Misplaced Pages

#46953

86-520: Nobel Industries Limited was founded in 1870 by Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel for the production of the new explosive dynamite in the United Kingdom. The factory was overseen and run by George McRoberts . McRoberts and John Downie raised the £24,000 needed to found the company rather than Nobel himself. It was chaired by the Glasgow shipbuilder, Charles Randolph (1809-1878). Ardeer, on

172-685: A Wells Fargo company office in San Francisco and killing 15 people. This led to a complete ban on the transportation of liquid nitroglycerin in California. The on-site manufacture of nitroglycerin was thus required for the remaining hard-rock drilling and blasting required for the completion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America. On Christmas Day 1867, an attempt to dispose of nine canisters of Blasting Oil that had been illegally stored at

258-457: A tolerance to and dependence on nitroglycerin after long-term exposure. Although rare, withdrawal can be fatal; symptoms include chest pain and other heart problems. These symptoms may be relieved with re-exposure to nitroglycerin or other suitable organic nitrates. For workers in nitroglycerin (NTG) manufacturing facilities, the effects of withdrawal sometimes include "Sunday heart attacks" in those experiencing regular nitroglycerin exposure in

344-748: A contributing factor to his death at a premature age. Nobel was Lutheran and, during his years living in Paris, he regularly attended the Church of Sweden Abroad led by pastor Nathan Söderblom who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930. He was an agnostic in youth and became an atheist later in life, though he still donated generously to the Church. Nobel remained a solitary character, given to periods of depression . He never married, although his biographers note that he had at least three loves. His first love

430-412: A desensitizer. When nitroglycerin explodes, the products after cooling are given by: The heat released can be calculated from the heats of formation. Using −371 kJ/ mol for the heat of formation of condensed phase nitroglycerin gives 1414 kJ/mol released if forming water vapor, and 1524 if forming liquid water. The detonation velocity of nitroglycerin is 7820 meters per second, which

516-488: A desire to show off .... all others exist to be fleeced." Nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin ( NG ) (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine), also known as trinitroglycerol ( TNG ), nitro , glyceryl trinitrate ( GTN ), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane , is a dense, colorless or pale yellow, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating glycerol with white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to

602-453: A fairly remote location. ICI Ardeer was its own community; with a bank, a travel agency, and a dentist located on the site to provide services to these employees. The former Western Scottish Bus Company provided tens of buses per day to transport the workers to and from the site, and there were even two trains per day to transport workers to a station within the factory which was used solely for workers and any special visitors with business in

688-405: A fast rate but cold enough to avoid runaway reaction. The nitrator vessel, often constructed of iron or lead and generally stirred with compressed air , has an emergency trap door at its base, which hangs over a large pool of very cold water and into which the whole reaction mixture (called the charge) can be dumped to prevent an explosion, a process referred to as drowning. If the temperature of

774-517: A foundation to fund Nobel Prizes , which annually recognize those who "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". The synthetic element nobelium was named after him, and his name and legacy also survive in companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel , which descend from mergers with companies he founded. Nobel was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , which, pursuant to his will, would be responsible for choosing

860-820: A house in the Avenue Malakoff in Paris . In 1891, after being accused of high treason against France for selling Ballistite to Italy, he moved from Paris to Sanremo , Italy, acquiring Villa Nobel , overlooking the Mediterranean Sea , where he died in 1896. In 1894, when he acquired Bofors-Gullspång, the Björkborn Manor was included, where he stayed during the summers. It is now a museum. The Monument to Alfred Nobel ( Russian : Памятник Альфреду Нобелю , 59°57′39″N 30°20′06″E  /  59.960787°N 30.334905°E  / 59.960787; 30.334905 )

946-768: A large sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up a sixth prize in the field of economics in honor of Alfred Nobel. In 2001, Alfred Nobel's great-great-nephew, Peter Nobel (born 1931), asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. This request added to the controversy over whether the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

SECTION 10

#1733106628047

1032-482: A melting point of 12.8 °C, the chemical is almost always encountered as a thick and viscous fluid, changing to a crystalline solid when frozen. Although the pure compound itself is colorless, in practice the presence of nitric oxide impurities left over during production tends to give it a slight yellowish tint. Due to its high boiling point and consequently low vapor pressure (0.00026 mmHg at 20 °C), pure nitroglycerin has practically no odor at room temperature, with

