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Nobel's Explosives Limited
Nobel Enterprises () is a chemicals business that used to be based at Ardeer, in the Ayrshire town of Stevenston, in Scotland. Specialising in nitrogen-based propellants and explosives and nitrocellulose-based products such as varnishes and inks. It was formerly ICI Nobel, a division of the chemicals group ICI, but was then sold to Inabata, a Japanese trading firm. The business was sold on to Chemring Group in 2005 and is now a Scottish Company (Chemring Energetics UK Ltd), part of Chemring Group. History Nobel Industries Limited was founded in 1870 by Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel for the production of the new explosive dynamite in the United Kingdom. The factory was overseen and run by George McRoberts. McRoberts and John Downie raised the £24,000 needed to found the company rather than Nobel himself. It was chaired by the Glasgow shipbuilder, Charles Randolph (1809-1878). Ardeer, on the coast at Ayrshire, was chosen for the company's first factory. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardeer, Scotland
Ardeer was a small town now officially incorporated into Stevenston on the Ardeer peninsula, in the parish of Stevenston, North Ayrshire, originally an island and later its extensive sand dune system became the site of Nobel Explosives, a dominant global supplier of explosives to the mining and quarrying industries and a major player in the design and development of products for the chemical and defence industries during the 20th century. The peninsula is now part of North Ayrshire's most important area for Biodiversity. Geography Ardeer Island Ardeer was once an island with a sea channel running along to exit in the vicinity of Auchenharvie Academy. Blaeu's map of 1654, based on Timothy Pont’s map of circa 1600 clearly shows a small island with the settlements of Ardeer, Dubbs, Bogend, Longford, Snodgrass, Lugton Mill and Bartonholm all being on or near the coastline. The island was small and extended no further than Bartonholm, nowhere near the size of the present-day Ard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guncotton
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. One of its first major uses was as guncotton, a replacement for gunpowder as propellant in firearms. It was also used to replace gunpowder as a low-order explosive in mining and other applications. In the form of collodion it was also a critical component in an early photographic emulsion, the use of which revolutionized photography in the 1860s. Production The process uses a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid to convert cellulose into nitrocellulose. The quality of the cellulose is important. Hemicellulose, lignin, pentosans, and mineral salts give inferior nitrocelluloses. In precise chemical terms, nitrocellulose is not a nitro compound, but a nitrate ester. The glucose repeat unit (anhydroglucose) within the cel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemical Companies Of Scotland
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., without breaking chemical bonds. Chemical substances can be simple substances (substances consisting of a single chemical element), chemical compounds, or alloys. Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond (carbon), gold, table salt ( sodium chloride) and refined sugar ( sucrose). However, in practice, no substance is entirely pure, and chemical purity is specified according to the intended use of the chemical. Chemical substances exist as solids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Big Idea (museum)
The Big Idea was a science centre located in the town of Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Located on the former Nobel Explosives manufacturing site on the Ardeer Peninsula, a new science and learning centre was planned in 2000 by the Millennium Commission, to celebrate the history of invention and inventors. An estimated £14 million was spent for the construction of the exhibition. After only 3 years of operation, the museum permanently closed in 2003 after a major decline in visitor numbers. As of 2022, no plans have been made for the former museum's redevelopment and it continues to lie abandoned on the peninsula. History As an idea for the new millennium, a museum site was proposed to celebrate inventors and inventions from Scotland and all over the world. The project was created with the help of £5.5million from the Millennium Commission, £5m of European funding, £500,000 from Scottish Enterprise and £3million of private money. Scottish inventors featured includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobel Fire Systems
Nobel Fire Systems is a business based in Heywood, Greater Manchester in the North West of England. It specialises in the design, supply, installation and maintenance of fire suppression and fire protection systems. It was formerly part of Nobel Enterprises, a division of the chemicals group Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) but is now independently owned. History Nobel Fire Systems was founded in 2003 following a buy out of Nobel Enterprises from ICI by The Reformer Group and Inabata, a Japanese chemical company. As the name suggests the company is one of the many that has its derivations from the explosives site founded in 1870 by the chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel for the production of dynamite. The site is based in Ardeer, on the west coast of Scotland in Ayrshire, which at its peak employed nearly 13,000 workers. The production of Nobel Fire Systems core gas generator technology is still manufactured at the site in Ardeer. The business has now diversified and as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AkzoNobel
