With annual sales in excess of $6.5 billion, Praxair is a global company that supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases, high-performance coatings and related services and technologies. Praxair's primary products include: atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon and rare gases produced when air is purified, compressed, cooled, distilled and condensed; and process and specialty gases such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, semiconductor process gases and acetylene produced as by-products of chemical production or recovered from natural gas. The company also designs, engineers and constructs cryogenic and non-cryogenic supply systems. Praxair adopted its name in 1992, from the Greek word praxis, or practical application, and air, a primary raw material. The company was founded in 1907 when it was the first company in North America to commercialize cryogenically separated oxygen. Praxair maintains facilities in Tonawanda, N.Y.
