Air Products is one of the world's largest industrial gas producers, supplying a broad range of industrial gases — chiefly oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen and helium and related equipment for their production, distribution and use — to hundreds of thousands of customers throughout the world.  These gases are used in most industries, including food and metal processing, semiconductor manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace and chemical production.  As the world's largest supplier of merchant hydrogen and an industry leader in hydrogen fuel infrastructure, Air Products is in the forefront of the development of hydrogen energy technologies. Air Products is working to bring safe, low-cost hydrogen production to the marketplace through participation in a number of demonstration projects in the U.S. and Europe.

Air Products has taken a leadership position in the development of the hydrogen infrastructure that will be required to fuel new hydrogen fueled zero-emission vehicles.  Air Products is participating in a number of hydrogen energy demonstration projects, supplying hydrogen, project management and safety training capabilities, as well as the design of new hydrogen dispensers and fueling  stations.

Air Products built and operates an on-site hydrogen production facility, a fuel cell power plant and a fueling station capable of dispensing hydrogen and hydrogen blended fuels to a fleet of light duty vehicles in Las Vegas, Nevada.  A hydrogen generator produces hydrogen through the reforming and purification of natural gas. The natural gas is provided to the site by pipeline. The hydrogen is supplied to both a hydrogen product compression unit and PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell. The compression unit compresses the hydrogen and sends it to storage tanks in gaseous form. Once it has been stored, the hydrogen can be pumped directly into hydrogen fueled vehicles on demand or blended with natural gas for hybrid vehicles that run on a fuel mix.  The hydrogen not used for fueling vehicles is directed to a 50-kilowatt PEM fuel cell that generates electric power. The electrical output from the fuel cell is supplied to the Las Vegas electrical grid system for general consumer use. This electricity provides enough power on a daily basis for about 30 homes.  Shortly after the establishment of this hydrogen production facility in June 2002, hydrogen fuel from this facility was used to refuel the first fuel cell bus to be placed into revenue service in California, a bus built by ISE Corporation that was being demonstrated at a trade show in Las Vegas in September 2002.

The Las Vegas facility is one of several hydrogen production facilities built by Air Products to refuel hydrogen powered zero-emission vehicles.  Other Air Products hydrogen refueling facilities have been built in such locations as California, Michigan, Germany, and Singapore.

Air Products can supply the hydrogen and fueling system needed to meet your requirements, regardless of your size or scope. Air Products has experience in the delivery and onsite generation of hydrogen, and has developed hydrogen dispensing technology that is setting the standard and leading the industry.  In building your fueling infrastructure, Air Products offers standardized equipment and can also meet custom requirements. In total, Air Products services range from safety training to complete supply and monitoring of fuel, delivery, equipment and system maintenance.

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