Air Products has begun celebrating its 70th anniversary by reflecting on some of the company’s most important innovations.
Air Products, founded in 1940, achieved net sales of $5m in 1945. 65 years on, the company has announced annual sales of $9,026m.
Graham Rhodes, Vice President of Liquid Bulk & Regional Executive of Air Products Europe, remarked, “Our world class R&D experts work closely with customers to understand their needs and everyday challenges. As well as innovative products and offerings, Air Products is also fast becoming a key player in developing economically viable hydrogen as an alternative fuel; today we’re not only serving customers, but helping the world tackle challenges of climate change and pollution.”
Rhodes reflected, “It’s been an impressive 70 years for Air Products. Sometimes you have to look back to look forward and as a business we are celebrating this important milestone and using it as an opportunity to refocus on our future, for which, innovation is key.”
Throughout its 70 year lifetime, Air Products has achieved feats across an array of sectors, from space exploration to chemical innovation. gasworld is commemorating the special occasion with a review of five of the company’s most stand-out moments:
1. During World War II, Air Products turned its attention to the design and manufacture of mobile generators to produce oxygen for use by the military during high-altitude flights.
2. After the 1957 launch of the Sputnik in the United States, Air Products won the race to develop a new rocket propellant. The company pioneered the use of liquid hydrogen for this purpose. The technology was so successful that it was subsequently adopted by the US Air Force and NASA.
3. In the 1960s, Air Products developed the first liquid nitrogen food freezing tunnel, the Cryo Quick Tunnel. The timing was especially apt as the demand for frozen and convenience foods excelled. 45 years later, Air Products continued to pioneer technology in this sector, when it launched the Freshline® DM Tunnel Freezer, which is capable of freezing up to 1,800kg of individual quick frozen product per hour.
4. Moving towards the new millennium, during the 1990s, Air Products honed a cryogenic condensation system used to recover pollutants from old fridges and freezers. At the same time, the company developed PolarSnow® technology, which is used to manufacture a realistic snow product used by the leisure industry and for various product-testing applications.
5. Air Products Healthcare has developed a specialist range of lightweight 1L and 2L gas cylinders for use by patients receiving treatment for respiratory conditions at home. The portability and ease-of-use of the cylinders has brought life-enhancing benefits to more than 325,000 patients in Europe.
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