William B. Wiegand (February 17, 1889 – August 18, 1976) was a Canadian-born research chemist and later a chemicals industry executive. He was vice president of Columbian Carbon Co., known for his pioneering work on

carbon black Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid ...

technology. Wiegand developed a type of

heat engine In thermodynamics and engineering, a heat engine is a system that converts heat to mechanical energy, which can then be used to do mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a higher state temperature to a lower state ...

, the rubber pendulum, based on the Gough-Joule effect. Later in his career, he studied carbon black's reinforcing effect on rubber, and proposed that the effect arises due to forces acting at the interface between the carbon black and the surrounding elastomer matrix. He was a pioneer in developing the furnace method for producing carbon black. Wiegand was the 1923

ACS Rubber Division ACS or Acs may refer to: Organizations and societies * American Cancer Society, an American voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer * American Ceramic Society, an American professional organization * American Cheese Socie ...

chair. He received the

Colwyn medal Colwyn was a local government district with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered ...

in 1956 and the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

in 1960. Wiegand was born in

Conestogo, Ontario Conestogo is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the township of Woolwich in Waterloo Region. The population in 2016 was 1,270. The community is located at the junction of the Grand and Conestogo Rivers. Conestogo is a te ...

, Canada on February 17, 1889. He died in

Bernardston, Massachusetts Bernardston () is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,102 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Falls Fight Township Bernardston, Mas ...

on August 18, 1976, at the age of 87.

References

American business executives 1889 births 1976 deaths {{US-scientist-stub