He became so interested in these gases that he devoted his time to liquefying them rather than manufacturing bags.
Buse set up carbonic acid plants in several locations across Germany and encountered water whilst drilling from the spring at his facility in Gerolstein.
But what he discovered wasn’t just ordinary water, it was top-quality mineral water.
At this historic moment, Gerolsteiner Flora-Brunnen was founded in 1883 and from then on, Buse extracted not only mineral water but also spring-sourced carbonic acid, which he sold to the drinks industry.
As one of the first entrepreneurs of his time, he recognised the potential applications of CO2 were wide ranging and the foundations for the modern day company bearing his name were laid.
Today, fourth generation members of the Buse family remain an important part of the BUSE Group.
With headquarters in Bad Hönningen, BUSE has extended its reach far beyond mineral water and successfully supplies CO2 plants, related equipment, engineering and services across Europe.
More than 130 years after its inception, BUSE’s competence remains in its CO2 business.
“Rudolf Ehrenfried Buse recognised the many possible uses of CO2 and continued to expand these markets within his total business portfolio,” CEO Roland Bräkling tells gasworld in an exclusive interview.
“Plant construction and container services were introduced to further expand these gases operations.”
“On an international level, BUSE has grown its market presence over time. In the mid-1980s, the two locations in Greece and the Netherlands were founded and we have continued expanding since, as can be seen in the UK. We plan to continue on this path.”
Recovering and processing CO2
BUSE supplies CO2 recovery plants and storage tanks to customers around the world. Its recovery plants are compact, modular in design, and built in accordance with the latest technical standards and codes.
These plants are designed to guarantee the safe and economical production of liquefied carbon dioxide, including to the highest quality level required for the food and beverage industry.
CO2 is collected, purified, compressed and liquefied in a series of steps before being stored and transported, if the customer is off-site.
BUSE designs and delivers turnkey CO2 recovery plants to customer specifications, depending on the quality of the raw gas.
To ensure economic and ecological viability of BUSE CO2 plants, each plant is adapted to the local and climatic conditions on-site to optimise economic returns and minimise environmental impacts.
BUSE engineers also design CO2 recovery plants that share or can be combined with the customer’s power plant wherever possible, to minimise energy costs and environmental impacts.
“As a medium-sized company with a very flat hierarchy, this gives us a lot of flexibility in our actions,” Bräkling explains.
“The decision paths are short, which helps the BUSE Group be very agile. We can react to market changes quickly and flexibly. This is also a positive attribute of our product development department.”
“This flexibility and adaptability means our reaction time is very short and our agility very high. These attributes help us stay a step ahead of the competition.”
“We also have an extremely high service level and are able to satisfy even extremely individualised requests and needs in very little time. Customers don’t want to or can’t always wait for days.”
“In today’s fast-paced world it is all the more important to meet customer requirements, and we manage to do so due to the extraordinary speed with which we can react”
Growth
Over the past 12 months, BUSE’s business has grown strongly, particularly in the UK.
“Demand is continuously increasing and our customer base is growing faster than average compared to other countries,” Bräkling explains.
“This is mainly due to our extraordinary service, know-how, and the friendliness of our employees, but also the very good price/performance ratio.”
“We are particularly successful with our liquid, industrial, and special gases. I guess we are doing something right!”
Bräkling believes this growth is related to BUSE’s convincing price/performance ratio.
“The demand of our customers is what drives our company forward,” he says. “But our high-quality service, which is very important to us, also contributes its part to customer satisfaction.”
“In today’s fast-paced world it is all the more important to meet customer requirements, and we manage to do so due to the extraordinary speed with which we can react.”
In the future, Bräkling says BUSE will continue to work on its success story.
“I feel that we can achieve this only by retaining and caring for our independence, but our employees also play an essential role in this,” he emphasizes.
“Their satisfaction and motivation are the engine that drives us. Being a reliable and trustworthy partner for our employees is just as important as for our customers. This is what BUSE stands for, and will continue to do so.”