1118-508: A more efficient recipe combining another nitrate explosive, and obtained a transparent, jelly-like substance, which was a more powerful explosive than dynamite. Gelignite , or blasting gelatin, as it was named, was patented in 1876; and was followed by a host of similar combinations, modified by the addition of potassium nitrate and various other substances. Gelignite was more stable, powerful, transportable and conveniently formed to fit into bored holes, like those used in drilling and mining, than

1204-479: A new group, Imperial Chemical Industries , then one of Britain's largest firms. Nobel Industries continued as the ICI Nobel division of the company. ICI Ardeer was commonly known locally as the 'factory' or the 'Dinnamite'. At the time the company generally provided higher quality employment regarding terms and conditions and pension rights than other local firms. At its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in

1290-488: A predecessor of cordite . Nobel was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884, the same institution that would later select laureates for two of the Nobel prizes, and he received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in 1893. Nobel's brothers Ludvig and Robert founded the oil company Branobel and became hugely rich in their own right. Nobel invested in these and amassed great wealth through

1376-453: A process used to recover oil and gas from shale formations. The technique involves displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in natural or hydraulically induced fracture systems, or displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in hydraulically induced fractures followed by wellbore shots using pelletized TNT . Nitroglycerin has an advantage over some other high explosives that on detonation it produces practically no visible smoke. Therefore, it

1462-463: A reason not to give the prize to important but less romantic authors, such as Henrik Ibsen and Leo Tolstoy . This interpretation has since been revised, and the prize has been awarded to, for example, Dario Fo and José Saramago , who do not belong to the camp of literary idealism. There was room for interpretation by the bodies he had named for deciding on the physical sciences and chemistry prizes, given that he had not consulted them before making

1548-413: A rifle ball when in that condition but on the other hand it appears to be more liable to explode on breaking, crushing, tamping, etc." Frozen nitroglycerin is much less energetic than liquid, and so must be thawed before use. Thawing it out can be extremely sensitizing, especially if impurities are present or the warming is too rapid. Ethylene glycol dinitrate or another polynitrate may be added to lower

1634-403: A smaller preload reduces the ventricular transmural pressure (pressure exerted on the walls of the heart), which decreases the compression of heart arteries to allow more blood to flow through the heart. At higher doses, it also dilates arteries, thereby reducing afterload (decreasing the pressure against which the heart must pump). An improved ratio of myocardial oxygen demand to supply leads to

1720-571: A specific explosive energy density of 1.488  kilocalories per gram, or 6.23 kJ/g, making nitroglycerin 49% more energetic on a mass basis than the standard definitional value assigned to TNT (precisely 1 kcal/g). Nitroglycerin can be produced by acid-catalyzed nitration of glycerol (glycerin). The industrial manufacturing process often reacts glycerol with a nearly 1:1 mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid . This can be produced by mixing white fuming nitric acid —a quite expensive pure nitric acid in which

1806-405: A sweet and burning taste when ingested. Unintentional detonation may ensue when dropped, shaken, lit on fire, rapidly heated, exposed to sunlight and ozone, subjected to sparks and electrical discharges, or roughly handled. Its sensitivity to exploding is responsible for numerous devastating industrial accidents throughout its history. The chemical's characteristic reactivity may be reduced through

SECTION 20

#1733106628047

1892-566: Is a prose tragedy in four acts about the Italian noblewoman Beatrice Cenci . It was printed while he was dying, but the entire stock was destroyed immediately after his death except for three copies, being regarded as scandalous and blasphemous . It was published in Sweden in 2003 and has been translated into Slovenian , French , Italian , and Spanish. As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin ; then, in 1850, went to Paris to further

1978-436: Is about 113% the speed of TNT . Accordingly, nitroglycerin is considered to be a high- brisance explosive, which is to say, it has excellent shattering ability. The heat liberated during detonation raises the temperature of the gaseous byproducts to about 5,000 °C (9,000 °F). With a standard enthalpy of explosive decomposition of −1414 kJ/ mol and a molecular weight of 227.0865 g/mol, nitroglycerin has

2064-513: Is actually a legitimate "Nobel Prize". In his letters to his mistress, Hess, Nobel described constant pain, debilitating migraines, and "paralyzing" fatigue, leading some to believe that he suffered from fibromyalgia . However, his concerns at the time were dismissed as hypochondria , leading to further depression . By 1895, Nobel had developed angina pectoris . On 27 November 1895, he finalized his will and testament , leaving most of his wealth in trust, unbeknownst to his family, to fund

