Acheson, Edward

Acheson, Edward Goodrich (1856-1931), was an American chemist who worked with Thomas Edison before establishing his own laboratory. He developed a process for producing silicon carbide while trying to make synthetic diamonds. In 1891 he founded The Carborundum Co. to produce SiC for abrasives and was granted a patent in 1893 for SiC. In 1926, the U.S. Patent Office named his patent for SiC one of the 22 patents most responsible for the industrial age. 

The first artificial abrasive, siUcon carbide [409-21 -2] SiC, was produced by Edward Acheson in 1891 (19). This invention led to the formation of the Carbomndum Company. The registered trademark, Carbomndum, is essentially synonymous with siUcon carbide. 

In 1885, Charles Martin Hall invented his aluminum process and Hamilton Young Castner in 1890 developed the mercury-type alkali-chlorine cell, which produced caustic (sodium hydroxide) in its purest form. Edward G. Acheson in 1891, while attempting to make diamonds in an electric furnace, produced silicon carbide, the first synthetic abrasive, second to diamond in hardness. Four years later, Jacobs melted aluminum oxide to make a superior emeiy cloth. Within two decades, these two abrasives had displaced most natural cutting materials, including naturally occurring mixtures of aluminum and iron oxides. 

Szymanowitz, R., Edward Goodrich Acheson Inventor, Scientist, Industrialist, Vantage Press, New York, 1971. 

Acheson process — (Edward Goodrich Acheson March 9, 1856, Washington, USA - June 6, 1931, New York City, USA, American chemist, inventor (abrasive Carborundum 1891) and industrialist, coworker of Edison 1881-1883, president of The Electrochemical Society 1908-1909). Coke and quartz (silica) are pressed and heated in an electric furnace at 800-1300 °C, subsequent graphitization proceeds at 2000-2200 °C. Formation of graphite under these conditions is attributed to growth of initially already present small graphite particles and/or decomposition of initially formed SiC. See also graphite electrode. 

Edward Goodrich Acheson patents a method for making carborundum... 

In the brief description of Edward Acheson we noted that the U.S. Patent Office named silicon carbide as... 

The process was patented in 1896 by the US inventor Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856-1931). 

The first observation of silicon carbide was made in 1824 by Jons Jacob Berzelius. It was first prepared industrially in 1893 by the American chemist Edward Goodrich Acheson, who patented both the batch process and the electric furnace for making synthetic silicon-carbide powder. In 1894 he established the Carborundum Company in Monongahela City, PA, to manufacture bulk synthetic silicon carbide commercialized under the trade name Carborundum . Silicon carbide was initially used to produce grinding wheels, whetstones, knife sharpeners, and powdered abrasives. Despite being extremely rare in nature, when it occurs as a mineral it is called moissanite after the French chemist Henri Moissan who discovered it in a meteorite " in 1905. 

The Acheson process. This process, invented by Edward Goodrich Acheson in 1893, was extensively used for making silicon carbide and was the only industrial process available for... 

Karl Bayer first separated alumina from bauxite ore. This method, known as the Bayer process, is stiU used to purify alumina. In 1893, Edward Goodrich Acheson, an American chemist, electronically fused carbon and clay to create carborundum, also known as synthetic silicon carbide, a highly effective abrasive. 

Carborundum (Edward Goodrich Acheson) Attempting to create artificial diamonds, Acheson instead synthesizes silicon carbide, the second hardest substance known. He will develop an improved graphite-making process in 1896. 

Edward G. Acheson were on the scene. Chemistry and electricity were now joining forces on a respectable scale. Only a year later did the city of Buffalo sign up for power. 

But Castner was not finished. He was dissatisfied with the performance of the carbon anodes and turned toward the development of graphite electrodes. This brought him into contact with Edward G. Acheson in Niagara Falls. Castner prevailed upon Acheson s knowledge of electrothermics in graphitizing carbon to make graphite electrodes, which precipitated another great advance for industrial electrochemistry ( ). 

Szymanowitz, R. Edward Goodrich Acheson Vantage Press New... 

American chemist Edward Goodrich Acheson discovers a... 

Silicon carbide is produced most often by the Acheson process, discovered in 1891 by Edward Goodrich Acheson. Later in 1891 he formed Carborundum Corporation to manufacture Sic abrasives. In this process current is passed through a mixture of carbon and sand causing the reaction SiOj -H 3C — SiC + 2CO. When carried out at 2600°C or higher the result is alpha the beta form can be achieved at 1500 to 1600°C. ... 

Szymanowitz, R., Edward Goodrich Acheson Inventor, Scientist, Industrialist, Vantage Press, New York, 1971. Miihlhaeuser, O., 7. Am. Chem. Soc., 1893,15, 411. 

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