Øresunds chemiske Fabriker ( lit. "

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

Chemical Industries"), colloquially known as Kryolitfabrikken (The Cryolite Factory), was a

cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is a rare mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. It is used in the reduction ("smelting") of aluminium, in pest ...

processing plant established in 1859 at

Strandboulevarden Strandboulevarden () is a major street in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Fridtjof Nansens Plads in the south to Østerbrogade in the north, linking Kristianiagade with Jagtvej. History Decided by the City Council in ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

History

The company was established as Fabrikken Øresund by Th. Weber & Co. in 1859 based on a plan by professor Julius Thomsen (1826-1909) for manufacturing

washing soda Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...

from

from a cryolite factory in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. The activities were later that same year expanded with an

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

plant and a few years later with a ''Stråmasse'' plant.

Gustav Adolph Hagemann Gustav Adolph Hagemann (16 May 1842 – 26 April 1916) was a Danish engineer and businessman. He was chief technical officer of the De Danske Sukkerfabrikker, Danish Sugar Factories from 1872 to 1897 and then served as chairman of the board until ...

started working for the company as a student in 1864. In 1865, when he had completed his exams, Kryolit Mine og Handelsselskabet sent him to the US to oversee the deliveries of cryolite to the

Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company Arkema S.A. is a publicly listed, multi-national manufacturer of specialty materials, headquartered in La Défense, near Paris, France. It has three specialty materials segments (or divisions); adhesives, advanced materials and coatings. A furt ...

. In early 1856, he travelled to the US to provide technical support in connection with the first deliveries of cryolite from

. With inspiration from

David Alter David Alter (December 3, 1807 – September 18, 1881) was a prominent American inventor and scientist of the 19th century. He was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and graduated from the Reformed Medical School in New York City. He had Ger ...

's nearby production site, Hagemann began to work on improving methods to manufacture and purify

bromine Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...

from

salt well A salt well (or brine well) is used to mine salt from caverns or deposits. Water is used as a solution to dissolve the salt or halite deposits so that they can be extracted by pipe to an evaporation process, which results in either a brine or a d ...

. He obtained several patents and in the spring of 1868 established his first plant in Pomeroy, Ohio. Fabrikken Øresund was hit hard and went into administration when the market price of washing soda suddenly dropped dramatically in 1866. When Hagemann visited Denmark in the summer of 1869, C. F. Tietgen convinced him to purchase kryolitfabrikken Øresund in a partnership with Vilhelm Jørgensen (1844-1925). Hagemann then sold his bromine manufacturing activities in the US and settled permanently in Denmark. Hagemann and Jørgensen changed the name of the company to Øresunds chemiske Fabriker in 1870. That same year they also expanded the plant with a

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

factory. The production of soda decreased from the 1870s and was discontinued in 1894. The production of sulfuric acid had already been discontinued in the 1880s as a result of a contract with Fredens Mølle. The core activity was from then on purification of cryolite for use in the global aluminium, glass and enamel industries. The company was in 1902 converted into a public limited company (''

aktieselskab (; abbr.: A/S or a/s, ; ) is the Danish name for a stock-based corporation. An ''aktieselskab'' may be either publicly traded or private. Liability The shareholders of an ''aktieselskab'' are not liable for the debts of the company. If an ...

''). In 1912 it was converted into a ''

kommanditselskab A kommanditselskab (; abbreviated K/S) is the Danish equivalent of the limited partnership. The owners are divided into general partners (''komplementarer'' in Danish) and limited partners (''kommanditister'' in Danish). Often the only general p ...

'' solely owned by Vilhelm Jørgensen's son, C. F. Jarl (born1872).

Kryolitselskabet Øresund A/S

The company's cryolite was on 1 January 1940 ceded to Kryolitselskabet Øresund A/S (a company founded by Greenland's Home Office), Kryolith Mine og Handels Selskabet A/S and Øresunds chemiske Fabriker. Kryolitselskabet Øresund A/S took over Øresunds Chemiske Fabrikker's premises on Strandboulevard. The head office of Øresunds Chemiske Fabrikker was instead moved to Østbanegade 121. The Strandboulevarden plant closed in 1990. The company merged with Incentive A/S in 1992, and Incentive A/S went bankrupt in 2004.

References

{{reflist Defunct companies of Denmark Chemical companies of Denmark Danish companies established in 1859 1992 disestablishments in Denmark