2150-529: Is combined with nitrocellulose to form double-based smokeless powder , used as a propellant in artillery and firearms since the 1880s. As is the case for many other explosives, nitroglycerin becomes more and more prone to exploding (i.e. spontaneous decomposition ) as the temperature is increased. Upon exposure to heat above 218 °C at sea-level atmospheric pressure , nitroglycerin becomes extremely unstable and tends to explode. When placed in vacuum, it has an autoignition temperature of 270 °C instead. With

2236-555: Is in Saint Petersburg along the Bolshaya Nevka River on Petrogradskaya Embankment, the street where Nobel's family lived until 1859. It was dedicated in 1991 to mark the 90th anniversary of the first Nobel Prize presentation. Diplomat Thomas Bertelman and Professor Arkady Melua were initiators of the creation of the monument in 1989 and they provided funds for the establishment of the monument. The abstract metal sculpture

2322-473: Is known for inventing dynamite as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes . He also made several other important contributions to science, holding 355 patents in his lifetime. A member of the prominent Nobel family , Nobel displayed an early aptitude for science and learning, particularly in chemistry and languages; he became fluent in six languages and filed his first patent at

2408-454: Is now a flourishing energetics (explosives) business employing some 300 people as the Scottish division of Chemring Group, an LSE Public Company. Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( / n oʊ ˈ b ɛ l / noh- BEL , Swedish: [ˈǎlfrɛd nʊˈbɛlː] ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist , inventor, engineer and businessman. He

2494-414: Is one of the world's most powerful explosives, comparable to the more recently developed RDX and PETN . Early in its history, liquid nitroglycerin was found to be " desensitized " by freezing it at a temperature below 45 to 55 °F (7 to 13 °C) depending on its purity. Its sensitivity to shock while frozen is somewhat unpredictable: "It is more insensitive to the shock from a fulminate cap or

2580-445: Is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead"), and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel read the obituary and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. His decision to posthumously donate

2666-422: Is thus added as an ester C−O−NO 2 and water is produced. This is different from an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction in which nitronium ions are the electrophile . The addition of glycerol results in an exothermic reaction (i.e., heat is produced), as usual for mixed-acid nitrations. If the mixture becomes too hot, it results in a runaway reaction, a state of accelerated nitration accompanied by

Nobel Enterprises - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-529: Is useful as an ingredient in the formulation of various kinds of smokeless powder . Alfred Nobel then developed ballistite , by combining nitroglycerin and guncotton . He patented it in 1887. Ballistite was adopted by a number of European governments, as a military propellant. Italy was the first to adopt it. The British government and the Commonwealth governments adopted cordite instead, which had been developed by Sir Frederick Abel and Sir James Dewar of

2838-468: The Crimean War (1853–1856), but had difficulty switching back to regular domestic production when the fighting ended and they filed for bankruptcy . In 1859, Nobel's father left his factory in the care of the second son, Ludvig Nobel (1831–1888), who greatly improved the business. Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia and Nobel devoted himself to the study of explosives , and especially to

2924-552: The Nobel Prize awards. On 10 December 1896, he suffered a stroke / intracerebral hemorrhage and was first partially paralyzed and then died, aged 63. He is buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Based on his experimentation with explosives, his strenuous work habit, and the decline in his health at the end of the 1870s, some hypothesize that nitroglycerine poisoning was

3010-531: The Nobel laureates in physics and in chemistry . Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm , Sweden on 21 October 1833. He was the third son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor and engineer, and Andriette Nobel ( née Ahlsell 1805–1889). The couple married in 1827 and had eight children. The family was impoverished and only Alfred and his three brothers survived beyond childhood. Through his father, Alfred Nobel

3096-815: The Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath , in Dorset , England. A large cordite factory was also built in Canada during World War I. The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario , was designed to produce 1,500,000 lb (680 t) of cordite per month, requiring about 286 tonnes of nitroglycerin per month. In its undiluted form, nitroglycerin is a contact explosive , with physical shock causing it to explode. If it has not been adequately purified during manufacture it can degrade over time to even more unstable forms. This makes nitroglycerin highly dangerous to transport or use. In its undiluted form, it

3182-588: The ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. Until the mid-1960s, there were two trains per day to transport workers. Although the line no longer serves the plant, the abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth. The factory had its own jetty on the River Garnock in Irvine Harbour serving ships that were delivering explosives that had reached their expiration date, or importing raw materials for

