Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 138

Industry Pioneers
FREDERIC STANLEY KIPPING
Frederic Stanley Kipping was a British
chemist whose pioneering work in the
chemistry of silicones formed the basis of
40 yr of continued research at the interface
of organic and inorganic chemistry and the
commercial development and application
of silicones. He was the chief demonstrator in chemistry at the
City and Guilds of London Institute and later became a professor
of chemistry at University College, Nottingham. Kipping's
research on optically active compounds resulted in his interest
and study of organic silicon compounds at Nottingham during
the early 1900s. His work was published in a series of 51 journal
papers and formed the basis for pioneering research that led to
the development of synthetic rubber and silicone-based industries.17
With
exceptional water resistance, high-temperature stability
silicones found a variety of early applications as synthetic
rubber, hydrophobic coatings, greases and lubricants.18
JAMES FRANKLIN HYDE
Dr. James Franklin Hyde, an American chemist
and inventor, is credited with the commercialization
of the silicone industry. His research combines
organic and inorganic chemistry and the
advantages of plastics and glass to create silicones,
as an advanced commercial product. Glass is siliconbased,
temperature and moisture-resistant, chemically inert and
dielectric, while plastics are carbon-based, strong, durable and
moldable. Dr. Hyde's silicone resins exhibit a combination of resistance
to water, ultraviolet light, microbial growth and thermal
conductivity, while being strong and stable. The substance instantly
became applicable in a variety of applications like greases,
lubricants, insulators, sealants, waxes and rubbers, among others.
Dr. Hyde's research built upon Dr. Eugene Sullivan's radical
idea of producing a hybrid material by combining the advantages
of glass with those of organic plastics to create an array of
organosilicon compounds. Dr. Hyde recognized the commercial
importance of some of Kipping's observations and applied
them to forge his hybrid technology. His work led to the formation
of Dow Corning, an alliance between the Dow Chemical
Co. and Corning Glass Works that was specifically created
to produce silicone products in 1943.19
At Dow Corning, Dr.
Hyde led numerous innovations throughout the mid-20th century,
with applications in industries such as automobiles, construction,
aerospace, cookware and pharmaceuticals.
VLADIMIR IPATIEFF
Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff was a Russian
and American chemist who made significant
contributions to the field of petroleum chemistry
and catalysis. Ipatieff made the important
discovery that chemical reactions were influenced
by the walls of the container in which they
were taking place. One of his noted reaction discoveries was
when he found that alcohol flowing through a heated iron reaction
coil caused primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols to be
dehydrogenated producing aldehydes, ketones and alkenes, respectively.
This reaction was absent when the same alcohol was
flowing through a quartz tube. He called this phenomenon 'con138
SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
tact reactions,' which we now know as heterogeneous catalysis.
Ipatieff discovered that catalyst efficiency could be enhanced
by dispersing catalyst particles on inert support and including
small amounts of zinc or copper on the support. Most
industrial reactions employ catalysts dispersed on support,
along with additives or promoters. He also demonstrated that
-alumina can function as an effective dehydration catalyst, especially
in ethanol to ethylene reactions. This discovery led to
the development of methods for converting ethanol to alkenes,
such as butadiene, which is used in the manufacture of rubber.
In the 1940s, these processes were used in the commercial production
of butadiene and are still being used today.
Ipateiff made another seminal innovation in chemistry by
developing high-pressure autoclaves, often referred to as 'Ipatieff
bombs.'8
He published more than 300 research papers and
received more than 200 patents.22
HERMAN PINES
Herman Pines was a Polish-American chemist
whose work in understanding the chemistry of
hydrocarbons and catalysis laid the groundwork
for producing high-octane fuels. Paraffins were
considered inert substances, with little or no reaction
affinity. His research led to the development
of processes for paraffin isomerization, aromatic alkylation
and base-catalyzed organic reactions. Pines developed a
method for catalytic conversion of paraffins, such as n-butane
to isobutane. He also demonstrated low temperatures catalysis
by successfully reacting isobutane with olefins in the presence
of sulfuric acid as a catalyst at low temperatures. The combination
of isomerization and alkylation proved to be the breakthrough
in developing high-octane fuel initially for aviation and
later commercialization in 1941.23
Pines joined UOP in 1930, which began his long collaboration
with Dr. Vladimir Ipatieff.24
They worked on understanding
complex reactions affected by temperature, acid concentration
and ratio of acid relative to other compounds. Pines used pure
hydrocarbons in his research instead of petroleum fractions to
understand mechanisms for dehydration of alcohols on alumina,
aromatization of alkanes, hydrogen transfer reactions in aromatic
hydrocarbons and several other acid and base catalyzed
hydrogenation, aromatization and dehydrogenation reactions.
Pines' research team studied a variety of transformations, including
polymerization, alkylation, cyclization, additions, eliminations
and hydride transfer reactions. Upon leaving UOP in
1953, he continued working on understanding and describing
hydrocarbon reaction mechanisms and heterogenous catalysis
at Northwestern University as the Ipatieff Professor. He published
nearly 265 scientific papers and received 145 patents.23
VLADIMIR HAENSEL
Vladimir Haensel was an American chemical engineer
most known for his invention of the Platforming
process-a platinum catalyzed process
for reforming hydrocarbons into gasoline. In
1947, he demonstrated that 0.01 platinum on
alumina can be used as a stable, active and effective
catalyst with long life and high in situ regeneration efficiency.25
Platinum
on alumina functioned as a dual-functional cata
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