Air Products

Air Products, formally Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., is a United States-based industrial-gases company serving customers in technology, energy, healthcare, food, chemicals, metals, refining, manufacturing, and other industrial markets. Its principal business is the production, distribution, and supply of gases used in industrial processes rather than consumer retail. The portfolio includes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; hydrogen; carbon dioxide; helium; process and specialty gases; and synthesis-gas-related offerings. Depending on customer requirements, these products are delivered through dedicated pipelines, customer-site generation plants, bulk liquid distribution, packaged gases, and other engineered supply systems. The company was founded in Detroit in 1940 by Leonard Parker Pool with an emphasis on producing industrial gases at or near customer facilities. This on-site model became a defining part of Air Products' business because it could provide large industrial users with a continuous and dependable supply. During the Second World War, the company manufactured mobile oxygen generators for military aviation and expanded its production capacity. Its headquarters moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1944, and later to Emmaus and then Trexlertown in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, where the corporate headquarters remains located. Air Products has developed capabilities beyond gas sales. Its activities include gas separation, liquefaction, storage, transportation, distribution, engineering, equipment, and on-site plant operation. The company has supplied technologies and products for liquefied natural gas, refinery hydrogen, carbon capture, gas cabinets, coatings, adhesives, epoxy additives, and chemical intermediates. It also has a long relationship with NASA, supplying liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for U.S. human-spaceflight programs, including Mercury, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions. In the twenty-first century, Air Products increasingly concentrated on industrial gases after separating or selling several materials businesses. It spun off its Materials Technologies business as Versum Materials in 2016 and sold its Performance Materials division to Evonik in 2017. Hydrogen has become one of the company's most visible strategic areas, covering conventional and lower-carbon production, liquid hydrogen, mobility infrastructure, and supply for refining, chemicals, steel, and energy-transition projects. Air Products announced a proposed green-hydrogen project in the United Kingdom in 2022 but withdrew from the Humberside project in 2025, citing insufficient government commitment. The brand is primarily associated with reliable supply, gas purity, technical engineering, safety, and long-term industrial relationships. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker APD. Its business model is capital-intensive and commonly depends on long-term contracts, dedicated pipelines, customer-site facilities, regional distribution networks, and specialized production assets.

Air Products was established in Detroit in 1940 by Leonard Parker Pool to develop on-site production and sales of industrial gases. The concept addressed the needs of industrial customers requiring dependable supplies close to their facilities. Rather than relying exclusively on cylinders transported from a central plant, on-site generation could support continuous, high-volume consumption and integrate directly with customer operations. The Second World War accelerated the company's development. In 1941, after the United States entered the war, Air Products began manufacturing mobile oxygen generators for high-altitude military aviation. In 1944, it moved its headquarters from Detroit to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and expanded oxygen-production manufacturing capacity to support the U.S. Air Force and allied forces. After the war, the company moved its headquarters and operations to Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in the industrial Lehigh Valley. It later completed its corporate headquarters in neighboring Trexlertown in the late 1950s. Air Products subsequently broadened its industrial-gases platform. Its supply methods came to include customer-site plants, pipeline networks, bulk liquid delivery, packaged gases, and specialized distribution systems. It also developed or supplied equipment and technologies for air separation, gas purification, liquefaction, storage, and transportation. This combination of molecules, infrastructure, engineering, and operating services allowed the company to serve customers with very different volumes and purity requirements. The company built an international presence across technology, energy, healthcare, food, metals, chemicals, refining, and general manufacturing. Its products included oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, helium, process gases, and specialty gases. Other activities included refinery hydrogen, liquefied natural gas equipment and technology, gas cabinets, coatings, adhesives, epoxy additives, and chemical intermediates. Air Products also became a significant supplier to the U.S. space program. It supplied liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for the Mercury and Apollo programs and liquid hydrogen used in Space Shuttle launches, reflecting its expertise in cryogenic gases and large-scale handling systems. Environmental and sustainability-related activities became more visible in the 2000s. In 2001, the company received recognition from the WateReuse Association for a water-conservation project at its Santa Clara, California facility that used recycled water for cooling. It was also recognized in sustainability and climate-innovation indexes during the following decade. The company participated in carbon-capture and storage demonstrations and developed hydrogen fueling technology, including a Series 10 hydrogen fueling station that received a 2010 Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cells industry award. Air Products later streamlined its portfolio. In 2015 it announced the planned separation of Materials Technologies; the transaction was completed in 2016 through the creation of Versum Materials. In 2017 it sold its Performance Materials division to Evonik. These transactions left industrial gases and associated equipment and technologies as the central business identity. Hydrogen has since become a major strategic theme. Air Products supplies hydrogen to established industrial users and has pursued liquid hydrogen, mobility infrastructure, lower-carbon production, and large energy-transition projects. In 2022 it announced a proposed green-hydrogen project in Humberside, United Kingdom. In June 2025, it withdrew from that project, stating that government commitment was insufficient. The company also faced criticism over its initial response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine; according to the cited account, it subsequently changed its position and divested its Russian interests. Air Products remains an active publicly traded industrial-gases company headquartered in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania.

