Alfred Büchi (July 11, 1879 – October 27, 1959) was a Swiss
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
and
inventor. He was best known as the inventor of
turbocharging
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
. Büchi was born July 11, 1879, in
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria ...
,
Switzerland, growing up there and in
Ludwigshafen. He was the son of Johann Büchi, a chief executive at Swiss
industrial engineering
Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information a ...
and
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
firm
Sulzer.
He was well-positioned to pursue a similar field and would eventually achieve fame as a result of his inventions. In 1899 he enrolled as a machine engineering student at
Federal Polytechnic Institute (ETH) in Zürich, receiving a degree in 1903. From there he practised engineering in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
before returning to Switzerland (
Wetzikon
Wetzikon is a small town in the Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich.
Geography
The municipality Wetzikon has an area of . Of this area, 42.4% is used for agricultural pu ...
) in 1908.
The turbocharger
During his early years outside Switzerland, Büchi became fascinated with the challenge of improving
combustion engine efficiency relating to
exhaust
Exhaust, exhaustive, or exhaustion may refer to:
Law
*Exhaustion of intellectual property rights, limits to intellectual property rights in patent and copyright law
** Exhaustion doctrine, in patent law
** Exhaustion doctrine under U.S. law, in ...
heat loss.
Büchi's patents
Büchi's patent, No. 204630 received from the
Imperial Patent Office of the German Reich on November 6, 1905,
describes a "highly
supercharged compound engine" with a solution to capture such heat using an "axial
compressor, radial
piston engine and axial
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
on a common shaft".
The idea was simple, however the materials and fuels required for it to function were not yet available. While a later patent (1925) describing "pulse operation for low-pressure supercharging"
is considered his landmark, due to Büchi's invention the year 1905 is thus acknowledged as the birth of the turbocharging era. Büchi's principles from 1905 remain the same for turbocharging today. Power and efficiency are improved "by forcing additional air into the
cylinders, with the heat from the exhaust gas used to drive the turbine".
Sulzer and Brown Boveri
Joining Sulzer in 1909, Büchi researched
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
s while continuing to investigate turbocharging innovations, focusing on large marine applications. In 1911 Sulzer opened an experimental turbocharger plant, and Büchi's first prototype for turbocharged diesel engine was produced in 1915. Intending to mitigate effects of thin air in high altitude for airplane engines, this version did not maintain consistent
boost pressure and thus was not well received.
In 1915 Büchi began a dialog with
Brown, Boveri & Cie
Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies.
It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1 ...
(BBC) to set up cooperation, though it took them until 1923 to reach an agreement. Büchi went on to lead the Sulzer diesel department during 1918-19.
Marine applications
Nearly two decades later Büchi's invention achieved practical application. The first use of
turbocharging
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
technology was for large marine engines, when the
German Ministry of Transport commissioned the construction of the passenger liners ''Preussen'' and in 1923. Both ships featured twin ten-cylinder diesel engines with output boosted from 1750 to 2500 horsepower by turbochargers designed by Büchi and built under his supervision by
Brown Boveri (BBC) (now
ABB
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...
).
Büchi Syndicate
Eventually near the end of his tenure at the firm, in 1925 Büchi for the first time succeeded in combining his technology with a diesel engine, increasing efficiency by over 40%,
the same year filing Swiss patent number 122 664 under his own name ("Büchi-Duplex turbocharging system").
In 1926 he left Sulzer and established a new company known as the "Büchi Syndicate". Büchi headed engineering and customer relations,
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) in Winterthur provided engines for testing, and BBC in
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
built turbochargers.
The same year Büchi also became Director of SLM.
Two years later Büchi's new, larger turbocharger design yielded improved results, leading to an increase in
licensing
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
agreements with engine builders.
The Büchi Syndicate stayed together until 1941 when BBC continued turbo-related operations under its own name.
Automotive applications
Racecar engines began to utilize turbocharging in the 1930s and the technology reached commercial automobiles toward the end of the decade. In 1938,
Saurer in Switzerland produced the first truck engine to take advantage of turbocharging.
Death
Büchi died October 27, 1959, and was buried in Winterthur's Rosenberg cemetery.
Honours
In 1938 Büchi was awarded an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from ETH Zurich.
In summer 2012 the city of Winterthur celebrated the inventor and pioneer with the inauguration of the road "Alfred Büchi Way" in Neuwiesenquartier.
References
External links
Historisches Lexikon der SchweizAutomotive Engineering MilestonesABB Turbocharger history and milestonesProva Magazin fuer Automobile AvantgardeGas Turbine Powerhouse: The Development of the Power Generation Gas Turbine at BBC - ABB - AlstomWinterthur GlossaryGizmagTurbo Magazine Centenary Issue - A Century of Turbocharging (ABB Turbo Systems)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchi, Alfred
1879 births
1959 deaths
Swiss mechanical engineers