Honeywell keeps Air Products energy division in Lehigh Valley

One of the fastest growing parts of the energy industry will continue to have a home in the Lehigh Valley.

Honeywell unveiled offices for its new liquefied natural gas division Friday in the Iron Run Industrial Park in Upper Macungie Township. The multinational corporation — which is known for aerospace, building automation, industrial automation, and energy and sustainability solutions — acquired Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business in September 2024 for $1.81 billion.

For the 100 engineers and other employees who used to work for Air Products, having to uproot from the Lehigh Valley was not going to be an issue. Honeywell executives were impressed with the area and decided to keep everyone where they are.

“When you buy a business, the people are a big part of it,” said John Palamara, vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s LNG business. “So certainly retention and retaining that top talent was key and critical to kind of determining the location of this office.”

Palamara added that it helps that engineering schools such as Lehigh and Penn State are in the region, which helps in recruiting future employees.

Honeywell employees applaud during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, Dec. 19,...

Honeywell employees applaud during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled offices for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Vimal Kapur, chairman and CEO of Honeywell, speaks during the opening of the company’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Ken West listens as people speak during the opening of Honeywell’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

John Palamara, vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s liquefied natural gas business, gives a tour of the company’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The office is located at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Vimal Kapur is Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, speaks during the opening of Honeywell’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled offices for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Honeywell’s new office for its liquefied natural gas business is seen during a grand opening Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The office is located at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Employees listen as Vimal Kapur is Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, speaks during the opening of Honeywell’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Employees listen as Vimal Kapur, chairman and CEO of Honeywell, speaks during the opening of Honeywell’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Ken West speaks during the opening of Honeywell’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

Honeywell officials cut the ribbon for the company’s new office Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Upper Macungie Township. The company unveiled the office for its new liquefied natural gas division at the site that formerly housed Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment business. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

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Honeywell Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur, who was on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, said he talked to then-Air Products CEO Seifi Ghasemi during the sale and wondered why that company remained in the Allentown area.

“He told me how much employees are proud of the area and that got stuck into my head,” Kapur said, “and I thought, OK, this is much bigger. It’s not just a place, it’s something people are so proud of.”

Ken West, president and CEO of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions, said the division is being integrated during an exciting time for the energy industry.

“Just thinking about what we’ve accomplished in the last year and what has happened to the LNG industry, I couldn’t be more proud, but also excited about what’s occurred,” West said.

West said the LNG business is growing more than 32% over the past year. The U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to nearly double by 2030, reaching more than 200 million tons, with Honeywell technology being central to that expansion.

What does Honeywell LNG do?

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Honeywell itself does not produce the natural gas; it designs and manufactures heat exchangers and the “refrigeration” process required to liquefy natural gas. This allows gas to be condensed and transported via ships to global markets in giant containers that could weigh as much as 1.4 million pounds and are carried on ships.

The heat exchangers are manufactured at a Port Manatee, Florida, facility that was acquired from Air Products in the transaction.

Palamara said each container is built for each customer’s needs.

“It’s not like you produce 20 of these and sell them,” he said. “You work with a customer. It’s a very technical process. It can take five years to develop a project. And during those five years, we’re doing engineering studies for companies all around the world. How are these going to look and what are the economics on the project?

“We’re basically customizing this equipment to the type of gas, to the location of the plant, things like that, to how much they want to make,” he said. “That’s what we do here in this office.”

Palamara said that roughly two-thirds of the world’s LNG is currently produced using the technology designed by Honeywell’s engineers. The technology had been developed over the past 50 years by Air Products.

“This technology, the exchanges, is critical to the world’s energy industry,” Palamara said.

This type of energy is expected to play a major role in the growth of artificial intelligence and the data centers that process it. Natural gas is considered one of the major power sources for data centers.

“When you open the news, it’s always talking about AI,” Kapur said. “Guess what? There’s no AI without gas, without energy. There’s nothing. You can just forget it.”

Kapur told the employees that they are making a big contribution to the U.S. economic revival.

“You’re part of something much bigger than what you’re doing day-to-day or designing your exchanger and doing other work,” he said. “I think it’s really very exciting.”

In trading Friday, Honeywell shares were up 0.52% to $199.11.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.

Honeywell keeps Air Products energy division in Lehigh Valley

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