Société Suisse des Explosifs
| SSE Group
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | CH0002513312 |
| founding | 1894 |
| Seat |
Brig , Switzerland
|
| management | Gilles de Preux, CEO |
| Number of employees | 650 |
| sales | 132 million CHF (2018) |
| Branch | Chemistry, pharmaceuticals |
| Website | www.sse-group.com |
| As of December 31, 2018 | |
The Society of Swiss Explosifs SA (SSE Group) is a Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Brig-Glis . It is one of the leading international manufacturers of civil explosives and is active in the fields of fine chemicals and pyrotechnics .
prehistory
In order to be able to use his dynamite, invented in 1866, for the first time in the hard rock of tunnel construction, Alfred Nobel bought the disused paper mill in Isleten in 1873 and converted it into an explosives factory under the name of AG der Schweizerische Dynamit- und Produktefabrik . The dynamite produced there was used in particular for the construction of the Gotthard railway tunnel . The Isleten explosives factory was integrated into the holding Société Générale pour la Fabrication de la Dynamite , founded in Paris in 1875 . During the First World War , the noble company withdrew from Switzerland. Isleten was taken over in 1916 by the Swiss Sprengstoff AG Cheddite (SSC), founded in Jussy in 1899, with its two locations in Liestal and Isleten.
history
The Société Suisse des Explosifs was founded in 1894 by Pietro Ronchetti and Xaver Bender with a share capital of 200,000 francs and based in Brig to meet the need for explosives to pierce the Simplon Tunnel . The application for the construction of a dynamite factory in Gamsen near Brig at the exit of the Nanz valley was approved by the government of the canton of Valais . At the same time, Bender headed the Société Francaise des Explosifs, Paris , which had undertaken to cede the technical staff from its Cugny and Paulilles factories to the SSE and to deliver replacement products if Gamsen should fall behind with dynamite production.
The first industrial plant in Upper Valais began producing dynamite on July 20, 1895. The SSE initially experienced financial and technical difficulties. The transport regulations for dynamite at the time made the product much more expensive. A large horse park had to be available for the initial road transport over the Simplon Pass to the construction site in Iselle . The factory was well utilized with deliveries for the major Simplon construction site. In 1903 there were 25 men and 18 women working in the factory.
The dynamite deliveries to the miners of the new railway tunnel (1898–1905) in Italy were known to the company beyond the canton's borders. The construction of the Lötschbergbahn (1906–1913) and the second Simplon tunnel tube (1912–1921) were decisive for the further development of the SSE . The competition led to the development of explosives that were safe to handle and more suitable for the transport. Dynamit Nobel AG patented its gelatin explosive “Telsit” in 1906 and soon afterwards the SSE patented its “Gamsit” (and later the “Simplonit”). Westfalit AG in Urdorf was inferior with its "Westfalit".
The explosive produced under the name "Gamsit" consisted of a mixture of ammonium nitrate , nitroglycerin , binitrotoluene and collodion wool . For tunnel construction, this mixture had the advantage of only freezing at around minus 14 degrees. For military purposes, the so-called liquid trinitrotoluene was used instead of binitrotoluene , which led to increased detonation capability and explosiveness.
During the First World War, the company in Gamsen had to be closed. In 1920 an agreement (explosion convention) was concluded between SSE Gamsen and SSC Liestal-Isleten to prevent ruinous price undercutting. In 1924, the SSE was the first in Switzerland to bring a non-freezable blasting gelatine onto the market in which the nitroglycerin was partially replaced by dinitroglycol. In 1927 the Austrian chemist Arnold Schmid (1903–1930) set up a test facility for the continuous production of nitroglycerine in Gamsen, which was further developed from 1929 and introduced in more than ten countries.
During the Second World War , ammunition for the Swiss army was mainly made by women in Gamsen. As part of the Wahlen plan , the families of the employees created house gardens on the large meadow next to the plant. EFTA , which was founded in 1960, and the associated tariff dismantling enabled the SSE to overcome business stagnation and open up new areas of business.
