Praxair

Infobox Company
company_name = Praxair, Inc.
company_
company_type = Public (NYSE|PX)
foundation = 1907
location = Danbury, Connecticut
key_people = Steve Angel - Chairman, President and CEO
industry = Chemicals (industrial gases)
revenue = US$9.4 billion (2007)
num_employees = 28,000 (2007)
homepage = http://www.praxair.com

Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: [http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=PX PX] ) is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases as well as high-performance coatings and related services to a wide diversity of customers around the world. Praxair has operations in over 30 countries and approximately 3,000 patents.

Praxair serves a wide range of industries including: metals, health care, food & beverage, energy, aerospace, chemicals, electronics, manufacturing, and others.

History

Headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, the company was originally founded in 1907 when it was the first company in North America to commercialize cryogenically separated oxygen.

The company introduced the first distribution system for liquid gas in 1917, and developed on-site gas supply by the end of WWII. In the 1960s, Praxair introduced non-cryogenic means of air separation, and since then has continued to introduce innovative applications technologies for various industries.

The company is present in different locations in the world. Barring Australia it is almost present in every continent. In South America it is known as [http://www.whitemartins.com.br White Martins] . In [http://www.praxair.cn China] and [http://www.praxair.co.in India] it is among the largest industrial gases manufacturer present.

Praxair adopted its name from the Greek word "praxis", or practical application, and "air", its primary raw material.

Environmental record

On April 12, 2006, it was reported that Praxair Inc. received an Environmental Recognition Award from the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) at their annual meeting held on March 21, 2006. The award was given in recognition of an innovative propylene recovery project that went beyond regulatory requirements. [ [http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/482643 Environmental Recognition Award for Praxair, Praxair, Inc ] ] Three new recovery systems have been installed at strategically located Praxair facilities in the U.S. and Canada that handle propylene. Similar systems are being used by Praxair to safely process and recover other liquid petroleum gases. [ [http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/482643 Environmental Recognition Award for Praxair, Praxair, Inc ] ]

Products

Praxair's primary products are:
* Atmospheric gases -- oxygen, nitrogen, argon and rare gases (produced when air is purified, compressed, cooled, distilled and condensed).
* Process & specialty gases -- carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, semiconductor process gases, and acetylene (produced as by-products of chemical production or recovered from natural gas).
* Applications technologies that help customers increase productivity and yield, reduce energy consumption and operating costs, and/or improve environmental performance.

The company also designs, engineers and constructs cryogenic and non-cryogenic supply systems.

References

External links

* [http://www.praxair.com Praxair, Inc.]
* [http://finance.google.com/finance?q=px Google Finance profile]
* [http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=px Yahoo Finance profile]