Here are just some of the major products and offerings that are helping to drive their profitable growth and sustainability.
| Industrial Gases |
| Products |
End-Use Industries |
Direct Benefits |
Indirect Benefits |
| Argon |
- Cutting and welding
- Electric light and compact fluorescent bulbs
- Thermal insulation
|
Used primarily for its efficiency and electrical properties as an inert gas; also provides thermal insulation in energy-efficient windows |
Enables energy conservation in buildings and homes |
| Helium |
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
|
Used as an environmentally friendly quenching medium gas, given its high specific heat and thermal conductivity properties |
Improves healthcare diagnosis |
- Metallurgy
- Welding
- Fiber optics
- Semiconductors
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Eliminates the issue of quenching liquid disposal; also produces cleaner parts, eliminating the need for subsequent washing |
- Flat-panel and solar materials
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Enables energy conservation from new solar and flat-panel technology |
| Hydrogen |
- Material handling
– Forklifts transportation
|
Hydrogen fueling stations provide a bridge to a future hydrogen economy |
Hydrogen-powered fuel cell equipment eliminates lead-acid battery storage and disposal issues |
|
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Used to help create bright and shiny stainless steel |
Improves end product quality and reduces waste |
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Lowers sulfur in fuels and the corresponding SOx, which causes acid rain |
Enables catalytic converters to remove other pollutants from transportation fuels, such as NOx, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which cause respiratory problems |
| Key for world energy security, enabling refiners to use all qualities of crudes, regardless of how heavy or sour |
Enables the refining industry to comply with clean transportation fuel regulations |
| By-product can be recycled from chemical facilities, purified and supplied to refiners |
Recycling leverages all hydrogen sources to maximize hydrogen recovery, ultimately reducing CO2 emissions, lowering NOx emissions, and increasing overall efficiency |
Facility design can include cogeneration units, providing steam and power more efficiently; lower carbon footprint overall than alternative stand-alone units
Longer-term, hydrogen production technologies can include biomass, gasification, solar and wind |
|
| Nitrogen |
|
Can be manufactured and used safely and recycled back to the air following most industrial applications |
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Replaces traditional refrigerants, such as fluorocarbons, carbon dioxide and ammonia |
Improves end-product quality and extends shelf life |
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Used during well completion to “frac” natural gas-bearing rock formations, including shale gas and natural gas from coal (coal bed methane) |
Helps to improve the supply of natural gas, a cleaner-burning fuel source |
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Replaces or minimizes hydrocarbon or ammonia-based atmospheres
Used to rapidly cool metal parts, thus reducing the need for quenching oils |
Provides enhanced safety and quality
Helps control process temperatures, making the process more efficient |
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Used to grind heat-sensitive materials, including plastic and rubber, and recover key raw materials |
Enables recycling of materials, such as tires, that otherwise be landfilled |
| Oxygen |
|
Used to reduce energy requirements in industrial furnaces (oxy-fuel burners) through rapid combustion; results in better control of heating patterns, higher furnace efficiencies (lower fuel consumption), and reduction in particulate and NOx emissions |
Reduces fuel consumption and lowers NOx emissions while increasing production rates, enabling reductions in GHGs |
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Provides respiratory aid and promotes healing |
Improved quality of life |
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Used to grow quality fish closer to the point of consumption, reducing the real estate needed for fish farms |
Allows use of a recirculating closed loop water system, which provides quality water to the farm to enhance production while reducing consumption of fresh water |