1. 2025Humberside project withdrawal

   Air Products withdrew from the proposed United Kingdom green-hydrogen project, citing insufficient government commitment.

   Source
2. 2022Humberside green-hydrogen plans announced

   The company announced plans for a green-hydrogen production project in Humberside, United Kingdom.

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3. 2017Performance Materials division sold

   Air Products sold its Performance Materials division to Evonik and sharpened its focus on industrial gases.

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4. 2016Versum Materials spinoff completed

   Air Products completed the separation of its Materials Technologies business, creating Versum Materials as a standalone company.

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5. 2013High-purity argon used in fundamental measurement

   The company's high-purity built-in purifier argon was used in work that helped establish a more accurate value for the Boltzmann constant.

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6. 2010Hydrogen fueling technology award

   Air Products received a Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cells industry award for its Series 10 hydrogen fueling station.

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7. 2001Water-reuse recognition

   The company received an Award of Merit from the WateReuse Association for using recycled water in cooling operations at its Santa Clara facility.

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8. 1950Expansion in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley

   After the war, headquarters and operations moved to Emmaus, Pennsylvania; a corporate headquarters in nearby Trexlertown was completed in the late 1950s.
9. 1944Headquarters moved to Chattanooga

   The company relocated its headquarters to Chattanooga, Tennessee, while expanding oxygen-production manufacturing for military and allied needs.

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10. 1941Mobile oxygen generators for wartime aviation

    Air Products began manufacturing mobile oxygen generators used to support high-altitude military flights during the Second World War.

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11. 1940Company founded in Detroit

    Leonard Parker Pool founded Air Products to develop on-site production and sales of industrial gases.

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A technically integrated industrial-gases supplier and engineering partner for large industrial, energy, healthcare, food, technology, and manufacturing customers.

• Industrial gasesIndustrial gases

  Air Products supplies atmospheric, process, and specialty gases to customers in manufacturing, chemicals, energy, healthcare, food, metals, electronics, and other industries. Supply formats include customer-site generation, pipelines, bulk liquids, and packaged gases, allowing the company to serve both very large continuous users and smaller specialized applications.

• HydrogenIndustrial gases and energy

  Hydrogen is supplied for refining, chemicals, metals, steel, mobility, and other industrial applications. Air Products' hydrogen activities include production, distribution, liquid hydrogen, fueling infrastructure, and technologies intended to support lower-carbon energy systems.

• OxygenAtmospheric industrial gas

  Oxygen is used in metal production and processing, chemicals, healthcare, combustion, wastewater treatment, and other industrial processes. Air Products supplies it through on-site plants, pipeline systems, bulk liquid deliveries, and packaged-gas channels according to customer scale and purity requirements.

• NitrogenAtmospheric industrial gas

  Nitrogen supports inerting, blanketing, cooling, food preservation, electronics manufacturing, chemical processing, energy operations, and general industrial production. It is supplied in gaseous or liquid form through on-site, bulk, pipeline, and packaged arrangements.

• ArgonAtmospheric industrial gas

  Argon is used in welding and metal fabrication, specialty manufacturing, electronics, scientific work, and other applications requiring an inert atmosphere. Air Products offers industrial and high-purity argon through multiple distribution formats.

• Liquefied natural gas equipment and technologyIndustrial equipment and technology

  The company produces or supplies technologies and equipment associated with gas processing and liquefaction, including systems used in liquefied natural gas applications. These activities complement its gas molecules business with engineering and capital-equipment capabilities.

• 2010Series 10 hydrogen fueling station

  United Kingdom · Ireland

  Air Products promoted its Series 10 hydrogen fueling station as a hydrogen and fuel-cell technology for reducing transport emissions.

