QUICK NAVIGATION - ABOUT B&W
Babcock & Wilcox celebrates more than 150 years of industry firsts and achievements in innovation and technology.
Take a look at some of our biggest achievements and see how our company has shaped over time.
B&W is established in Providence, Rhode Island, when George H. Babcock, Stephen Wilcox, Jr., and Joseph P. Manton form Babcock, Wilcox and Company to manufacture and market a water-tube steam boiler. This invention patented by Babcock and Wilcox marks the beginning of and set the standard for safe, reliable steam-generated power.
B&W sells its first boiler to Carpenter & Cross of Providence for the Valley Worsted Mills.
Babcock moves to New York City where he opens an office on Broadway.
Babcock and Wilcox publish Requirements of a Perfect Steam Boiler, a simple, 12-point set of guidelines for the ideal boiler. With this document, B&W creates a reputation of excellence and an industry standard for boiler manufacture.
B&W publishes the first edition of Steam/its generation and use. To this day, Steam is the most comprehensive study of steam power available and is used as a textbook throughout the world.
The 1880s saw the birth of the electrical age with the opening of Brush Electric Light Company in Philadelphia, and Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street station in New York City. Babcock & Wilcox equipment powered both, and the young company extended its focus to European and government applications.
Babcock is a founding member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, established in New York City.
New York City's first subway is powered by B&W boilers.
In Chicago, B&W provides boilers to Commonwealth Edison Company’s Fisk Street Station, the first public utility station completely powered with steam turbines.
Vølund supplies equipment to Gentofte (1931), Frederiksberg (1934) and Aarhus (1934) in Denmark, the first continuously operating incinerating plants in the world.
B&W’s newly developed fusion welding technique for boiler drums supersedes the riveting method, allowing a more cost effective, sturdy and efficient boiler. B&W pioneers the use of x-rays for the examination of welded boiler drums, eliminating the need to destroy the boiler drum during inspection.
B&W designs and installs the first-of-its-kind “low odor” Kraft recovery boiler at American Can Company’s Halsey, Oregon, paper mill.
B&W opens a nuclear training facility in Lynchburg, Virginia, one of only two in the U.S. The facility boasts a water reactor simulator used to train the staffs of nuclear power plants.
B&W focuses on research and development, spending more than US $20 million on projects devoted to improving existing products and exploring advanced technologies.
SPIG changes its name to SPIG International SpA, and pursues global expansion.
Kal Kan purchases the first selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system sold with a boiler, one of the first projects to meet new California emissions requirements.
B&W designs and builds the world’s largest waste-to-energy facility in Florida. It consumes 2,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day.
American Electric Power awards B&W the largest scrubber installation contract in North America for Ohio Power Company’s Gavin Plant.
SPIG experiences tremendous growth in providing cooling towers, air-cooled condensers, air fin coolers and service to global customers, and sets up subsidiaries in Turkey, Germany, Russia, Romania, UAE, India, Brazil and the U.S.
B&W announces relocation of company headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Ohio.