William Justin Kroll
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:''See also German classic philologist, Wilhelm Kroll (philologist) (1869–1939).'' William Justin Kroll (born Guillaume Justin Kroll; November 24, 1889 – March 30, 1973) was a
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...
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 is best known for inventing the
Kroll process The Kroll process is a pyrometallurgical industrial process used to produce metallic titanium from titanium tetrachloride. The Kroll process replaced the Hunter process for almost all commercial production. Process In the Kroll process, the TiCl ...
in 1940, which is used commercially to extract metallic
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
from
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
.


Biography

In 1909, Wilhelm Kroll graduated from Luxembourg's Athenaeum High School, and in 1910, he registered at the faculty of metallurgy at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, graduating in 1914. He spent the next four years there to complete his doctoral thesis under the guidance of legendary professor K. A. Hofmann. Working in Germany, in 1918, Kroll invented a very efficient bearing alloy based on lead, commercialized under the name Lurgi metal, and he was awarded various metallurgy related patents. In Austria in 1922, he developed alloys known as Alusil and Alsia used primarily for cast-aluminum pistons. In 1923, Kroll returned to Luxembourg and set up a private laboratory. Kroll invented
precipitation hardening Precipitation hardening, also called age hardening or particle hardening, is a heat treatment technique used to increase the yield strength of malleable materials, including most structural alloys of aluminium, magnesium, nickel, titanium, and ...
(PH) stainless steel in 1929, when he added a small amount of
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
to stainless steel and strengthened it by thermally precipitating
TiC A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.American Psychiatric Association (2000)DSM-IV-TR: Tourette's Disorder.''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', 4th ed., ...
particles. In the 1930s he began focusing on the study of
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
and its alloys. Before Kroll, titanium as a metal was a laboratory curiosity. In 1938, titanium was machined for the first time at the Cerametal factory in Bereldange, Luxembourg. William Kroll visited the US, arriving in New York aboard the SS ''Queen Mary'' from Cherbourg, France on October 18, 1938. He called on various US non-ferrous industries, showing his titanium samples, but there was little to no interest in titanium at the time. Disappointed, he returned to Luxembourg. As the Nazi cloud began to spread over Germany in 1940 Wilhelm J. Kroll elected to emigrate to the United States. He arrived in New York on February 22, 1940, having sailed from Rotterdam, The Netherlands aboard the
SS Volendam SS ''Volendam'' was a ton ocean liner operated by Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij). She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, in Govan, Glasgow. Her sister ship TSS ''Veendam'' was built by Harland ...
on February 10, 1940. On May 10, 1940, German troops invaded Luxembourg, occupying the country for the next four years. On June 25, 1940, the
United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
awarded patent 2,205,854 for Kroll's method of manufacturing titanium and alloys thereof, filed on July 6, 1938. On December 4, 1940, Kroll applied for US citizenship. He worked as a consulting engineer for Union Carbide Research Laboratories at Niagara Falls, New York. As the US declared war on the Axis nations in December 1941, Kroll's patent was forfeited by the US government as falling under the Alien Property Custodian act prompting a seven-year litigation, ending in favor of William Kroll, though litigation fees of over $1 million ate up the compensation awarded. Slowly the US government and the industry began to recognize the potential of titanium. The US government established a research center in Boulder, Colorado in 1944, and in late 1948, Dupont de Nemours began the commercial production of titanium using the Kroll process. Meanwhile, Kroll's focus had turned to
zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'' ...
. He became a consulting metallurgist to the United States, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines in 1945 at their
research facility A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
at
Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, jus ...
. The first zirconium strip was rolled out there in August 1946. In 1951, William Kroll joined the faculty of
Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
, established a non-profit Metal Research Foundation awarding scholarships and grants in the USA and in Europe. Dr. William J. Kroll returned to Europe in 1961 where he died in Brussels on March 30, 1973. One of his lasting legacies in the United States is the Kroll Institute at the
Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on en ...
,
Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountai ...
, established in 1974: "The Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy (KIEM) was established in 1974 in accordance with a bequest from William J. Kroll, world-renowned extractive metallurgist best known for his inventions of processes for the production of titanium and zirconium. The financial resources of Dr. Kroll's bequest were intended to provide for the establishment of a Center for Excellence in Extractive Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines. Since its inception, the Kroll Institute has provided financial support to both undergraduate and graduate students at CSM, many of whom, subsequently, have made important contributions, nationally and internationally, to the fields of mining, minerals, metals and advanced materials."


Honors and awards

Kroll was posthumously inducted into the
National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
in 2000. Among his other awards were the Francis J. Clamer Medal in 1954, the Albert Sauveur Achievement Award from the
American Society for Metals ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals, is an association of materials-centric engineers and scientists. ASM provides several information resources, including technical books, various digital databases, and ASM Han ...
in 1955 and the
Perkin Medal The Perkin Medal is an award given annually by the Society of Chemical Industry (American Section) to a scientist residing in America for an "innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development." It is considered the ...
in 1958. He was also awarded the Acheson Award by the Electrochemical Society in 1958. Kroll has a street named after him in Luxembourg City, in the business district of
Gasperich Gasperich () is a quarter in southern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 7,607 inhabitants. In 2017, major building works began on a new development providing for dozens of large office buildings, hundre ...
, and in Esch-sur-Alzette. In September 2018, a vocational high school in Esch/Alzette in Luxembourg, Lycée technique d'Esch-sur-Alzette, changed its name to ''Lycée Guillaume-Kroll''.


References


External links


Inventors Hall of Fame page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroll, William J. 1889 births 1973 deaths Luxembourgian inventors Luxembourgian emigrants to the United States Luxembourgian metallurgists People from Esch-sur-Alzette Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Oregon State University faculty People from Albany, Oregon 20th-century inventors