Customer Spotlight: JJ Crewe & Son Inc.

Built to Last: A Legacy of Compression Innovation

In the heart of Buckeystown, Maryland, a humble flour mill became the birthplace of what would become JJ Crewe & Son—a trusted OEM Packager.

OEM packagers design and build engineered units for a wide range of gas compression applications—including natural gas, renewable natural gas, nitrogen boosting, vapor recovery and more.  

Four Generations of Growth 

From great grandfather starting a mechanical contracting business in that old flour mill, to the next generation incorporating what he learned from Curtiss Wright Engine, JJ Crewe incorporates more than 100 years of family expertise.

Fast forward to the late 1970s and early 1980s, the third generation took over and shifted into industrial compression—a turning point laying the groundwork for decades of specialized work in gas compression systems.

Owen Crewe—the fourth generation and current company president—combines a century of family expertise with modern engineering to propel JJ Crewe into its next era.

Now located in Kearneysville, West Virginia, JJ Crewe provides rugged and reliable solutions to the most critical applications—such as hospitals, military installations and college campuses.  

These systems often require boosting incoming gas pressure from pipelines, whether sourced from cities or landfills.

Why do these applications need to boost gas pressure?  

• Help power mission-critical systems
• Help support Combined Heat & Power Systems (CHP)
• Help ensure reliable power supply to combat infrastructure limitations or harsh or remote conditions

Benefits of Combustion Gas Turbines

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, combustion gas turbine benefits include:

• Sustainability
  • High-pressure steam can be generated, or the exhaust can be used directly for process drying and heating
  • Exhaust can also be used to produce chilled water via an absorption chiller
  • Lower emissions compared to alternatives
• Adaptability
  • Quickly adapts to changes in demand which helps grid stability
  • Can be powered by multiple types of fuel including natural gas, synthetic gas, landfill gas and fuel oils
• Reliability and Durability
  • Often have fewer moving parts compared to reciprocating engines which means less maintenance and a longer lifecycle
  • With proper maintenance, many can last 25 years or longer

JJ Crewe engineers customized gas compression packages tailored to the requirements of their customers. 

Engineered from the ground up, JJ Crewe carefully selects each component to include in the skid starting with the gas end.

The gas end is the most important part of the equipment—there’s no way around it. That’s what’s doing the work. That’s what’s providing the solution to the customer. So, we start with the gas end and design the skid around it, said Owen Crewe.  

A Durable Partnership

For more than half a century, Sullair gas ends have been a top choice for JJ Crewe. Crewe continues, In my experience, Sullair gas ends tend to outlast a lot of the competition. He cites Sullair component’s legendary durability and ease of serviceability as key reasons for the lasting partnership with Hitachi Global Air Power.   

And several installations from the early years of that partnership are still in operation today—including a package in California standing up to adverse oil rig conditions since the 1970s.

Hitachi Global Air Power is proud to be a trusted supplier of JJ Crewe & Son.

Click here to view the JJ Crewe & Son video.