Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (19 March 1877 in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

– 1 December 1947 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

. He was the founder and first director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research. He is known for the discovery 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 ...

Career

In 1925, he and Hans Tropsch discovered the

. This allowed for the production of liquid hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and hydrogen with metal catalyst at temperatures of 150–300 °C (302–572 °F). In 1930, he and Hans Schrader developed the Fischer assay, a standardized laboratory test for determining the oil yield from

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...

to be expected from a conventional

shale oil extraction Shale oil extraction is an industrial process for unconventional oil production. This process converts kerogen in oil shale into shale oil by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. The resultant shale oil is used as fuel oil or up ...

. He also worked with

Wilhelm Ostwald Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (; 4 April 1932) was a Baltic German chemist and German philosophy, philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst, ...

and

Hermann Emil Fischer Hermann Emil Louis Fischer (; 9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist and 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fischer projection, a symbolic way of dra ...

. In 1913, he became the Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research 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 ...

. He joined the NSDAP in 1933, and remained in office until his retirement in 1943.

Awards

Wilhelm Exner Medal The Wilhelm Exner Medal has been awarded by the Austrian Industry Association, (ÖGV), for excellence in research and science since 1921. The medal is dedicated to Wilhelm Exner (1840–1931), former president of the Association, who initialized ...

, 1936

References

External links

* 1877 births 1947 deaths 20th-century German chemists 20th-century German inventors People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Scientists from Freiburg im Breisgau Nazi Party members University of Giessen alumni Technical University of Munich alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Freiburg alumni Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Technical University of Berlin faculty Max Planck Institute directors {{Germany-chemist-stub