In 1970, SSE began to expand its product range to include fine chemicals. Tovex SA was founded in 1980 for the license production and marketing of water-gelatinized explosives (TOVEX) . When Valsynthese SA was founded in 1983, the company entered the pharmaceutical sector together with the French pharmaceutical company UPSA. In 1995 the Valsynthese was completely owned by the SSE. In 1971, the Parisian Sociéte Centrale des Dynamites bought back its shares and the ties to the Paris headquarters were lost.
The Upper Valais company was able to assert itself on the international explosives market with products such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (Nitropenta or PETN) , Semtex and "Detonex" detonating cords, which are used in both civil and military applications. The SSE has been certified by the space agency CNES as a supplier for the European space project Ariane and produces the "Detonex" detonating cord for opening the capsule head.
With a stake in Norab AB and Viking AS (today SSE Norge AS ), the market was expanded to the Scandinavian countries in 1995. In 1998 the explosives rights were taken over by the Swiss Cheddite AG Isleten. The establishment of Explosiv Service SA in 2001 as a joint venture with Gasser Felstechnik AG served to expand the blasting service. In 2014 it became fully owned by the SSE.
The Swiss company SW Blasting AG was taken over in 2007 and Explotec Swiss SA was founded in 2008 together with partners from Ticino. From 2012 to 2014, activities in the area of azide chemistry and phosgenation were expanded. In the explosives area, the business units of EPC Deutschland Sprengstoffe GmbH in Germany, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic were taken over in 2013 .
By taking over and founding Hamberger Swiss Pyrotechnics AG in 2013, diversification into the field of pyrotechnic products took place. Activities in Macedonia and further expansion in Europe began in 2015 through the acquisition of Orica Germany GmbH in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the same year, a holding company was founded under the name SSE Holding SA .
Explosives production
The SSE's explosives production takes place in a sheltered location in the uninhabited Nanztal and, for security reasons, is spread over around 100 buildings. Finished products were stored in a rock tunnel. The SSE has self-developed mixed-load vehicles of the “Morse” type (Module de Repompage et de Sensibilisation d'Emulsion). These are used to produce the explosive directly on site in the tunnel, in which the components are first put together in the hose using a static mixer to form an emulsion explosive and then pumped into the boreholes. The SSE was involved in the construction of the NEAT and has been involved in the construction of most of the Swiss motorway tunnels in recent years as a supplier of explosives.
Hand mixing diatomaceous earth and nitroglycerin, Isleten 1880
Dynamite factory surrounded by earthen walls with loose roofs, Italy 1888
SSE factory premises in Nanztal
SSE laboratory and heating system
literature
- Georg Lunge: On the history of the origin and development of the chemical industries in Switzerland . Publisher Art. Institut Orell Füssli, Zurich 1901.
- Société suisse des explosifs SA: 50th anniversary 1894-1944. Tscherrig, Tröndle & Co., Brig 1944.
- Roger Delmont: Explosives and Blasting Technology. Société Suisse des explosifs, Gamsen, Brig.
- Hansjakob Burkhardt. Dynamite on the Gotthard. Explosives in Switzerland: A history of the explosives industry in Switzerland using the example of Isleten on Lake Uri. Baden: Hier + Jetzt , 2012. ISBN 978-3-03919-248-9 . The partner and competitor, the Société Suisse des Explosifs in Gamsen, emerged from Nobel's foundation in Isleten in 1894 .
Web links
- Walliser Bote of Thursday, March 12, 2015: 1894 Foundation of the Société Suisse des Explosifs
- Swiss shares from November 7, 2014: Capital increase at Société Suisse des Explosifs
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Annual Results 2018. In: www.sse-group.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019 .
- ^ Walliser Bote of May 5, 2012: Explosives Industry in Switzerland
- ↑ Phokion Naoúm: Nitroglycerin and nitroglycerin explosives (dynamite). Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 1924, page 327.
- ↑ SSE company history ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ SSE makes for an explosive mix. Retrieved June 27, 2019 .
