Frank Shuman

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Frank Shumann

Frank Shuman (born January 23, 1862 in Brooklyn , New York , † April 28, 1918 in Tacony near Philadelphia ) was an American inventor.

life and work

His grandparents were German immigrants from Thuringia or Saxony. His father was a brother of Francis Schumann (1844-1911), the president of the Tacony Iron & Metal Company.

He graduated from Lafayette College and started working as a chemist in the company of Victor Gustav Bloede in West Virginia at the age of 18 .

In 1891 he came to Tacony to help his uncle Francis build the iron statue of William Penn for the tower of Philadelphia City Hall .

In 1892 he developed a viable method of making wired glass and founded the American Wire Glass Manufacturing Company in Tacony.

On August 20, 1897 or 1907, he demonstrated his First practical solar engine , a toy steam engine powered by solar-heated ether . In 1908 he founded the Sun Power Company to build larger systems. He developed a low pressure steam turbine . From 1912 to July 1913 he built the first parabolic trough power plant in Maadi in Egypt, about 25 km south of Cairo . Charles Boys , who had criticized his design, he hired as a consultant. The machine had an output of around 60 hp and pumped water from the Nile into cotton fields.

Shortly before the start of the First World War , Shuman presented his project to the German Reichstag . Thereupon he was given the prospect of 200,000 Marks to build a solar system in German East Africa . However, the outbreak of war thwarted the plan.

He died of a heart attack at home.

Appreciation

At the 11th International Cairo Biennale 2008/09 for contemporary art, Shuman's solar project was rediscovered by the Swiss artist duo Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller. Your Swiss contribution to the Biennale was titled No1 Sun Engine . It consisted of two parts: On the one hand, two segments of the solar power plant were recreated for the exhibition. On the other hand, there was an information kiosk at the former location in Maadi. The following quote was painted in Arabic and English on the village wall behind it:

"[...] One thing I feel sure of, and that is that the human race must finally utilize direct sun power or revert to barbarism."

- Frank Shuman 1914

literature

  • Christina Hemauer, Roman Keller: Unter der Sonne Ägyptens, in: zenith - Zeitschrift für den Orient , 11th Jhg., 2/2010, pp. 46–47.
  • Christina Hemauer, Roman Keller: Sun of 1913 . With a text by Wageh George in English and Arabic. Published by the Federal Office for Culture, Bern: 2008. ISBN 978-3-9523148-6-9
  • Frank Dittmann: Frank Shumann and the early use of solar energy, in: ew - the magazine for the energy industry , vol. 112, issue 3/2013, pp. 84–88.
  • Frank Dittmann: Frank Shumann and the early use of solar energy, in: Engineers in the technocratic ultra-modern , Waxmann Verlag, 2012, pp. 181–194. ISBN 978-3-8309-2771-6 (Despite the same title, not identical to the article in ew)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nekrolog in the Journal of the Franklin Institute , Volume 185, p. 842 ( online )
  2. ↑ American Inventor Uses Egypts Sun for Power , article from The New York Times of July 2, 1916 (pdf)
  3. ^ Website of the art project No1 Sun Engine
  4. ↑ www.news.admin.ch : Official Swiss contribution to the 11th International Art Biennale in Cairo
  5. ^ Photo of the lettering on the wall in Maadi
personal data
SURNAME Shuman, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American inventor
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1918
Place of death Tacony near Philadelphia