100 Years of Progress with <I>LONZA</I>

100 YEARS OF PROGRESS WITH LONZA 259 CHIMIA 51 (1997) Nr. 6 (Juni) 1 0 0 ye a rs of progress with Lonza Chimia 51 (1997) 259-269 1. Early Days, First Crisis: Lonza © Neue Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft Pioneers and Their Achievements lSSN 0009-4293 1.1. The Path to Electrochemistry Since prehistoric times, man has used 100 Years of Progress with fire to change materials. First wood and charcoal, then later coal and gas were the LONZA main fuels, producing temperatures up to 1300°. In 1800, Volta, a physicist from Como in Italy, invented the electric cell Walter Eschenmoser* which supplied a constant electric current for the first time. Decades later, Berzelius Abstract. In the past century, Lanza has developed from an hydroelectric plant into a in Sweden and the English chemist specialized, globally operating chemical company. This growth was not a foregone Humphry Davy succeeded in separating conclusion but the fruit of innovative drive, market orientation, and bold decisions in difficult times. These attitudes are described in the following article that outlines the *Correspondence: Dr. W. Eschenmoser development of the product range from calcium carbide to organic intermediates and LonzaAG to highly sophisticated chemical and biotechnology-based exclusive manufacturing for Mi.inchensteinerstrasse 38 leading life science companies. CH-4002 Basel Fig. 1. View from Lotschental ofLonza' sfirst production plant in Gampel, where calcium carbide was manufactured from 1898 to 1964 and calcium cyanamide from 1915 to 1970. Photographed around 1915. 100 YEARS OF PROGRESS WITH LONZA 260 CHIMIA 5/ (1997) Nr. 6 (Juni) chemical compounds using an electric in Norway, produced significant advances 1.5. The Carbide Boom and First current. But it was not, until the arrival of in the development of furnace technology. Secondary Products the dynamo and affordable electricity that The First W orId War prompted a boom the way was opened to electrochemistry. 1.3. The Lost Battle for Light in demand for calcium carbide (1) and its From around 1880 onwards, plants were Numerous carbide factories which secondary products. International demand built for separating a salt solution into sprang up before the tum of the century in for carbide soared from 160 000 metric chlorine and caustic soda. About the same a veritable speculative fever were without tons in 1913 to 1 300 000 tons by the end of time, electrolysis was used successful1y to a sound technical or financial basis. Acet- the war. In the warring countries, calcium extract aluminum from anhydrous molten ylene explosions in production plants and cyanamide was in great demand as a basic ore at ca. 1000°. This 'silver from alumi- in lamps threw doubt on this method of substance for the manufacture of gunpow- na' was one of the sensations of the Paris illumination. At the same time, electrical der and explosives. At the same time, Exhibition in 1889. engineering was booming thanks to the industrial production of acetaldehyde (4) introduction of alternating current. Around and acetic acid (5) opened up new possi- 1.2. Lonza Pioneers and the First 1905, the battle between carbide and elec- bilities for acetylene (2). Swiss Carbide Factory tric light was decided. The carbide indus- At the turn of the century, the applica- try faced a new crisis and had to seek fresh C2H2 + H20 ~ C2H40 tion of such scientific discoveries in eco- areas of application. Mixed with oxygen, Acetylene Acetaldehyde nomically useful ways required great bold- 'carbide gas' could be used for autoge- 4 ness and not a little patience. The original nous oxyacety lene welding; and combined investors who put up the capital for the with similarly reactive substances, itled to 'Lonza Electricity Plant', founded on 29 the development of many new chemical October 1897 in St. Maurice, were compounds. C2H40 + ~ O2 ~ C2H402 full-blooded entrepreneurs, pioneers in the Mastery of high temperatures, such as Acetaldehyde Acetic acid truest sense of the word. Their aim was to those necessary for the manufacture of 5 generate hydroelectric power and use it to carbide, gradually became a Lanza speci- manufacture electrochemical products. In ality. To the pioneering Lanza engineers There was also a reduction process for 1897-98, the first big generating plant of that time, the volatility of the carbide turning acetaldehyde (4) into alcohol. The was constructed in Gampel, and - because markets before, during, and after the First Swiss Federal Alcohol Authority approved it was still not viable to transmit electrical World War constituted a challenge in it- the construction of a plant and signed a power over any great distance - a carbide self. contract to buy, at a good price, a quantity factory was built next door. corresponding to Switzerland's prewar The science of calcium carbide as it 1.4. Calcium Cyanamide to the Rescue requirements. Procuring the right