Georg Imbert

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Georg Imbert (French Georges Imbert ; born March 26, 1884 in Niederstinzel , † February 6, 1950 in Sarre-Union ) was a Franco-German chemical engineer and inventor of the wood gasifier .

Childhood and youth

Imbert was born on March 26, 1884 in Niederstinzel near Finstingen as the oldest of four children.

His father was the railway official, telegraph operator and later station master of Diemeringen Peter Imbert (* 1858), son of the road attendant Peter Imbert from Diemeringen and Katharina Jungk. His mother Lina Magdalena (* 1860) was the daughter of the mill owner Christian Müller and his wife Caroline Müller from Sarre-Union.

After primary school in Diemeringen, he attended Saargemünd Gymnasium . Because of his academic achievements, his father enrolled him at the renowned school for chemistry in Mulhouse . Three years later he graduated with a degree in chemistry.

Professional activities

In 1904 Imbert filed the first of more than 15 patents. In 1908 he used industrial processes he developed himself to set up a soap factory in Diemeringen. He also worked as a researcher in Manchester, England .

In 1915, Georges Imbert was drafted into the German army, where he worked as a chemist for Chemische Fabrik Königswarter & Ebell in Linden near Hanover and Pintsch in Berlin .

After his demobilization in 1918, he continued to devote himself to soap production in Diemeringen. In addition, he is researching coal liquefaction . He succeeds in producing synthetic gasoline from coal on a laboratory scale, but the costs are too high for an economical application. After realizing this, he devoted himself to converting coal to gas. In 1920 he invented a gas generator for producing gas from coal, which he put into practice in 1921. The first coal gasifier in a vehicle followed in 1923.

In 1922 a competition for the production of synthetic gas took place in France, which the British win. There was pressure to make France's national energy supply independent of foreign fuels.

In the following year, the French army approached Imbert with the order to build a wood gasifier. The industrialists De Dietrich set up a research laboratory for him in their railway factory in Reichshoffen . In 1924–26 Imbert patented various technologies for gas synthesis, such as the construction principle of the wood gasifier with a double jacket and double gasification zone. The De Dietrichs for their part submit patents, which prompted Imbert to terminate the collaboration in 1926.

Imbert acquired the “Chalet” property in Sarre-Union and in 1930 founded the Compagnie Générale des Gazogènes Imbert .

Despite the enthusiasm of the French Minister of War André Maginot for the project, the economic situation was difficult. In 1931 Imbert had to sell licenses to build carburetors to his German representative, the Westphalian businessman and engineer Hanns Linneborn. This started the small series production of wood gas generators in Germany. In 1934, his brother Jean-Paul tried to sell synthesis gas to the Americans. The success in Germany made it possible for Imbert to further develop his synthesis technology in Sarre-Union. He eventually developed a wood gasifier that could use undried wood without clogging the engine.

In 1938 Imbert invented a lignite gasifier .

During the evacuation of Sarre-Union in May 1940, he moved with his family to Épinal in the Vosges . On his return in September he became an employee of his former company, which had been bought by his branch "Imbert Cologne".

In 1944, Imbert's work found general recognition among European experts. The German press described him as the "Pope of the gas generator". Germany and other European countries use the wood gasifier on a larger scale because of the scarcity of petroleum in the military and civil vehicles. Around 500,000 wood gasifiers will be installed by 1950.

Private life

Imbert was Protestant. He married Henriette Jeanne Hudry (1897-1958) in Strasbourg in 1921, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Imbert lost a son on the Eastern Front. With the inevitable loss of the war by Germany in mind, he sank into alcoholism . In December 1944, Sarre-Union was occupied by the US Army. Georges Imbert is not imprisoned even though he worked for the Germans. His property was confiscated and sold as spoils of war. Imbert withdrew disinterested in everything and died in 1950 at the age of 66.

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Imbert, Georg in the German biography
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Biographie de Georges Imbert. Archived from the original on February 13, 2006 ; Retrieved June 19, 2016 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Imbert, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Imbert, Georges Christian Peter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-German inventor
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Niederstinzel , Lorraine
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1950
Place of death Sarre-Union , Alsace