- James Hargreaves (chemist)
James Hargreaves (May 1834–
4 April 1915 ) was an Englishchemist and aninventor .He was born at Hoarstones, Pendle Forest,
Lancashire , the eldest child of James Hargreaves, a schoolmaster atSlaithwaite near Marsden. His father moved toSabden but as he found his salary to be insufficient he became a druggist in 1844, later moving toPreston . Hargreaves worked with his father for a time and began to experiment inchemistry . One of his interests was to attempt to recoversulphur fromalkali waste. At the same timeWilliam Gossage was working at the same project at his factory inWidnes . In 1859 Hargreaves moved to Widnes and worked for Gossage. Here he made his first two important discoveries; the recovery ofchromate s which were used in thebleach ing of fats and oils, and a method of bleaching brown soap. He was also involved with developing the process for making the commercially successful blue mottled soap. Around 1865 he left Gossage and worked with two other soap making firms,Hazlehurst & Sons inRuncorn and then Stephen Cox and Company inLiverpool . [Hardie, pp. 128–130]In 1871 he set up a a business with his brother, John, who had studied chemistry in Preston, as consulting chemists. James then embarked on further experiments. He suggested using
sodium nitrate instead of air in theBessemer process for manufacturingsteel but this proved to be too expensive. He developed a process for recoveringphosphate s fromblast furnace slag . In association with Thomas Robinson, he invented a process for producing saltcake from salt without the use ofsulphuric acid . The Atlas Chemical Company was established in Widnes to use this Hargreaves-Robinson process. It was cheaper to produce alkali by this process than by theLeblanc process . The Atlas Chemical Company was absorbed by theUnited Alkali Company in 1890 but the process continued to operate until 1918. [Hardie, pp. 130–132]With Thomas Bird, Hargreaves developed a process for the
electrolysis ofbrine usingasbestos diaphragms. In 1893 the General Electric Parent Company was established to develop this process. Bird died in 1895 and 1899 the General Electrolytic Alkali Company was set up atMiddlewich , with Hargreaves as a director and his son Luke as general manager. Hargreaves cells were also built in France, Norway and USA. [Hardie, pp. 193–194, 197] The process was in direct competition with the electrolysis of brine in mercury cells in theCastner-Kellner process but Hargreaves considered that mercury was too toxic a substance for workers to be exposed to. [Hardie, p. 192]Hargreaves produced other ideas and inventions. He advocated the use of
chlorine rather than bleaching powder to disinfectsewage . He developed a "thermo-motor" which anticipated thediesel engine and at the time of his death he was developing a new type of cattle food. He also wrote articles for scientific encyclopaedias, gave lectures and travelled widely, becoming a good linguist. He died at his home in Widnes in 1915. [Hardie, pp. 132–133]References
Notes
Bibliography
*cite book |last=Hardie |first=David W. F. |year=1950 |title=A history of the chemical industry in Widnes |publisher=
Imperial Chemical Industries | location=Londonee also
Coley, N.G. 'Hargreaves, James (1834-1915)', rev., "
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ", Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37510]
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