TECHNOLOGY - May 21, 1996

Praxair Gets Patent to Recycle Semiconductor Gases: The Danbury, Conn.-based producer of industrial gases said the development will help fight global warming. It is the industry’s first patent for a system that allows separation of gases known as perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, from a waste gas stream and their reuse in the computer-chip-making process. Until now, semiconductor plants could either exhaust the gases into the atmosphere or burn them. Praxair Inc. works with ATMI EcoSys Inc., a San Jose maker of pollution-control equipment. When used by large chip manufacturers, the recycling system could pay for itself within a year, the companies said. Shares in Praxair were up 50 cents at $39.125 on the NYSE.