Paul Héroult

Paul L.T. Heroult
Paul L.T. Heroult
Born	April 10, 1863
Died	May 9, 1914
Nationality	French
Known for	aluminium electrolysis

Statue of Paul Heroult

The French scientist Paul (Louis-Toussaint) Héroult (April 10, 1863 – May 9, 1914) was the inventor of the aluminium electrolysis and of the electric steel furnace. He lived in Thury-Harcourt, Normandy.

Christian Bickert said of him ^[1]

Paul Héroult read Henri Sainte-Claire Deville's treatise on aluminium, when he was 15 years old. At that time, aluminium was as expensive as silver. It was used mostly for luxury items and jewellery. Héroult wanted to make it cheaper. He succeeded in doing so when he discovered the electrolytic aluminium process in 1886. The same year, in the United States, Charles Martin Hall (1863–1914) was discovering the same process. Because of this the process was called the Hall-Heroult process.

Héroult's second most important invention is the electric arc furnace for steel in 1900. The Héroult furnace gradually replaced the giant smelters for the production of a variety of steels. In 1905, Paul Héroult was invited to the United States as a technical adviser to several companies, and in particular to the United States Steel Corporation.

Paul Héroult is renowned for other major inventions among which a self-sustained conduit still used to bring water down from mountain heights and across rivers to hydraulic power plants, avoiding the need to build expensive bridges.

Footnotes and references

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