3268-596: The Krümmel factory were destroyed twice. In April 1866, several crates of nitroglycerin were shipped to California , three of which were destined for the Central Pacific Railroad , which planned to experiment with it as a blasting explosive to expedite the construction of the 1,659-foot-long (506 m) Summit Tunnel through the Sierra Nevada Mountains . One of the remaining crates exploded, destroying

3354-581: The Nobels' armaments factory in 1864 in Heleneborg , Sweden. One year later, Nobel founded Alfred Nobel and Company in Germany and built an isolated factory in the Krümmel hills of Geesthacht near Hamburg . This business exported a liquid combination of nitroglycerin and gunpowder called "Blasting Oil", but this was extremely unstable and difficult to handle, as evidenced in numerous catastrophes. The buildings of

3440-943: The United Kingdom in 1889. The original Cordite Mk I consisted of 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton, and 5.0% petroleum jelly . Ballistite and cordite were both manufactured in the form of "cords". Smokeless powders were originally developed using nitrocellulose as the sole explosive ingredient. Therefore, they were known as single-base propellants. A range of smokeless powders that contains both nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, known as double-base propellants, were also developed. Smokeless powders were originally supplied only for military use, but they were also soon developed for civilian use and were quickly adopted for sports. Some are known as sporting powders. Triple-base propellants contain nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and nitroguanidine , but are reserved mainly for extremely high-caliber ammunition rounds such as those used in tank cannons and naval artillery . Blasting gelatin, also known as gelignite ,

3526-516: The United States for one year to study, working for a short period under Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson , who designed the American Civil War ironclad, USS Monitor . Nobel filed his first patent, an English patent for a gas meter , in 1857, while his first Swedish patent, which he received in 1863, was on "ways to prepare gunpowder". The family factory produced armaments for

Nobel Enterprises - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-562: The White Swan Inn in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne resulted in an explosion on the Town Moor that killed eight people. In June 1869, two one-ton wagons loaded with nitroglycerin, then known locally as Powder-Oil, exploded in the road at the North Wales village of Cwm-y-glo . The explosion led to the loss of six lives, many injuries and much damage to the village. Little trace was found of

3698-686: The accident, Nobel founded the company Nitroglycerin AB in Vinterviken so that he could continue to work in a more isolated area. Nobel invented dynamite in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin . Dynamite was patented in the US and the UK and was used extensively in mining and the building of transport networks internationally. In 1875, Nobel invented gelignite , more stable and powerful than dynamite, and in 1887, patented ballistite ,

3784-511: The addition of desensitizing agents, which makes it less likely to explode. Clay ( diatomaceous earth ) is an example of such an agent, forming dynamite, a much more easily handled composition. Addition of other desensitizing agents give birth to the various formulations of dynamite. Nitroglycerin has been used for over 130 years in medicine as a potent vasodilator (causing dilation of the vascular system) to treat heart conditions, such as angina pectoris and chronic heart failure . Though it

3870-448: The age of 24. He embarked on many business ventures with his family, most notably owning the company Bofors , which was an iron and steel producer that he had developed into a major manufacturer of cannons and other armaments. Nobel's most famous invention, dynamite, was an explosive using nitroglycerin that was patented in 1867. He further invented gelignite in 1875 and ballistite in 1887. Upon his death, Nobel donated his fortune to

3956-425: The body by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase ( ALDH2 ), and nitric oxide is a potent natural vasodilator. In medicine , nitroglycerin is probably most commonly prescribed for angina pectoris , a painful symptom of ischemic heart disease caused by inadequate flow of blood and oxygen to the heart and as a potent antihypertensive agent. Nitroglycerin corrects the imbalance between the flow of oxygen and blood to

4042-487: The body than others. Nitroglycerin as well as the onset and duration of action of each form is different. The sublingual or tablet spray of nitroglycerin has a two minute onset and twenty five minute duration of action. The oral formulation of nitroglycerin has a thirty five minute onset and a duration of action of 4–8 hours. The transdermal patch has an onset of thirty minutes and a duration of action of ten to twelve hours. Continuous exposure to nitrates has been shown to cause

4128-638: The body to stop responding normally to this medicine. Experts recommend that the patches be removed at night, allowing the body a few hours to restore its responsiveness to nitrates. Shorter-acting preparations of nitroglycerin can be used several times a day with less risk of developing tolerance. Nitroglycerin was first used by William Murrell to treat angina attacks in 1878, with the discovery published that same year. Infrequent exposure to high doses of nitroglycerin can cause severe headaches known as "NG head" or "bang head". These headaches can be severe enough to incapacitate some people; however, humans develop

