The complete history of the development of The - The Linde Group

At first it looked as if “Linde Air” would have a market with
a strong future, mainly in the chemical industry. “Linde Air” also
appeared to promise sales opportunities for use as an explosive.
Test blasts during the construction of the Swiss Simplon Tunnel
strengthened this hope. But this activity was ceased after the
First World War.
Increasing demand for pure oxygen
The industry’s demand for oxygen-rich gas mixtures quickly fell.
The demand for pure oxygen on the other hand grew by leaps
and bounds because autogenous (gas) welding and cutting
processes began to take hold in metal working. In order not to
lose his connection to this very promising market, von Linde
intensified his search for a new method of separating out pure
oxygen.
He finally convinced his son Friedrich and chemistry professor
Hempel to try “rectification.” This was a method of separating
alcohol and water that had been long practiced in the field
of chemistry: The fermented mash was heated until the alcohol
evaporated. Heat was removed from the alcohol vapor by water
cooling so that it could be condensed (rectification process) and
captured as a liquid.
Technological breakthrough
Carl von Linde and his employees set in motion a comparable
process, letting liquid air trickle down into to rectification column,
while the oxygen vapor provided a countercurrent. This continuous
process of liquefaction and evaporation produced nearly pure
oxygen.
At the suggestion of Prof. Hempel, the first rectification
column consisted of a steel tube filled with glass beads. This
heavy apparatus with a long cool-down period was soon replaced
with a lighter version with holes in the bottom instead of glass
beads. Von Linde and his employees combined the liquefaction
1908 1909
Hans Köppen of Germany wins the international “Around the
World” auto race from New York to Paris in 165 days.
The Linde plant facilities in Höllriegelskreuth in 1909 (top)
and 1929 (bottom).
and separation units into one unit. “This opened up the road
by which low-temperature technology finally found success in
industry,” wrote von Linde on this sensational breakthrough.
One of the first production plants, which was used to generate
gas for many years, went into operation in Höllriegelskreuth,
near Munich, in 1903.
Nitrogen production
The publication of this new process in 1902 not only attracted a
number of imitators to the scene, but also aroused the interest
of the chemical industry in pure nitrogen. Nitrogen compounds
(calcium cyanamide, ammonia) were gaining increasing importance
as fertilizers.
In a modified rectification process, the team in Höllriegelskreuth
achieved nitrogen purification as well in 1903. Linde sold the
first such plant to an Italian customer in 1905. And by 1910 the
team, under the direction of Friedrich Linde and Rudolf Wucherer,
had developed a “two-column apparatus,” which delivered pure
oxygen and pure nitrogen at the same time at a low cost.
German chemist Fritz Hofmann successfully
produces synthetic rubber.
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