James Joseph Drumm (1897 – 1974) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

and the inventor of the

Drumm battery Drumm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur E. Drumm (born 1929), American inventor and businessman *Don Drumm (sculptor), American sculptor *Don Drumm (singer), American singer *Emily Drumm (born 1974), New Zealand cricke ...

.Buch der Synergie von Achmed A. W. Khammas
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Life

Drumm was born in

Dundrum, County Down Dundrum () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle on the A2 road. The village is best known for its ruined Norman architecture, Norman Dundru ...

, in 1897, and initially attended a national school where his mother taught. His secondary education was at

St Macartan's College St. Macartan's College is a Roman Catholic boys' Diocesan College in Monaghan, Ireland. It is named after Saint Macartan, follower of St. Patrick and founder and bishop of the Diocese of Clogher. The school educates Catholic boys in County M ...

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

, where he won a county council scholarship. From 1914 to 1917 he studied at the ''Chemistry School'' of University College Dublin (UCD) and then worked in

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 ...

at the ''Continuous Reaction Company''. In 1922 he returned to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

as a chemist for research and production at ''Fine Chemicals Ltd''. He then worked for various companies and participated in research projects. He modernized various processing methods, such as the conservation of peas, to keep their natural green colour in tin cans. According to Casey, from 1926 to 1931, Drumm worked tirelessly on a new accumulator and finally presented the Drumm Traction Battery. In 1931 he was distinguished for his researches by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

as Doctor of Natural Sciences. His most famous research result was an electric storage battery, which was also known by his name. Drumm's original idea was to use a

Hydroquinone Hydroquinone, also known as benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene, having the chemical formula C6H4(OH)2. It has two hydroxyl groups bonded to a benzene ring in a ''para'' ...

Electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials de ...

in a battery cell for power generation. After some experiments, he devoted his attention to

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

cells. At Drumm's time the only available batteries were based on

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

lead dioxide Lead(IV) oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula PbO2. It is an oxide where lead is in an oxidation state of +4. It is a dark-brown solid which is insoluble in water. It exists in two crystalline forms. It has several important applicatio ...

and

sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

. The iron-nickel alkaline battery was developed by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

. Drumm created his first battery at UCD Merrion street and negotiation with the Government led to a prototype conversion of petrol

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

386 in July 1930. Following successful trials two trains were built at

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

and entered regular service on the

- Bray route with charging stations being built at each end. Two more trains were built in 1939 and they continued in service until 1949.

References

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External links