Air Products' Latest Oxy-fuel Burner Helps Glass Manufacturers Restore Furnaces to Full Production

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., July 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products' (NYSE: APD) latest oxy-fuel burner enables glass manufacturers to maintain full production in an aging furnace and avoid downtime during regenerator repairs. The Cleanfire^® ThruPort_e™ burner is a quick, cost-effective heating solution that is installed from the underside of an existing furnace port to provide heat where and when it is needed.

The patent-protected water-cooled ThruPort_e burner can deliver precision mixing of primary oxygen and fuel—either natural gas or fuel oil—to produce a highly luminous oxy-fuel flame. The unique configuration enables the introduction of staged oxygen to adjust the flame length and angle, ensuring optimal heat distribution and surface coverage.

"Aging equipment can lead to reduced pull rate and shortening of a furnace campaign, which can result in tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue per day," said Bill Horan, glass applications engineer at Air Products. "The ThruPort_e burner has a durable design that can be easily installed while the furnace is running, offering glass manufacturers a safe and rapid solution for restoring furnaces to full production. In fact, we recently installed this unique burner solution at two float glass plants and, in both instances, not only was full production achieved, but energy efficiency increased substantially relative to baseline operations."

In keeping with its vision of developing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by deploying "smart" burner technology, Air Products offers the ThruPort_e burner with the option of state-of-the-art on-burner diagnostic sensors and wireless communications technology. This technology enables instantaneous viewing and tracking of key burner operating parameters. This data can be conveniently and securely streamed from the on-burner transmitters to the control room or remote computers and smart devices, providing up-to-date information and alerts.

For more information about Air Products' Cleanfire^® ThruPort_e™ burner, or to request a demonstration in the company's pilot-scale advanced Clean Energy Lab, call 800-654-4567 or visit www.airproducts.com/thruport.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2016 sales of $7.5 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of approximately $30 billion. Approximately 16,000 employees are making Air Products the world's safest and best performing industrial gases company, providing sustainable offerings and excellent service to all customers. 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, 2016.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A video of Air Products Cleanfire^® ThruPort_e™ burner is available in Air Products' online News Center.

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SOURCE Air Products

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