Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

9. Plant and Equipment

The major classes of plant and equipment are as follows:

		Average
30 September		Useful Life		2012		2011
Land			$	215.8	$	173.1
Buildings		30 years		1,032.8		913.8
Production facilities ^(A)
	Merchant Gases	15 years		3,552.9		3,249.2
	Tonnage Gases	15 to 20 years		6,583.7		6,266.5
	Electronics and Performance Materials	10 to 15 years		2,022.6		1,862.3
	Equipment and Energy	5 to 20 years		173.9		165.9
	Total production facilities			12,333.1		11,543.9
Distribution equipment^(B)		5 to 25 years		3,133.7		2,770.7
Other machinery and equipment		10 to 25 years		310.7		221.2
Construction in progress				1,020.1		1,236.1
Plant and equipment, at cost				18,046.2		16,858.8
Less: accumulated depreciation				9,805.6		9,636.1
Plant and equipment, net			$	8,240.6	$	7,222.7

^(A)	Depreciable lives of production facilities related to long-term customer supply contracts are matched to the contract lives.
^(B)	The depreciable lives for various types of distribution equipment are 10 to 25 years for cylinders, depending on the nature and properties of the
	product; 20 years for tanks; 7.5 years for customer stations; and 5 to 15 years for tractors and trailers.

Depreciation expense was $813.7, $811.7, and $801.5 in 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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