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Elias Anton Cappelen Smith (6 November 1873 – 25 June 1949) was a
Norwegian American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...
chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
,
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
and
metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
. He pioneered copper production in the early 20th century. Among his achievements were the and the Guggenheim process.


Background

Cappelen Smith was born at
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
in
Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. He was the son of Elias Anton Smith (1842–1912), founder of E.A. Smith AS and Ingeborg Anna Røvig (1846–1923). His middle name Cappelen is from the family of his paternal grandmother, Marie Severine Cappelen (died 1900) married to Peder Høegh Smith (died 1881). He grew up as the eldest son among nine children and attended the
Trondheim Cathedral School Trondheim Cathedral School ( no, Trondheim katedralskole, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding ...
. He was educated as a
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
at , now the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...
, taking his final exam in 1893. The same year he emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.''Elias Anton Cappelen Smith – utdypning (NBL-artikkel)'' (Norsk biografisk leksikon)
/ref>


Career

Cappelen Smith started working as an assistant chemist at
Armour and Company Armour & Company was an American company and was one of the five leading firms in the meat packing industry. It was founded in Chicago, in 1867, by the Armour brothers led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company had become Chicago's mo ...
in Chicago in 1893. Cappelen Smith was employed in the
metallurgical industry Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
working from 1895 to 1896 for the Chicago Copper Refining Company, from 1896 to 1900 for the
Anaconda Copper Mining Company The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest mi ...
, and from 1901 to 1910 as the head metallurgist for the Baltimore Copper Smelting and Rolling Company in
Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...
. It was while at this company that he and William H. Peirce developed the , which revolutionized the Manhès-David process. Cappelen Smith died in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
in 1949.


Peirce–Smith converter

300 px, Longitudinal and cross sections of a Peirce–Smith converter. The Peirce–Smith converter, introduced in 1908, improved significantly the copper converting process. Before this improvement, the converter was a long cylindrical vessel, lined with sand and clay. It was developed by two French engineers,
Pierre Manhès Pierre Manhès (1841 – 1906) was a French metallurgist and businessman, who succeeded in 1880 to adapt the Bessemer process to the pyrometallurgy of the copper. With his engineer , he developed the Manhès-David process and converter, which w ...
and from 1880 to 1884. Their copper-converting process, named the Manhès-David process, was directly derived from the
Bessemer process The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities from the iron by ox ...
. In this horizontal chemical reactor, where air was injected into copper matte, a molten
sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...
material containing iron, sulphur and copper, to become molten blister, an alloy containing 99% copper. But the
basic BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
slag produced during the blowing combined with the
acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
silica refractory lining, thereby causing a very short lifetime of the lining. By developing a basic refractory material adapted to the matte refining process (in magnesia bricks), Cappelen Smith and William H. Peirce found a way to drastically increase the lifetime of the lining. It has been stated that, in some cases, the process allowing an increase from 10 to 2500 tons of copper produced without relining the converters.William Peirce and E.A. Cappelen Smith and Their Amazing Copper Converting Machine
Larry M. Southwick. JOM: The Member Journal of TMS. International Peirce–Smith Converting Centennial. October 2008 Volume 60, NO.10
A reduction of the cost of copper converting from 15 to US$20 to 4–5 USD has been stated. The Peirce–Smith converter replaced quickly the Manhès-David Converter: by March 1912, the Peirce–Smith Converting Co. claimed that "over 80% of the copper produced in
he U.S. He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...
is being converted either in P-S type converters or on basic lining, under license, in the old acid shells". It is still in use today, although the process has been significantly improved since then. In 2010, with 250 converters working in the world, the Peirce–Smith converters refine 90% of the copper matte.


Guggenheim process

The Guggenheim process is a method of chemical precipitation which employs
ferric chloride Iron(III) chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula . Also called ferric chloride, it is a common compound of iron in the +3 oxidation state. The anhydrous compound is a crystalline solid with a melting point of 307.6 °C. The col ...
and
aeration Aeration (also called aerification or aeriation) is the Systems engineering process, process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or solvation, dissolved in a liquid or other substances that act as a fluid (such as soil). Aeration proces ...
to prepare sludge for filtration. Cappelen Smith improved the leaching technology and applied it to the low grade copper ore deposits of the
Guggenheim family The Guggenheim family ( ) is an American-Jewish family known for making their fortune in the mining industry, in the early 20th century, especially in the United States and South America. After World War I, many family members withdrew from th ...
mining interests in the
Chuquicamata Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, at above sea level. It is northeast of Antofagasta and ...
open pit copper mine in the north of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. The Guggenheim process first the
exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...
of poor quality
copper ore Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical proces ...
in the
Chuquicamata Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, at above sea level. It is northeast of Antofagasta and ...
mine starting in 1915. This mine is still today one of the world's largest copper resources.


Honors

In 1920 Cappelen Smith was honored with the gold medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America for distinguished service in the art of
hydrometallurgy Hydrometallurgy is a technique within the field of extractive metallurgy, the obtaining of metals from their ores. Hydrometallurgy involve the use of aqueous solutions for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual m ...
. In 1925, he was made a commander 1st Class in the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
. He was made a member of the Royal Norwegian Scientific Society during 1926. He was also commander of the Chilean Al Merito-order and was awarded an honorary doctorate at
Drexel Institute of Technology Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, Sc ...
. In 1930, Cappelen Smith helped finance the installation of the Steinmeyer organ in the
Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...
for the 900th anniversary of the
Battle of Stiklestad The Battle of Stiklestad ( no, Slaget på Stiklestad, non, Stiklarstaðir) in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway () was killed. During the pontificate of Pope Alexander III, ...
. (Norwegian:''Olavsjubileet 1930th'')


References


Primary Source

* :''Saga in Steel and Concrete'' is posted in sections at
Norway-L archives 2003-04Norway-L archives 2003-05


External links


Mining and Metallurgical Society of America official websitePeirce–Smith Converting Centennial Symposium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cappelen Smith, Elias Anton 1873 births 1949 deaths American chemical engineers American civil engineers American metallurgists People from Trondheim Elias Anton Norwegian emigrants to the United States Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters