Carl von Linde

Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde (born 11 June 1842 in Berndorf (Oberfranken); died 16 November 1934 in Munich) was a German engineer who developed the basics of modern refrigeration technology. Linde was a member of scientific and engineering associations, including being on the board of trustees of the German National Metrology Institute and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Inventions

Linde developed the basic techniques of modern refrigeration. In 1871 he invented a system which worked on methyl ether, which was built at Augsburg engineering works. The second generation of refrigerators, from 1876, worked on nitrogen. Both systems used the principle of cooling gas; until then cooling had taken place mechanically. In 1894, following a request from the Guinness brewery in Dublin for a new cooling technique, Linde developed a revolutionary new method (Linde technique) for the liquefaction of large quantities of air.

Related Topics:
Augsburg - Guinness - Dublin

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Linde's method was based on the works of James Prescott Joule and Lord Kelvin, and the introduction of the countercurrent technique. Air is sucked into the machine, where it is compressed, pre-cooled and decompressed; at this point it cools down. In the countercurrent heat exchanger, the air which has already been cooled is used to cool more compressed air, which again cools the next input of air. Continual repetition leads to further lowering of the temperature until the air is liquified. Linde's invention made it possible for physicists to study cryogenics and separate the elements of liquid air by fractional distillation.

Related Topics:
James Prescott Joule - Lord Kelvin - Cryogenics - Liquid air - Distillation

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Patents

• US727650 -- May 12, 1903 -- Linde oxygen process
• US728173 -- May 12, 1903 -- Equipment for Linde oxygen process
• US795525 -- July 25, 1905 -- Equipment for Linde oxygen and nitrogen process