Elias Anton Cappelen Smith (6 November 1873 – 25 June 1949) was a Norwegian American civil engineer and metallurgist, who pioneered copper production in the early 20th century. Among his achievements were the Peirce-Smith converter process and the Guggenheim process.
Contents |
Cappelen Smith was born in Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag County, Norway. He was the son of Elias Anton Smith (1842–1912), founder of E.A. Smith AS and Ingeborg Anna Røvig (1846–1923). He was educated as a chemist at Trondhjem Tekniske Læreanstalt, now the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, taking his final exam in 1893. The same year he emigrated to the United States.[1]
Cappelen Smith was employed in the metallurgical industry working from 1895–96 for Chicago Copper Refining Company, during 1896–1900 for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and from 1901–10 as head metallurgist for Baltimore Copper Smelting and Rolling Company in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
The Peirce-Smith converter process, introduced in 1908, brought forth a revolution in copper converting. In the metallurgical smelting process, the standard vessel for conversion of molten sulfide material to metal has long been the Peirce-Smith converter. Peirce-Smith converter process use long cylindrical horizontal chemical reactors where air is injected into copper matte. The converter is a rotatable, refractory-lined, horizontal steel drum with an opening at the centre of the top for charging and discharging and a row of tuyeres across the back. It has been stated that the process allowing an increase from 10 to 3000 tons of copper produced without relining the converters. This reduced the cost of copper converting from 15–20 USD to 4–5 USD.[2][3]
The Guggenheim process is a method of chemical precipitation which employs ferric chloride and aeration to prepare sludge for filtration. Cappelen Smith improved the leaching technology and applied it to the low grade copper ore deposits of the Guggenheim family mining interests in the Chuquicamata open pit copper mine in the north of Chile. The Guggenheim process first the exploitation of poor quality copper ore in the Chuquicamata mine starting in 1915. This mine is still today one of the world's largest copper resources.[4]
In 1920 Cappelen Smith was honored with the gold medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America for distinguished service in the art of hydrometallurgy. In 1925, he was made a commander 1st Class in the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He was made a member of the Royal Norwegian Scientific Society during 1926. He was also commander of the Chilean Al Merito-order and was awarded an honorary doctorate at Drexel Institute of Technology. In 1930, Cappelen Smith helped finance the installation of the Steinmeyer organ in the Nidaros Cathedral for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad. (Norwegian:Olavsjubileet 1930th)[5]