AN AGRICHEM BLOG:
There are three primary licensors of ammonia processes. The third largest in Uhde in Germany, the second is KBR in Houston and the first is Haldor Topsoe in Denmark.
To many of us the name of that last company brings up images of catalysts rather than ammonia plants and indeed that's where Haldor Topsoe made its name, beginning in 1940 when the company developed an innovative catalyst to speed the production of sulphuric acid. Haldor Topsoe is also a leader in developing processes to take advantage of their catalysts - ammonia, methanol, gas-to-liquids and, most recently fuel cells (among many others).
This blog is not really about Haldor Topsoe, it's about Haldor Topsoe - the man. The founder and sole owner of Haldor Topsoe is Haldor Topsoe.
I am having a technical meeting at Haldor Topsoe the second week of June. I wanted to do it earlier but a major event was in the way - celebration of Dr. Topsoe's 100th birthday on May 24th... nothing would happen before that. Dr. Topsoe was an unusual 99 year old in that he still ran the company, actively involved in setting direction and selecting new research areas and in the day-to-operation. Unfortunately Dr. Topsoe died four days before his birthday celebration after falling.
Haldor Topsoe started his career as a theoretical physicist. He worked at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark and Niels Bohr (theoretical physicist and Nobel prize winner) was his teacher, mentor and friend. He began his company in 1940 to take advantage of what he learned and discovered as a physicist about 'molecules'. He probably would have remained a theoretical physicist but shortly after he founded Haldor Topsoe A/S, the *** invaded Denmark. Haldor Topsoe fled to Sweden where he set up manufacturing to support his company and family.
The reason you need to know that Dr. Topsoe was at-heart a theoretical physicist is that is how the company is run. To quote him "I saw how important it was in the industry to have a deep understanding of what really happens when you process some feed into end products." and that vision drives his very-technology-focused company. About one-third of the research they did, according to Dr. Topsoe, ever turned into products but that hit rate, which most companies would find discouraging, never stopped the investment in research. Before his death he was actively involved in studying how the mechanisms of photosynthesis could be harnessed.
As you can tell this is a memoriam to Dr. Topsoe and it's somewhat personal. I too started out as a physicist but changed to electrical engineering in order to work to support my new family. I was also driven to act because of a war. The real connection with Haldor Topsoe though has to do with one of my first jobs in an ammonia plant. The plant used Topsoe catalysts and I found a book written by Haldor Topsoe and Niels Andersen on how the catalyst worked. I was blown away because it was so technical, so physics-oriented. I read it cover-to-cover and, just from reading the book, became the catalyst expert at my company. To everyone else, You put in hydrogen and nitrogen and ammonia came out. My understanding of the workings of the catalyst launched my career and forever after marked me as the "technical guy", a badge I still wear.
"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies . . . Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die . . . It doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away." Kurt Vonnegut