The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Acheson, Edward Goodrich

ACHESON, ăch′ē-sŏn, Edward Goodrich, American inventor: b. Washington, Pa., 9 March 1856. At 18 he was engaged with a civil engineering corps, opening mines and laying railroads in the vicinity of Reynoldsville, Pa. Upon the termination of his work in railroad construction he designed a small dynamo, and after meeting many discouragements he secured a position at Edison's establishment at Menlo Park, where his ability speedily attracted the attention of Thomas A. Edison. He was promoted rapidly, given every opportunity for the exercise of his inventive faculty and was sent to Europe as first assistant engineer for the Edison interests at the Paris International Electrical Exposition. Mr. Acheson declined an executive position offered him by Mr. Edison in order to pursue individual research and, after a series of unsuccessful inventions, he brought out an anti-inductive telephone wire. In 1886 he removed to Pittsburg, where he succeeded in interesting capital in his schemes. In the same year Mr. Acheson concerned himself with the synthetic production of rubber, as prelude to the more important field of artificial abrasives which now engaged his attention. While passing natural gas into a highly heated furnace containing some clay articles, he found these, after cooling, to be impregnated with carbon and, he believed, rendered harder in consequence. Experiments with a mixture of clay and coke heated electrically failed to produce the result for which Mr. Acheson was striving, but on the end of the arc carbon carrying the electric current into the mixture he discovered a bright speck. Testing this substance he discovered that it would not only cut glass as readily as a diamond, but would cut diamonds as well. On 21 Sept. 1891, the Carborundum Company was formed. At first carborundum was so expensive that it could compete only with diamond powder, used for polishing gems, but after extended work the price was reduced, and about 1899 he invented a graphite (Acheson-graphite), superior to the natural product. The emery wheel manufacturers declared their ability to turn carborundum into wheels, whereupon Mr. Acheson tried the experiment himself, and secured the contract for grinding the joints of the new Westinghouse electric lamp. The valve grinders next found a great time-saver in carborundum, while new vistas were opened up by the utilization of Niagara Falls for the generation of electric power. Mr. Acheson built a new plant there in 1895, contracting for 1,000 horse power, the largest amount ever used in bulk up to that time. As early as 1895 he had taken out a new patent for the purifying of carbon, the first of a series resulting in the artificial production of graphite.

What is often considered his greatest achievement is the discovery of graphite lubrication. Before he finally met with success here his experiments brought him upon other discoveries of inestimable importance. Making a test of various clays, Mr. Acheson became convinced that the greater plasticity and strength of the imported article over the home product was the result of a natural addition of organic matter. Experiments along this line showed him that a treatment with a dilute solution of tannin would produce the same results. Although straw contains no tannin, a liquid extracted from it was found to produce a similar effect, and the clay so treated was called by Mr. Acheson “Egyptianized Clay,” and under that name has taken its place on the market as a most important product.

An important discovery of Mr. Acheson's came as the result of an attempt in 1906 to increase the abrasive value of carborundum. Instead of a harder, a softer material was discovered. the ideal lubricating product. A patent of 20 Nov. 1906 secured the perfected process to the International Graphite Company, which is now marketing a mixture of the new graphite with grease under the name of “Gredag.” This discovery of the process for making this unctuous graphite led to the greatest invention of all, as by applying to it the treatment which produced “Egyptianized Clay” the discoverer succeeded in rendering the graphite so fine that is would pass through the finest of filtered papers, while it freely diffuses of itself through oil or water. Graphite in this state of fineness is termed “Deflocculated.” This graphite diffused in water is called “Aquadag.” The advantages of this new lubricant over oil, besides cheapness, are the elimination of viscosity and consequent loss in power, and impossibility of explosion in air compressors. In order to mix deflocculated graphite with oil a process for separating it from water at this point had to be devised, and this Mr. Acheson met, with the result that he produced the most efficient lubricant known to man, namely, “Oildag.”

Besides receiving the Paris and St. Louis Exposition prizes, the University of Pittsburg conferred upon him the honorary degree of Sc. D. 12 Feb. 1909; the John Scott Medal was given him by the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, first for the discovery of carborundum (1899) and again for the manufacture of graphite (1901). In 1907 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded him the Rumford Medals for application of heat in the electric furnace for industrial purposes, and in 1909 the Society of Chemical Industry conferred upon him the Perkin Medal. See Carborundum; Aquadag; Graphite; Gredag; Oildag.