  Outcome. Received a Rushlight Hydrogen and Fuel Cells industry award.

  Source
• 2001Santa Clara recycled-water conservation project

  United States

  Air Products converted cooling operations at its Santa Clara, California manufacturing facility to recycled water and was recognized by the WateReuse Association for conserving drinking water.

  Outcome. Received an Award of Merit from the WateReuse Association.

  Source

• 2025Withdraw from Humberside green-hydrogen projectStrategy

  The company concluded that public-sector commitment to the United Kingdom project was insufficient.

  What changed. Air Products ended its involvement and investment in the proposed project.

  Aftermath. The withdrawal reduced Air Products' planned participation in that United Kingdom green-hydrogen development.

  Source
• 2022Develop a Humberside green-hydrogen projectStrategy

  Air Products pursued large-scale hydrogen projects as hydrogen became a more prominent part of its energy-transition strategy.

  What changed. The company announced plans for green-hydrogen production in Humberside, United Kingdom.

  Aftermath. Air Products withdrew from the project in 2025, citing insufficient government commitment.

  Source
• 2017Sell Performance Materials to EvonikM&A

  Following the Materials Technologies separation, Air Products continued simplifying its portfolio.

  What changed. The Performance Materials division was sold to Evonik.

  Aftermath. Industrial gases became the company's central business identity.

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• 2015Separate Materials TechnologiesStrategy

  Air Products reviewed its portfolio and chose to separate its Materials Technologies business from the core industrial-gases operations.

  What changed. The company announced a planned spinoff, which became Versum Materials and was completed in 2016.

  Aftermath. The transaction narrowed Air Products' strategic focus toward industrial gases and related technologies.

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• 2022Russia operations and subsequent divestmentControversy

  Air Products initially declined to stop operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of international sanctions. The company later reversed its position and divested its Russian interests, according to the cited account.

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• 2025Air Products withdraws from Humberside green-hydrogen project

  Air Products withdrew its involvement and investment in the proposed United Kingdom project, citing a lack of government commitment.

  Product launch
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• 2025Air Products withdraws from proposed United Kingdom green-hydrogen project

  The company withdrew its involvement and investment in a planned Humberside green-hydrogen project, citing a lack of commitment from the British government.

  Other
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• 2022Air Products announces United Kingdom green-hydrogen project

  The company announced plans for a green-hydrogen production project in the Humberside region.

  Product launch
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• 2022Air Products announces Humberside green-hydrogen plans

  Air Products announced plans to develop a green-hydrogen production facility in the Humberside region of the United Kingdom.

  OtherProduct launch
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• 2022Air Products reverses position and divests Russian interests

  After initially continuing operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, the company later reversed course and divested its Russian interests.

  Regulation
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• 2022Air Products advances large-scale clean-hydrogen projects

  The company announced and developed major clean-hydrogen and energy-transition projects, including production and infrastructure proposals intended to serve industrial, mobility, export, and power markets.

  Product launch
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• 2017Air Products sells Performance Materials division to Evonik

  The sale further concentrated Air Products on industrial gases and related technologies.

  M&A
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• 2017Air Products completes sale of Performance Materials division

  The company completed the sale of its Performance Materials division to Evonik, reinforcing its concentration on industrial gases and related technologies.

  M&A
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• 2017Air Products completes separation of its Materials Technologies business

  Air Products separated its Materials Technologies business into an independent company, later known as Versum Materials, as part of a strategy to focus the remaining company on industrial gases and related technologies.

  M&A
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• 2016Materials Technologies spinoff completed as Versum Materials

  Air Products completed the separation of its Materials Technologies business on October 3, creating Versum Materials as a standalone company.

  M&A
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• 2016Air Products completes Versum Materials spinoff

  Air Products separated its Materials Technologies business into an independent company named Versum Materials.

  M&A
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• 2015Air Products announces separation of Materials Technologies business

  The company announced its intention to separate Materials Technologies into an independent business, later named Versum Materials.

  M&A
  Source
• 2010Air Products hydrogen fueling technology receives Rushlight award

  The company's Series 10 hydrogen fueling station received a Rushlight award recognizing hydrogen and fuel-cell technology in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

  Other
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1. Air Products
2. Air Products official website
3. Air Products advances large-scale clean-hydrogen projects
4. Air Products completes separation of its Materials Technologies business