Akzo Nobel N.V., stylized as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs over 32,000 people. Sales in 2020 were €8.5 billion. History AkzoNobel has a long history of mergers and divestments. Parts of the current company can be traced back to 17th-century companies. The milestone mergers and divestments are the formation of AKZO in 1969, the merger with Nobel Industries in 1994 forming Akzo Nobel, and the divestment of its pharmaceutical business and the merger with ICI in 2007/2008 resulting in current-day AkzoNobel. History and formation of Akzo Akzo was formed in 1969 as merger of Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU) and Koninklijke Zout Organon (KZO). The AKU was formed in 1929 when the Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabrike (est. 1899) and Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek (ENKA, est. 1911) merged, forming Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitric Acid
Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68% in water. When the solution contains more than 86% , it is referred to as ''fuming nitric acid''. Depending on the amount of nitrogen dioxide present, fuming nitric acid is further characterized as red fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 86%, or white fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 95%. Nitric acid is the primary reagent used for nitration – the addition of a nitro group, typically to an organic molecule. While some resulting nitro compounds are shock- and thermally-sensitive explosives, a few are stable enough to be used in munitions and demolition, while others are still more stable and used as pigments in inks and dyes. Nitric acid is also commonly used as a strong oxidiz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petroleum, that can be melt-processed into fibers, films, or shapes. Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many property variations. Nylon polymers have found significant commercial applications in fabric and fibers (apparel, flooring and rubber reinforcement), in shapes (molded parts for cars, electrical equipment, etc.), and in films (mostly for food packaging). History DuPont and the invention of nylon Researchers at DuPont began developing cellulose based fibers, culminating in the synthetic fiber rayon. DuPont's experience with rayon was an important precursor to its development and marketing of nylon. DuPont's invention of nylon spanned an eleven-year period, ranging from the initial research ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irvine Harbour
The harbours serving Irvine at Seagatefoot and Fullarton in North Ayrshire have had a long and complex history. Irvine's harbour was one of the most important ports in Scotland in the 16th century. Across from the main harbour at Fullarton on the River Irvine there was also terminal for the ICI-Nobel Explosives plant on the River Garnock. Much of the harbour went into decline in the 19th century when Glasgow, Greenock and Port Glasgow achieved higher prominence as sea ports. There was still some commercial sea traffic linked to local needs, though the harbour went into further terminal decline in the 20th century. The weir on the River Irvine forms the formal upper limit of the harbour. Formerly owned by ICI, Irvine Harbour is now the property of NPL Estates who also own the Big Idea site, the Bridge of Scottish Invention, locally known as the 'Sliding bridge', and other land on the Ardeer peninsular. Irvine Harbour is now officially closed as a commercial port. Until recently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Garnock
The River Garnock ( gd, Gairneag / Abhainn Ghairneig), the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of this starting point the untested stream tumbles over the Spout of Garnock, the highest waterfall in Ayrshire, once thought to be the river's origin. The river then continues, for a total length of or so, through the towns of Kilbirnie, Glengarnock, Dalry and Kilwinning to its confluence with the River Irvine at Irvine Harbour. The main tributaries are the Rye Water and Caaf Water which join north and south of Dalry respectively and the Lugton Water which joins just south of Kilwinning. Garnock Valley "Glen Garnock" pertains specifically to the short, sometimes precipitous, section of ravine overlooked by the ruins of Glengarnock Castle north of Kilbirnie, whereas "The Garnock Valley" refers to a wider geographic area of North Ayr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardeer Platform Railway Station
Ardeer Platform railway station was a railway station serving the Nobel Industries division of Imperial Chemical Industries near the town of Stevenston, North Ayrshire, Scotland. History Opened in 1896, the station and its associated branch line were known locally as "Nobel's private line",McSherry, p. 39 although in reality both the line and station were jointly run by the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) and the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR). The station was originally called Ardeer Works Platform but at some point the 'Works' title was dropped.Butt, p. 17 The branch became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, later passed on to the Scottish Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and eventually closed by the British Railways Board on 3 October 1966. The station was a long, single platform to accommodate the thousands of personnel that once worked at the factory, and was long enough to accommodate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Dyestuffs Corporation
British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd was a British company formed in 1919 from the merger of British Dyes Ltd with Levinstein Ltd. The British Government was the company's largest shareholder, and had two directors on the board. Background By 1913, the Germans had provided 80 percent of the dyes used in Britain. Even the 20% that was produced in the United States was mainly reliant on German intermediates. Stocks of dyes and intermediates were exhausted when World War I broke out in 1914, putting the textile industry in jeopardy. In July 1915, British Dyes, Ltd., was created and bought Read Holliday & Sons of Huddersfield. In 1919, Levinsteins merged with British Dyes, which became the country's largest dyemaker and was renamed the British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd. BDC supplied a comprehensive range of dyes within a competitive market. Its most notable foreign competitors were Allied Dye & Chemical, Du Pont and IG Farben. It became one of the four British chemical companies w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
