- Friedrich Bergius
Infobox_Scientist
name = Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius
image_size = 140px
birth_date = birth date|1884|10|11|df=y
birth_place = Breslau (Wrocław),Germany
nationality =Germany
death_date = death date and age|1949|3|30|1884|10|11
death_place =Buenos Aires ,Argentina
field =Chemistry
work_institution =University of Hanover
alma_mater =University of Breslau ,University of Leipzig
doctoral_advisor =Richard Abegg ,
Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch
doctoral_students =
known_for =Bergius process
prizes =Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1931)Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius (
October 11 ,1884 –March 30 ,1949 ) was a Germanchemist known for theBergius process for producingsynthetic fuel fromcoal ,Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1931, together withCarl Bosch ) in recognition of contributions to the invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods.Bergius was born near Breslau (Wrocław), within the
German Empire 's PrussianProvince of Silesia .Academic career
Before studying chemistry, Bergius was sent to work for 6 months at the
steel works inMühlheim . His studies started at theUniversity of Breslau in 1903 and ended with a PhD in chemistry at theUniversity of Leipzig in 1907, after only 4 years. His thesis onsulfuric acid as solvent was supervised byArthur Rudolf Hantzsch . In 1909 Bergius worked for one semester withFritz Haber andCarl Bosch at theUniversity of Karlsruhe in the development of theHaber-Bosch Process . On the same year he was invited to work at theUniversity of Hanover withMax Bodenstein , who developed the idea ofchemical kinetics and held a position as professor.Work
ynthetic fuel from coal
During his habilitation, techniques for the high-pressure and high-temperature chemistry of carbon-containing substrates were developed, yielding a patent on the
Bergius process in 1913. In this processliquid hydrocarbon s used assynthetic fuel are produced byhydrogenation oflignite (brown coal). He developed the process well before the commonly-knownFischer-Tropsch process .Theodor Goldschmidt invited him to built an industrial plant at his factory theTh. Goldschmidt AG in 1914. The production began only in 1919, after theWorld War I ended, when the need for fuel was already declining. The technical problems,inflation and the constant criticism ofFranz Joseph Emil Fischer , which changed to support after a personal demonstration of the process, made the progress slow and Bergius sold his patent toBASF , whereCarl Bosch worked on it. BeforeWorld War II several plants where built with an annual capacity of 4 million tons of synthetic fuel.ugar from wood
The hydrolysis of
wood to producesugar for industrial use became a hard task for Bergius. After he moved to Heidelberg he started to improve the process and planned an industrial scale production. The high costs and technical problems nearly led him to bankruptcy. Abailiff followed Bergius toStockholm to get the money from hisNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931.The autarcy movement before the
World War II boosted the process and several plants were built. Bergius moved toBerlin were he was only marginally involved in the development. While he was inBad Gastein Austria , his laboratory and his house where destroyed by an air raid. The rest of the war he stayed in Austria.International engagement
After the war he worked as an advisor in
Italy ,Turkey ,Switzerland andSpain . He emigrated toArgentina , where he didn't build any industrial plant. He died inBuenos Aires onMarch 30 1949 Awards
He and
Carl Bosch won theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931 in recognition of their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods.Further reading
* cite encyclopedia
last = Kerstein
first = Gunther
title = Bergius, Friedrich
encyclopedia =Dictionary of Scientific Biography
volume = 2
pages = 3-4
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
location = New York
date = 1970
isbn = 0684101149
*cite journal
author= Anthony N. Stranges
title = Friedrich Bergius and the Rise of the German Synthetic Fuel Industry
journal = Isis
year = 1984
volume = 75
issue = 4
pages = 642–667
doi =
url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-1753%28198412%2975%3A4%3C642%3AFBATRO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H
*cite journal
author = Dietrich Stoltzenberg
title = Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch und Friedrich Bergius - Protagonisten der Hochdrucksynthese
journal = Chemie in unserer Zeit
year = 1999
volume = 33
issue = 6
pages = 359–364
doi = 10.1002/ciuz.19990330607
url=
*cite journal
author = Robert Haul
title = Das Portrait: Freidrich Berguis (1884-1949)
journal = Chemie in unserer Zeit
year = 1985
volume = 19
issue = 2
pages = 59–67
doi = 10.1002/ciuz.19850190205
url=External links
* [http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1931/bergius-bio.html Bergius Biography on Nobel site]
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1926-1950
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