Air Products recently confirmed its commitment to expand in Central and Eastern Europe by announcing several initiatives in the region.

Air Products (www.airproducts.com) made the following announcements on Oct. 15:

• It signed a contract with Alcoa, in Russia, to supply nitrogen to Alcoa's aluminum plant in Samara.
• As part of the agreement, Air Products said it would install two high purity nitrogen generators, and will take over an existing nitrogen generator on the site. The new generators will be in production in 2009.
• Noting that it considers Russia an important growth market, Air Products said it now is involved in projects near Moscow and near Samara.
• Air Products said it is strengthening its leadership position as a supplier of technical and industrial gases in Poland, with plans to build a state-of-the-art cylinder filling depot in Warsaw. Construction is to start in 2009, and the depot is to be operational in 2010.
• The company said the depot will use the latest technology to fill more than 3,000 cylinders per day at a pressure of 200 bar, which is the standard cylinder pressure used in Poland. A 200 bar cylinder holds a greater quantity of gas than 150 bar cylinders and, the company said, reduces costs for users because they require less frequent fillings.
• The depot will be equipped to fill cylinders with all types of medical gases, technical gases, including argon, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and mixtures, the company's trademarked range of welding gases that are sold under the “Linx” name, gases, and modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) gases for the food industry.
• This is the second technical gas filling depot to be built by Air Products in Poland, following the opening of the depot in Kędzierzyn-Koźle in 2005.
• Air Products said its new, high purity hydrogen plant has opened in Novaky, Slovakia.

The plant adds additional hydrogen capacity for the company's customers in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, and will support industries such as glass, metals and food. Air Products has a similar, existing facility in Litvinov, Czech Republic.

Erwin Zwicky, president of Air Products Europe, said these investments build on his company's 2007 acquisition of BOC Gazy.