Cottrell, Frederick

Cottrell, Frederick G. (1877-1948). American scientist, inventor of an electrostatic precipitator, now known as Cottrell Precipitator, for smoke, dust fumes. Among other inventions are the pebble bed furnace, boiling point apparatus the Cottrell-Daniels process for fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Cottrell was Director of US Bureau of Mines Director of the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, and founder of the Research Corporation, a nonprofit organization... 

Precipitators are currently used for high collection efficiency on fine particles. The use of electric discharge to suppress smoke was suggested in 1828. The principle was rediscovered in 1850, and independently in 1886 and attempts were made to apply it commercially at the Dee Bank Lead Works in Great Britain. The installation was not considered a success, probably because of the cmde electrostatic generators of the day. No further developments occurred until 1906 when Frederick Gardiner Cottrell at the University of California revived interest (U.S. Pat. 895,729) in 1908. The first practical demonstration of a Cottrell precipitator occurred in a contact sulfuric acid plant at the Du Pont Hercules Works, Pinole, California, about 1907. A second installation was made at Vallejo Junction, California, for the Selby Smelting and Lead Company. 

As we saw in Chapter 3, the founding text of modern materials science was Frederick Seitz s The Modern Theory of Solids (1940) an updated version of this, also very influential in its day, was Charles Wert and Robb Thomson s Physies of Solids (1964). Alan Cottrell s Theoretical Structural Metallurgy appeared in 1948 (see Chapter 5) although devoted to metals, this book was in many ways a true precursor of materials science texts. Richard Weiss brought out Solid State Physics for Metallurgists in 1963. Several books such as Properties of Matter (1970), by Mendoza and Flowers, were on the borders of physics and materials science. Another key precursor book, still cited today, was Darken and Gurry s book. Physical Chemistry of Metals (1953), followed by Swalin s Thermodynamics of Solids. 

Dr. Frederick Seitz, doyen of solid-state physicists, has given me much helpful information, about the history of semiconductors in particular, and has provided an invaluable exemplar (as has Sir Alan Cottrell) of what a scientist can achieve in retirement. 

Frederick G. Cottrell Electrical Precipitation of Suspended Particles. 

Frederick Cottrell invented the electrostatic precipitator, which removes pollutants from smoke. Cottrell was born on Jannaiy 10, 1877, in Oakland, California, the son of Henry and Cynthia Cottrell. His ingenuity and interest in the applied sciences were demonstrated early on. At the age of thirteen, he ran his own printing business with a handpress in the basement of his home, publishing, among other works, a four-page technical magazine. Boy s Workshop. He also earned money from odd jobs as an electrician and landscape photographer. 

Cameron, Frank T. (1952). Frederick Gardner Cottrell, Samaritan of Science. New York Doubleday. 

Daniels, Farrington (1949). Frederick Gardner Cottrell 1877-1948. Science 110 (11) 497-498. 

Research Corporation. Frederick Gardner Cottrell. Available from . 

Electrostatic precipitator (Frederick Gardner Cottrell) The electrostatic precipitator is invaluable for cleaning stack emissions. 

What did Frederick G. Cottrell invent that pertains to air pollution control When was this device first used for Is there any possibility that the production of ozone could be a problem with this device and, if so, how ... 

Bush, Vannevar. Frederick Gardner Cottrell, 1877-1948. Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences 27 (1952) 1-11. 

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