Hans Tropsch (October 7, 1889 – October 8, 1935) was a chemist responsible, along with Franz Fischer, for the development of the

Fischer–Tropsch process The Fischer–Tropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatu ...

Life

Tropsch was born in Plan bei Marienbad, Sudet-German Bohemia at that time part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

now

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He studied at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague and the German Technical University in Prague from 1907 until 1913. He received his Ph.D for work with Hans Meyer. Tropsch worked in a dye factory in

Mülheim Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compa ...

in 1916–1917, then for a few months at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research. From 1917 to 1920, Tropsch worked in a

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

distillery of the Rütgers company in

Niederau Niederau is a municipality in the district of Meißen, in Saxony, Germany. Niederau station is located on the Leipzig–Dresden railway, which also used to have Oberau Tunnel The Oberau Tunnel (''Oberauer Tunnel'') was the second railway tunn ...

, but returned to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research in 1920, staying until 1928. There he worked with both Franz Fischer and Otto Roelen. It was during this time that the ground-breaking inventions of the

were patented. In 1928, Tropsch became professor at the new Institute for Coal Research in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He later accepted a position in 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 territori ...

at the Laboratories of

Universal Oil Products Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC or Universal Oil Products, is an American multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries. ...

and the

Armour Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1931. Due to a severe illness Tropsch returned to Germany in 1935, where he died shortly after his arrival, in a hospital in Essen.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tropsch, Hans 1889 births 1935 deaths 20th-century German chemists 20th-century German inventors Charles University alumni German Bohemian people People from Planá