4214-677: The boy excelled in his studies, particularly in chemistry and languages, achieving fluency in English, French , German , and Russian . For 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, Nobel attended the Jacobs Apologistic School in Stockholm, his only schooling; he never attended university. Nobel gained proficiency in Swedish, French, Russian, English, German, and Italian. He also developed sufficient literary skill to write poetry in English . His Nemesis

4300-540: The cause of international fraternity , in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses. The formulation for the literary prize being given for a work "in an ideal direction" ( i idealisk riktning in Swedish), is cryptic and has caused much confusion. For many years, the Swedish Academy interpreted "ideal" as "idealistic" ( idealistisk ) and used it as

4386-404: The charge exceeds about 30 °C (86 °F) (actual value varying by country) or brown fumes are seen in the nitrator's vent, then it is immediately drowned. Nitroglycerin is an oily liquid that explodes when subjected to heat, shock, or flame. The main use of nitroglycerin, by tonnage , is in explosives such as dynamite and in propellants as an ingredient. However, its sensitivity has limited

SECTION 50

#1733106628047

4472-538: The coast at Ayrshire , was chosen for the company's first factory. The business later diversified into the production of blasting gelatine , gelignite , ballistite , guncotton , and cordite . At its peak, the factory employed nearly 13,000 men and women. In 1926, the firm merged with Brunner, Mond & Company , the United Alkali Company , and the British Dyestuffs Corporation , creating

4558-468: The destructive oxidation of organic materials by the hot nitric acid and the release of poisonous nitrogen dioxide gas at high risk of an explosion. Thus, the glycerin mixture is added slowly to the reaction vessel containing the mixed acid (not acid to glycerin). The nitrator is cooled with cold water or some other coolant mixture and maintained throughout the glycerin addition at about 22 °C (72 °F), hot enough for esterification to occur at

4644-681: The development of these new oil regions. It operated mainly in Baku , Azerbaijan , but also in Cheleken , Turkmenistan . During his life, Nobel was issued 355 patents internationally, and by his death, his business had established more than 90 armaments factories, despite his apparently pacifist character. Nobel found that when nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like kieselguhr ( diatomaceous earth ) it became safer and more convenient to handle, and this mixture he patented in 1867 as "dynamite". Nobel demonstrated his explosive for

4730-646: The first time that year, at a quarry in Redhill , Surrey , England. In order to help reestablish his name and improve the image of his business from the earlier controversies associated with dangerous explosives, Nobel had also considered naming the highly powerful substance "Nobel's Safety Powder", which is the text used in his patent, but settled with Dynamite instead, referring to the Greek word for "power" ( δύναμις ). Nobel later combined nitroglycerin with various nitrocellulose compounds, similar to collodion , but settled on

4816-407: The five Nobel Prizes. By 2022, the foundation had approximately 6 billion Swedish Kronor of invested capital. The first three of these prizes are awarded for eminence in physical science , in chemistry and in medical science or physiology ; the fourth is for literary work "in an ideal direction" and the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to

4902-574: The following therapeutic effects during episodes of angina pectoris: subsiding of chest pain, decrease of blood pressure , increase of heart rate, and orthostatic hypotension . Patients experiencing angina when doing certain physical activities can often prevent symptoms by taking nitroglycerin 5 to 10 minutes before the activity. Overdoses may generate methemoglobinemia . Nitroglycerin is available in tablets, ointment, solution for intravenous use, transdermal patches , or sprays administered sublingually . Some forms of nitroglycerin last much longer in

4988-459: The form of sticks, individually wrapped in greased waterproof paper. Dynamite and similar explosives were widely adopted for civil engineering tasks, such as in drilling highway and railroad tunnels , for mining , for clearing farmland of stumps, in quarrying , and in demolition work . Likewise, military engineers have used dynamite for construction and demolition work. Nitroglycerin has been used in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing ,

5074-409: The formation of the nitric acid ester . Chemically, the substance is an organic nitrate compound rather than a nitro compound , but the traditional name is retained. Discovered in 1846 by Ascanio Sobrero , nitroglycerin has been used as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, namely dynamite , and as such it is employed in the construction , demolition , and mining industries. It

