LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.,
Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Air
Products (NYSE: APD), a global leader in helium production, today
held a grand opening at its new Doe Canyon helium production
facility in Colorado. The Doe Canyon helium plant is the only
one in the world extracting helium from a gas stream composed
primarily of carbon dioxide (CO2). The helium from
this new facility further diversifies Air Products' supply chain to
ensure a reliable and stable supply of product for its
customers.
"Today celebrates an accomplishment that has not been achieved
before. We are capturing an important molecule—that being
helium—from a naturally occurring stream of carbon dioxide provided
by this site's host Kinder Morgan,
who I would like to thank for their cooperation with this venture,"
said Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products'
chairman, president and chief executive officer. "In doing
so, our company takes another step forward to maintain the leading
position we have earned in this industry and to help to ensure Air
Products continues to build on the helium market leadership
established and enhanced over many decades."
Much of the helium produced in the
United States today comes from the United States Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) system, however, the BLM system is in
decline, and eventually that storage supply will be depleted.
At the same time, the world's demand for helium is likely to
continue to grow and is why new sources of helium are needed.
The purified helium at the new Colorado facility will be liquefied
on-site for subsequent delivery to Air Products' customers.
The plant is expected to produce up to 230 million standard cubic
feet of helium per year, replacing more than 15 percent of the
current BLM reserve helium supply as that system declines.
"People often talk about 'thinking outside-the-box', and that is
really the case in this instance. This is not just another liquid
helium plant, we're using cutting edge technology to extract and
produce helium that would have otherwise been lost. Bringing
the Doe Canyon helium plant on-stream is just one more step in a
series of steps that we've taken in order to become the most
reliable supplier of helium to our customers around the world,"
said Corning Painter, Air Products' executive vice president and
general manager of Industrial Gases.
Most of the helium produced around the world is a by-product of
natural gas (methane) processing. However, not all natural
gas fields contain helium, and in fact very few gas fields have
high enough helium concentrations to make it economical for
extraction. In this case, the natural gas is composed of
primarily CO2, and it contains high enough
concentrations of helium to make it economical for
extraction.
Air Products' Colorado facility
will use a new technology process to produce pure helium from the
CO2 stream. Kinder
Morgan, operator of the Doe Canyon Unit, supplies this
CO2 to the Permian Basin in West Texas, where the CO2 is used
for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Air Products will extract
the helium and return the CO2 to Kinder Morgan for its intended EOR
use.
Helium is used in many unique and valued applications including:
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); lifting for high altitude
scientific research balloons, blimps and party balloons; fiber
optics and semiconductor manufacturing; metallurgy; breathing
atmospheres for deep diving or unique blood gas medical mixtures;
analytical chemistry; pressurizing and purging pipes, vessels, and
other critical equipment; leak detection; and other advanced
applications.
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a leading industrial gases company. For
nearly 75 years, the company has provided atmospheric, process and
specialty gases, and related equipment to manufacturing markets
including metals, food and beverage, refining and petrochemical,
and natural gas liquefaction. Air Products' materials technologies
segment serves the semiconductor, polyurethanes, cleaning and
coatings, and adhesives industries. Over 20,000 employees in 50
countries are working to make Air Products the world's safest and
best performing industrial gases company, providing sustainable
offerings and excellent service to all customers. In fiscal 2014,
Air Products had sales of $10.4
billion and was ranked number 276 on the Fortune 500 annual
list of public companies. For more information, visit
www.airproducts.com.
NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements
within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of
the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual
performance and financial results may differ materially from
projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking
statements because of many factors not anticipated by management,
including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its
fiscal year ended September 30,
2014.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Photos of the Doe Canyon plant and
grand opening ceremony are available in Air Products' online News
Center.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-holds-grand-opening-at-its-doe-canyon-helium-plant-300130898.html
SOURCE Air Products