Abelló Linde Centenary Book

ISIDRO ABELLÓ, SPECIALIST IN REFRIGERATION
AND IN THE COMPRESSION OF GASES
These early industrial experiments were modest. The real refrigeration
industry was introduced to Barcelona and Spain by Folch i Albiñana, a
company created around 1889. It was in Poblenou, then in the
municipality of Sant Martí de Provençals. They were the first, on a countrywide
level, to make alcohol and also to produce artificial ice on a large scale. They hired
the professional services of Isidro Abelló, first to produce it and then to improve
the system, in a way that would make it possible to achieve ice of a better quality
and a better sale price. These experiences enabled Isidro Abelló to carry out the
work given him and Folch i Albiñana to start producing artificial ice in bulk at the
turn of the century. They had three depots in Barcelona: Carrer Tallers, Carrer
d’Eroles and at number 2, Carrer de Claris.
This was not Isidro Abelló’s only experience in
industrial refrigeration installations. Among other things,
he was to direct the installation of refrigeration
equipment at the Damm brewery and of a refrigeration
chamber in the Boqueria market.
Isidro Abelló must have deemed it necessary to
get to know the industrial situation in Europe with
regard to the refrigeration industry and he therefore
made several journeys in 1893 and 1894, during which
he visited some French, German and Belgian factories,
which were making ice. He did not visit the makers of
the machinery, but those that used it. It is also on
record that he travelled to the United States for the
same reason, but we do not know when.
Damm brewery in Barcelona, September 1897
What we do have is a “Notebook, belonging to
Isidro Abelló, Barcelona, Cortes, 206”, which contains
notes about the visits made on those journeys, often
accompanied by sketches of the machines seen or
descriptions of the procedures used. They seem to be
notes taken on site or in the hotel, in the evening,
quickly, to later make a more complete description.
They are short notes written in a mixture of Spanish
and French, in the case of the French and Belgian companies. Let us not forget
that Isidro Abelló had studied in Reims and, logically, he wrote and spoke the
language perfectly.
All the companies visited were ice producers, with the sole exception of
one that made alcohol. He may have gone to this last one on behalf of Folch i
Albiñana, which, as we have said, were also alcohol producers.
18 Isidro Abelló, his family and his first business ventures