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Praxair produces and distributes industrial gases and high-performance surface coatings. The company supplies essential atmospheric and process gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, helium, and hydrogen. These are critical components for diverse manufacturing and specialized applications, supported by customized gas supply systems and application expertise.
The company originated as the Linde Air Products Company in 1907, founded by German engineer Carl von Linde. Linde's pioneering work in air liquefaction and separation technology provided the foundational insight for industrial gas demand. This early vision established the enterprise as a global gas supplier.
Praxair serves a broad customer base across healthcare, electronics, energy, aerospace, metals, and chemicals. Its vision empowers clients through innovative gas and surface technology solutions. The company aims to enhance productivity, improve environmental performance, and contribute to operational efficiency for various industries.
Key people at Praxair.
Key people at Praxair.
Praxair, Inc. was an American industrial gases company that produced, distributed, and applied gases like oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and specialty gases to industries including healthcare, manufacturing, electronics, food and beverage, and energy.[1][3][4][5] Headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, it served as North and South America's largest industrial gases provider and the world's third-largest by revenue before merging with Linde AG in 2018 to form Linde plc, after which Praxair operated as a subsidiary until the name was discontinued in the US in 2020.[1][4][5] With over 26,000 employees pre-merger, it pioneered cryogenic air separation and on-site gas supply, generating billions in sales through innovations in gas production and delivery.[1][2][3]
Praxair traces its roots to 1907, when Carl von Linde, a German engineering professor who developed the cryogenic air liquefier in 1895, founded Linde Air Products Company in Cleveland, Ohio—the first North American firm to commercialize cryogenically separated oxygen.[1][2][3][4] In 1917, it joined Union Carbide amid World War I confiscations, maintaining operational independence while innovating, such as introducing liquid gas distribution in 1917, on-site supply in the 1940s, and non-cryogenic air separation in the 1960s.[1][3] Renamed Union Carbide Industrial Gases in 1988 and spun off as an independent public company in 1992 (formally Praxair in 1995, from "praxis" for practical application and "air"), it grew through efficiencies post-Bhopal despite Union Carbide challenges, reaching $4.83 billion in 1998 sales.[2][3][4]
Praxair rode the 20th-century rise of industrial gases as enablers for manufacturing, welding, healthcare, and emerging clean energy, with cryogenic tech timing perfectly for post-WWI industrialization and WWII demands.[1][3] Market forces like energy transition favored its hydrogen and carbon capture innovations, positioning it (via Linde) in decarbonization amid global manufacturing growth.[5] It influenced the ecosystem by standardizing on-site supply, reducing logistics costs, and fostering applications in electronics/food, while the 2018 merger created the world's largest gas supplier, consolidating power in a fragmented market.[4][5]
As a Linde subsidiary, Praxair's legacy endures in integrated US operations, focusing on synergies from the completed 2020 merger rather than new M&A, backed by Linde's investment-grade stability.[5] Trends like hydrogen economy and carbon capture will shape its path, amplifying influence in clean energy as industries decarbonize. Its pioneering role in gas tech ensures enduring impact, evolving from standalone innovator to global powerhouse component—much like von Linde's air liquefier sparked a century of industrial progress.[1][5]
