector plates, high-voltage chassis, insulators, strikers, T/R sets, controllers, and gas distribution systems—and supplied, retrofitted, and rebuilt them worldwide outside of North America. Building on this foundation, it added its own European technologies:
- Compact Electrostatic Precipitators
- Mechanical hammering using rotating hammers / tumbling (shafts, anvils, gearmotors)
- Medium-pressure pulse-jet bag filters, in addition to the LPHV
- Comprehensive chemical treatment of flue gas (dry and semi-dry; lime and bicarbonate injection; activated carbon; HCl, HF, SOx, dioxins, heavy metals)
- DeNOx
- Turnkey multi-pollutant systems for waste-to-energy, incineration, and biomass
The European organization thus covered the broadest spectrum—American heritage + European technologies + a global network—while the North American organization was a strong but regional hub. Acquiring the American entity alone does not provide the Compact ESP and rotary hammer expertise, the waste-to-energy and biomass capabilities, or the markets outside North America.
What This Means for Your Facility
For Hamon Research-Cottrell or Hamon Environmental installations outside North America, the original engineering was provided by the European organization. Studybel:
- Inspects, repairs, and troubleshoots these systems
- Provides parts based on the original design, drawing on the direct experience of former engineers at Hamon Research-Cottrell SA and the available technical documentation
- Reverse-engineer obsolete or undocumented components
- Performs retrofits, modernizations, and rebuilds, including EPC through Boccard and combustion-to-stack integration through Leroux & Lotz Technologies
Studybel does not claim OEM status or any rights to the Hamon Research-Cottrell brand. Its stance is rooted in Europe’s engineering heritage and the men and women who carry it forward.