Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist
Encyclopedia
Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist was a Swedish
inventor. He designed the first sootless kerosene
stove
, operated by compressed air
. He started a company, Primus, to manufacture and sell the Primus stove.
Lindqvist was born in Västergötland
, and lived in Gothenburg
for a few years before moving to Stockholm
, where he started to work in the AB Separator factory. Inspired by a workmate, he and his brother were able to design a new kind of burner for kerosene stoves. By vaporising the kerosene before it reached the burner, their construction had a sootless, smokeless, hot flame.
Lindqvist started selling his stove on a small-scale basis, but the business soon grew. The product and the company were dubbed Primus. Together with a companion, Johan Victor Svensson, Lindqvist started industrial production in 1892. With the help of marketing firm B.A. Hjorth & Co sales grew, and soon the Primus stove was exported abroad. In the 1910s, more than half a million stoves were made annually. In 1930, more than 500 people worked at the Primus factory, on the Stockholm
island Lilla Essingen
. Among them were Per Albin Hansson
, future Prime Minister of Sweden
.
In 1984, the Primus stove was depicted on a Swedish stamp, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the Swedish patent system.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
inventor. He designed the first sootless kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
stove
Stove
A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
, operated by compressed air
Compressed air
Compressed air is air which is kept under a certain pressure, usually greater than that of the atmosphere. In Europe, 10 percent of all electricity used by industry is used to produce compressed air, amounting to 80 terawatt hours consumption per year....
. He started a company, Primus, to manufacture and sell the Primus stove.
Lindqvist was born in Västergötland
Västergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
, and lived in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
for a few years before moving to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, where he started to work in the AB Separator factory. Inspired by a workmate, he and his brother were able to design a new kind of burner for kerosene stoves. By vaporising the kerosene before it reached the burner, their construction had a sootless, smokeless, hot flame.
Lindqvist started selling his stove on a small-scale basis, but the business soon grew. The product and the company were dubbed Primus. Together with a companion, Johan Victor Svensson, Lindqvist started industrial production in 1892. With the help of marketing firm B.A. Hjorth & Co sales grew, and soon the Primus stove was exported abroad. In the 1910s, more than half a million stoves were made annually. In 1930, more than 500 people worked at the Primus factory, on the Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
island Lilla Essingen
Lilla Essingen
Lilla Essingen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden, next to the larger neighbouring island Stora Essingen.Both Essingen islands are mainly residential areas, the smaller densely packed with blocks of flats while the larger is scattered with villas...
. Among them were Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson , was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his...
, future Prime Minister of Sweden
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
.
In 1984, the Primus stove was depicted on a Swedish stamp, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the Swedish patent system.
External links
- Primus company history on Primus' official home page
- Swedish inventions and discoveries - Swedish InstituteSwedish InstituteThe Swedish Institute is a Swedish government agency with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside of Sweden. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other countries in different areas of public life, in particular in the spheres of culture,...
fact sheet - 1929 Primus product catalog at the Swedish Museum of Technology web site