Industrial Chemistry Collection

Dr. Maximilian Toch, standing outdoors, 1936. Creator: Arnold Genthe
Dr. Maximilian Toch, standing outdoors, 1936. American paint manufacturer and industrial chemist; developed a concrete filler method that was used in the construction of the Panama Canal; co-owner of

Lead chamber for production of sulphuric acid, 1866. Also known as Oil of Vitriol or H2S04, sulphuric acid was one of the most important industrial chemicals

Sulphur recovery plant under construction at the Coleshill Gas Works, Warwickshire, 1962. An engineer at work on an excavator arm in front of the sulphur recovery plant

Absorption towers being installed, Coleshill Coal preparation plant, Warwickshire, 1962
Absorption towers being installed at Coleshill Coal preparation plant, North Warwickshire. 26th July 1962

Coleshill Gas Works under construction, Warwickshire, 1962. Artist: Michael Walters
Coleshill Gas Works under construction, Warwickshire, 1962. Civil engineers wait for the installation of a gantry section

A petrochemical plant towering over residential housing, Baglan Bay, Wales, 1975. By the late 1960s British Petroleums (BP) plant at Baglan Bay, near Swansea

Erecting an absorption tower, Coleshill coal preparation plant, Warwickshire, 1962. Contractors from Woodall Duckham lifting an 85 foot absorption tower into position at the plant near Birmingham

A heavy load stops the Manchester traffic, 1962. Artist: Michael Walters
A heavy load stops the Manchester traffic, 1962. A policeman stops traffic as a giant 85-foot absorption tower is pulled slowly through the streets of Dukinfield by a Foden lorry owned by Edward Beck

An absorption tower being transported by road, Dukenfield, Manchester, 1962. Artist
An absorption tower being transported by road, Dukinfield, Manchester, 1962. A man and his granddaughter look on as a giant 85 foot absorption tower slowly makes its way through the streets on a

Carr House Gas Works, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, 1957. Artist: Michael Walters
Carr House Gas Works, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, 1957

Benzole recovery plant, 1938. Benzole was a product extracted from coal tar consisting mainly of a mixture of Benzene and Toluene. It was added to petrol and used as a motor fuel

A laboratory worker holds a separating funnel of oil, Dunkirk refinery, France, 1950s

Mineralogy, extracting sulphur from pyrites, 1751-1777. A print from the Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers by Diderot & d Alembert, 1751-1777

Sectional view of lead chambers for large-scale production of sulphuric acid, 1870. Also known as Oil of Vitriol or H2S04, sulphuric acid was one of the most important of industrial chemicals

Sectional view of Gay-Lussacs lead chambers and absorption towers, 1870. These were for the large-scale production of sulphuric acid also (Oil of Vitriol or H2SO4)

Lead chambers for large-scale production of sulphuric acid, 1874. Sectional view showing the process from beginning to end from the furnace (left) to the denitrating (or Glover) tower (right)

Platinum still for concentrating sulphuric acid (Oil of Vitriol or H2S04), 1844. The view shown here was at the Felling Chemical Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From British Manufacturers by George Dodd

Production of sulphuric acid (Oil of Vitriol or H2S04), 1844. View of the passage between two lead chambers, Felling Chemical Works, Newcastle, England. From The Penny Magazine. (London 1844)

Henri Etienne St Claire Deville, 19th century French chemist, (c1955). In 1854 Deville (1818-1881) discovered the process for obtaining pure aluminium by reducing aluminium chloride with sodium

Crystallization of saltpetre (nitre, potassium nitrate, or KN03), 1683. Saltpetre is the principal ingredient in gunpowder, and is still used in the preservation of some foods

Checking the quality of saltpetre (nitre, potassium nitrate, or KN03), 1683. Saltpetre is the principal ingredient in gunpowder, and is still used in the preservation of some foods

Laboratory for refining gold and silver, showing typical laboratory equipment, 1683. 1) Athanor or Slow Harry, a self-feeding furnace maintaining a constant temperature

Production of saltpetre (nitre, potassium nitrate, or KN03), 1683. Nitre beds, heaps of manure mixed with chalky earth. These were watered with urine and manure water

Distillation of Nitric Acid, 1683. Also known as Aqua Fortis or Parting Acid, nitric acid was widely used in the refining and assaying of metals

Athanor or Slow Harry, a self-feeding furnace maintaining a constant temperature, 1683. Centre: 1) Athanor or Slow Harry ; 2) side chambers containing reagents; 3) glass receivers

Christian Friedrich Schonbein, German chemist, c1898. Schonbein (1799-1869) began his investigation of ozone in 1839. He worked on nitrocellulose and produced gunoctton for use in firearms in 1846

Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, British industrialist, c1926
Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, British industrialist and politician, c1926. The son of Ludwig Mond, Lord Melchett (1868-1930) became the first Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)

Joseph Crosfield & Sons soap factory at Bank Quarry, Warrington, Cheshire, 1886. 1: general view of works; 2: display at Liverpool Exhibition; 3: frame room; 4: stamping; 5: packaging room; 6

Wallace Hume Carothers, American industrial chemist, c1927-1937. Carothers (1896-1937), seen here in the laboratory, discovered nylon while working for the Dupont Company in 1927

General view of an Alum works in the Whitby area, Yorkshire, 1814. Artist: Havell & Son
General view of an Alum works in the Whitby area, Yorkshire, 1814. Steeping crumbled ore in water in pits to dissolve out salts which will be processed to produce alum

Soap manufacturing, c1905. The Vinolia Soap Companys London laboratory where raw materials and essential oils were tested

Webbs chemical factory, Diglis, Worcestershire, c1860. The tall building to the right behind the chimney contains lead chambers for the production of Sulphuric Acid

Karl Bosch, German chemist, c1930s. In 1910 Bosch (1874-1940) and Fritz Haber patented the Haber-Bosch process for the industrial production of ammonia

Nitroglycerin processing plant, explosives factory, Val Bormida, near Cengio, Italy, 1888
Nitroglycerin processing plant, explosives factory, Val Bormida, near Cengio, north-west Italy, 1888. Nitroglycerin was mixed with Kieselghur (a diatomaceous earth) to produce Dynamite

Women packing dynamite cartridges, 1888. Explosives factory at Val Bormida, near Cengio, north-west Italy. Nitroglycerin was mixed with Kieselghur (a diatomaceous earth) to produce Dynamite

Interior of Marston Salt Mine, Northwich, Cheshire, England, c1880. This shows how pillars of rock have been left to support the roof

South Durham Salt Works, 1884. Loading crystallised salt into railway wagons. Brine would be pumped up from the borehole, purified, then crystallised

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