Oxyrich Express provides emergency oxygen for shrimp ponds

Air Products and Chemicals, an international player in the industrial gases and chemicals industry, also wants to become a big name in shrimp farming.

The Trexlertown, Penn., company this week announced a portable oxygen generator to sell to shrimp farmers. The machine, called Oxyrich Express, injects high-purity oxygen into ponds threatened by low levels of the gas.

Air Products officials say the machine, designed to be used in emergency situations, can help make the difference between a successful harvest and a pondful of dead crustaceans. The harvest value of a typical 2.5-acre farm pond can be about $30,000, the company said.

The company isn't saying how much the Oxyrich Express costs. But it claims the machine more than pays for itself if it saves two ponds. Air Products claims the generator is more efficient and effective than other ways to boost ponds' oxygen levels, including emergency water exchange and the use of paddle wheels.

Seafood may seem like an unusual market for a company better known for industrial gases. But Air Products has been in the aquaculture market since the 1990s, spokesman Tom Yencho said. The company also sells oxygen pumps to fish farms.

Air Products makes other food-related products — in particular, gas-based chilling and freezing systems. In the company's sprawling corporate structure, though, the Oxyrich Express is considered part of the industrial gas segment, Yencho said.

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