Robert Durrer
Encyclopedia
Robert Durrer was a Swiss
engineer who developed the basic oxygen steelmaking
process (the Linz-Donawitz process, named after the towns where the technology was commercialized). The process was successfully tested by Durrer in 1948 and further refined and implemented by VÖEST and ÖAMG
in Austria, independently of the "big steel" establishment of the United States
and the Ruhr
.
Durrer graduated from the Aachen University in 1915. He stayed in Germany and in 1928 accepted the chair of the Professor of Metallurgy at the Berlin Institute of Technology. In 1943 Durrer returned from Nazi Germany
to Switzerland and was appointed to the board of Roll AG, the country's largest steelmaker. Durrer teamed up with Heinrich Heilbrugge and ran a series of experiments that established commercial viability of basic oxygen metallurgy. In 1947 Durrer ordered a small experimental converter from the United States, and on April 1, 1948 Durrer and Heilbrugge produced their first oxygen-blown steel.
In the summer of 1948 Roll AG and two Austrian state-owned companies, VÖEST and ÖAMG
, agreed to commercialize the Durrer process. Their commercial converter furnaces were put into operation in November 1952 (VÖEST in Linz
) and May 1953 (ÖAMG, Donawitz) and temporarily became the leading edge of the world's steelmaking, causing a surge in steel-related research. The big American steelmakers did not catch up to the new technology: U.S. Steel
and Bethlehem Steel
introduced oxygen process only in 1964. Japan
, on the contrary, became an early adopter and by 1970 produced 80% of its stell in Linz-Donawitz furnaces. Durrer's contribution to practical steelmaking was marked by the AIME
Benjamin F. Fairless Award, 1966. etc.
Durrer was the Professor of ETH Zurich
from 1943 to 1961. He edited and co-authored the multi-volume Metallurgie des Eisens (Metallurgy of Iron, or the "Gmelin-Durrer"). The annual Staudinger-Durrer Prize awarded by ETH Zurich commemorates Durrer along with Nobel Prize
winner Hermann Staudinger
.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
engineer who developed the basic oxygen steelmaking
Basic oxygen steelmaking
Basic oxygen steelmaking , also known as Linz-Donawitz-Verfahren steelmaking or the oxygen converter process is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten pig iron is made into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the alloy and changes it into...
process (the Linz-Donawitz process, named after the towns where the technology was commercialized). The process was successfully tested by Durrer in 1948 and further refined and implemented by VÖEST and ÖAMG
Voestalpine
Voestalpine AG is an international steel company based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries....
in Austria, independently of the "big steel" establishment of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
.
Durrer graduated from the Aachen University in 1915. He stayed in Germany and in 1928 accepted the chair of the Professor of Metallurgy at the Berlin Institute of Technology. In 1943 Durrer returned from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
to Switzerland and was appointed to the board of Roll AG, the country's largest steelmaker. Durrer teamed up with Heinrich Heilbrugge and ran a series of experiments that established commercial viability of basic oxygen metallurgy. In 1947 Durrer ordered a small experimental converter from the United States, and on April 1, 1948 Durrer and Heilbrugge produced their first oxygen-blown steel.
In the summer of 1948 Roll AG and two Austrian state-owned companies, VÖEST and ÖAMG
Voestalpine
Voestalpine AG is an international steel company based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries....
, agreed to commercialize the Durrer process. Their commercial converter furnaces were put into operation in November 1952 (VÖEST in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
) and May 1953 (ÖAMG, Donawitz) and temporarily became the leading edge of the world's steelmaking, causing a surge in steel-related research. The big American steelmakers did not catch up to the new technology: U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
and Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
introduced oxygen process only in 1964. Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, on the contrary, became an early adopter and by 1970 produced 80% of its stell in Linz-Donawitz furnaces. Durrer's contribution to practical steelmaking was marked by the AIME
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers is a professional body for mining and metallurgy, with 90,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States, being one of the first national engineering societies in the...
Benjamin F. Fairless Award, 1966. etc.
Durrer was the Professor of ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
from 1943 to 1961. He edited and co-authored the multi-volume Metallurgie des Eisens (Metallurgy of Iron, or the "Gmelin-Durrer"). The annual Staudinger-Durrer Prize awarded by ETH Zurich commemorates Durrer along with Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner Hermann Staudinger
Hermann Staudinger
- External links :* Staudinger's * Staudinger's Nobel Lecture *....
.