From the original drawings of Gaetano Barbieri & Co. in 19th-century Bologna to a unified industrial-engineering capability spanning Europe, the Middle East and beyond — a single technical lineage in refrigeration, gas compression and process engineering.
Our roots trace to Gaetano Barbieri & Co., founded in Bologna in 1850. Original drawings confirm the manufacture of industrial refrigeration compressors as early as 1898, placing Technofrigo among Europe's earliest pioneers in industrial process refrigeration.
While that Italian tradition matured into a recognised authority on gas compression and process refrigeration, a complementary engineering culture was taking shape in France — building deep expertise in CO₂, hydrogen, emission control and ATEX-certified process equipment inside Clauger Group.
In 2021, the two became one: an integrated industrial-engineering partner spanning conventional energy infrastructure and the next generation of clean-technology applications.
A century of compressor manufacture in Castel Maggiore — from Gaetano Barbieri & Co. to Industrie Technofrigo Dell'Orto S.p.A.
Gaetano Barbieri & Co. · Castelmaggiore
Through partnerships with Frick Company International (1963) and later as Technofrigo Europa (1972), the company's expertise in gas compression and industrial refrigeration earned recognition across Europe's most demanding process industries.
In 1990, two historic Italian companies — Officine Meccaniche Dell'Orto and Leonardo da Vinci, both founded in 1907 — were incorporated, each bringing decades of specialised industrial refrigeration expertise.
The entity was formalised in 1992 as Industrie Technofrigo Dell'Orto S.p.A., and joined the GEA Group in 1994, accelerating global reach across chemical, petrochemical, LNG and oil & gas markets.
From a workshop on the streets of Castel Maggiore to references on four continents — the technical lineage that began with cast-iron compressors and hand-drafted blueprints carries forward, unbroken, into every skid we deliver today.
Castel Maggiore workshop · early 1900s
Original offices · Castel Maggiore
Barbieri compressors · workshop floor
Costruzioni Meccaniche Barbieri · trade exhibition
On-site technicians · later decades
While Technofrigo was building its reputation in Italy, a complementary engineering tradition was taking shape in France — CO₂, hydrogen, emission control and ATEX-certified process equipment.
In 1986, SOLEV installed its first system for the chemical industry, establishing expertise in gas-flow thermal control, CO₂ purification and industrial process-fluid management.
In 2007, ABIX was founded, specialising in cooling skids and thermal management for chemical-process applications.
By 2012, both had joined Clauger Group — bringing over 60 years of combined expertise in CO₂, air and emission-control systems, and ATEX-certified process equipment.
This French expertise did not overlap with the Italian tradition. It completed it.
A century of compressor manufacture and process-refrigeration engineering for the world's most demanding chemical, petrochemical and oil & gas installations.
Six decades of specialised process engineering for CO₂ purification, gas-flow thermal control, hydrogen handling and ATEX-compliant emission control.
In 2021, Technofrigo joined Clauger Group. From 2022 onwards, the reinforced multi-site team accelerated international development across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. In December 2025, Clauger Group established a dedicated presence in Riyadh — bringing local teams and project capability directly to Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region.
Every milestone below is a chapter in the same engineering story — an unbroken thread of process expertise running from the workshops of Castel Maggiore to the projects we deliver across four continents today.
Reducing emissions, integrating cleaner processes, and adopting new energy vectors without compromising safety or performance — precisely the challenge our combined expertise was built to address.
Producing, purifying, drying and compressing hydrogen demands exactly the multi-disciplinary process engineering — gas handling, thermal management, TSA drying and ATEX-compliant systems — our teams have been developing for decades.
Up to 250 MW electrolyser facilitiesDrawing directly on our French teams' field-proven capabilities — supporting food-grade CO₂ producers, biofuel manufacturers and industrial carbon-capture installations across the complete CCUS chain.
Food-grade · Biofuel · CCUSA long-established strength of Clauger Group, increasingly central to industrial compliance and environmental strategy worldwide — thermal oxidation, scrubbing, adsorption, biofiltration and photocatalysis.
VOC · Odour · Harmful gases
Decarbonisation, energy efficiency and resource optimisation are not constraints we work around. They are objectives we engineer toward, with the same rigor we apply to every process-critical installation we deliver. We serve our historical markets with the discipline that has defined us for 125 years — and bring that same expertise to the industries and technologies that will define the next century.