equip- then stood consisted entirely of the re- The research of two German chemists, ment delayed the start-up of operations se~rch done by the French chemist Henri Adalf Frank (1834-1916) and Heinrich until the end of 1918. Altogether, only 100 Maissan in 1892. The work of Maissan Caro (1834-1910), marked a turning point metric tons of alcohol were supplied; high and his assistant Rullier marked the birth for the crisis-ridden carbide industry. coal prices prevented any further produc- of the electrochemical industry in Europe. Frank's original experiment involved a tion. In 1920, catastrophic overproduction It did more to foster the growth of electri- stream of elementary atmospheric nitro- in the immediate postwar years forced cal engineering and hydroelectric power gen directed over glowing calcium car- Lanza, not only to halve carbide produc- than the invention of the electric light. bide (1). This was used as a basis for a tionin Gampel and at the Vispplant(which In those days, it was enormously diffi- process to manufacture calcium cyana- had been opened in 1909), but also to close cult to put scientific know-how into prac- mide (3) developed by Frank and Caro in the carbide factories acquired earlier in tice. With the tenacity that was already a 1899. It was not, until 1915 Lanza suc- Thusis and Chevres near Geneva. typical Lanza characteristic, the nascent ceeded in developing industrial-scale pro- technology was further refined until, on 27 duction. This opened the way for process- 1.6. More Pioneering Feats ill Valais August 1898, the furnaces were able to ing of the company's own calcium carbide In France in 1907, 'Societe L' Air start operations: at ca. 2000°, coal and (1) to produce calcium cyanamide (3), the Liquide-Paris' developed a process for lime were 'united' to form calcium car- first synthetic fertilizer, which neutralizes separating air which had been liquefied at bide (1), a grey-black 'stone' which, when acid soil and provides plants with a low temperatures. Here again was a chal- brought into contact with water, generated slow-release dosage of nitrogen. lenge to Lanza's already proverbial pio- an inflammable gas: acetylene (2). Origi- neering spirit. On the slope west of Gam pel, nally, calcium carbide (1) was used exclu- CaO + 3C -> CaC2 + co in the 'Claude' plant - named after an sively for the purpose of lighting. Acety- Lime Calcium carbide engineer from L' Air Liquide -, nitrogen lene (2) produced by mixing calcium car- and oxygen were produced industrially bide (1) and water burns with a bright from air. Compressed air is cooled, by white flame. The bright light of carbide repeated pressure drops, until it attains a lamps shone in every corner; they were CaC2 + 2H20 -> C2H2 + Ca(OHh + 34 kcai/Mol liquid state; through fractionated distilla- Calcium carbide Acetylene even widely used as safety lamps on bicy- tion, the more volatile nitrogen can be cles. The block method then employed to 2 separated from heavier oxygen at nearly produce calcium carbide (1) entailed con- -200°. Thanks to such low-temperature siderable wastage of raw materials and distillations, as well as its mastery of high CaC2 + N2 -> CaCN2 + C + 69 kcal/Mol uneconomic utilization of electricity. Close Calcium carbide Calcium cyanamide temperatures and pressures, and electro- contacts with carbide works abroad, such lytic techniques, Lanza was able to tackle as Elektra-Basna in Bosnia and Hafslund 3 practically all chemical processes. 100 YEARS OF PROGRESS WITH LONZA 261 CHIMIA 5/ (1997) Nl. 6 (Jun;) In the twenties, there was still no viable electrolyzer outfit for industrial-scale production of hydrogen. It was only with the discovery and development of water electrolyzers by Pechkranz, an engineer at Lanza's Valais works, that the way was opened. The electrolyzers at the Acker- sand electrolysis plant were fed with di- rect current from appropriately equipped generators at the company's power sta- tion. Altogether, Visp and Ackersand produced 5800 m3 hydrogen per hour. 1.7. Entry into Nitrogen Chemistry In 1925, Lanza became involved in ammonia synthesis. The process chosen by Lanza - making it the first licensee for industrial-scale production - was developed by Ammonia Casale in Rome, which used a pressure of 700 bar. At a temperature of 450°, a gaseous mixture of75% of hydrogen and 25% of nitrogen is partly converted to ammonia in the presence an iron catalyst in thick-walled pipes. This ammonia is liquefied by cooling and separated from the remaining gas. Using this method, it takes 2000 m3 of hydrogen to manufacture one metric ton of ammonia. However, apart from ammonia, highly concentrated nitric acid was also much prized at that time. The process for manufacturing nitric acid, introduced in 1927, involved mixing ammonia gas with air and combusting it at ca. 800° as it passed through a fine platinum mesh to produce nitrogen monoxide.

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