5160-453: The heart and the heart's energy demand. There are many formulations on the market at different doses. At low doses, nitroglycerin dilates veins more than arteries, thereby reducing preload (volume of blood in the heart after filling); this is thought to be its primary mechanism of action. By decreasing preload, the heart has less blood to pump, which decreases oxygen requirement since the heart does not have to work as hard. Additionally, having

5246-405: The journal The Lancet in 1879. A few months before his death in 1896, Alfred Nobel was prescribed nitroglycerin for this heart condition, writing to a friend: "Isn't it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed nitro-glycerin, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public." The medical establishment also used the name "glyceryl trinitrate" for

SECTION 60

#1733106628047

5332-502: The letters writing to Hess: "You neither work, nor write, nor read, nor think" and guilted her, writing "I have for years now sacrificed out of purely noble motives my time, my duties, my intellectual life, my reputation". Nobel traveled for much of his business life, maintaining companies in Europe and America. From 1865 to 1873, Nobel lived in Krümmel (now in the municipality of Geesthacht , near Hamburg ). From 1873 to 1891, he lived in

5418-632: The majority of his wealth to found the Nobel Prize has been credited to him wanting to leave behind a better legacy. However, it has been questioned whether or not the obituary in question actually existed. On 27 November 1895, at the Swedish - Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes , to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality. After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets, 31,225,000 Swedish kronor , to establish

5504-459: The melting point and thereby avoid the necessity of thawing frozen explosive. Chemically "desensitizing" nitroglycerin is possible to a point where it can be considered about as "safe" as modern high explosives , such as by the addition of ethanol , acetone , or dinitrotoluene . The nitroglycerin may have to be extracted from the desensitizer chemical to restore its effectiveness before use, for example by adding water to draw off ethanol used as

5590-487: The origin of the Nobel Prize, although historians have been unable to verify it and some dismiss the story as a myth. In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig supposedly caused several newspapers to publish obituaries of Alfred in error. One French newspaper condemned him for his invention of military explosives—in many versions of the story, dynamite is quoted, although this was mainly used for civilian applications—and this

5676-565: The oxides of nitrogen have been removed, as opposed to red fuming nitric acid , which contains nitrogen oxides —and concentrated sulfuric acid . More often, this mixture is attained by the cheaper method of mixing fuming sulfuric acid , also known as oleum — sulfuric acid containing excess sulfur trioxide —and azeotropic nitric acid (consisting of about 70% nitric acid , with the rest being water). The sulfuric acid produces protonated nitric acid species, which are attacked by glycerol 's nucleophilic oxygen atoms. The nitro group

5762-405: The previously used compounds. It was adopted as the standard technology for mining in the "Age of Engineering", bringing Nobel a great amount of financial success, though at a cost to his health. An offshoot of this research resulted in Nobel's invention of ballistite , the precursor of many modern smokeless powder explosives and still used as a rocket propellant. There is a well known story about

5848-450: The safe manufacture and use of nitroglycerin. Nobel invented a detonator in 1863, and in 1865 designed the blasting cap . He also got honored with an element with his name, Nobelium . On 3 September 1864, a shed used for preparation of nitroglycerin exploded at the factory in Heleneborg , Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people, including Nobel's younger brother Emil . He was then deprived of his license to produce explosives. Fazed by

5934-530: The same reason. Large quantities of nitroglycerin were manufactured during World War I and World War II for use as military propellants and in military engineering work. During World War I, HM Factory, Gretna , the largest propellant factory in the United Kingdom , produced about 800 tonnes of cordite RDB per week. This amount required at least 336 tonnes of nitroglycerin per week (assuming no losses in production). The Royal Navy had its own factory at

6020-478: The time that they met, Nobel was 43 years old, while Hess was 26. Their relationship, which was not merely platonic, ended when she became pregnant from another man, although Nobel continued to support her financially until Hess married her child's father to avoid being ostracized as a whore. Hess was a Jewish woman who converted to Christianity and the letters include remarks by Nobel characterized as antisemitism . Nobel also displayed characteristics of chauvinism in

6106-473: The two horses. The UK Government was so alarmed at the damage caused and what could have happened in a city location (these two tons were part of a larger load coming from Germany via Liverpool) that they soon passed the Nitro-Glycerine Act of 1869. Liquid nitroglycerin was widely banned elsewhere, as well, and these legal restrictions led to Alfred Nobel and his company's developing dynamite in 1867. This

6192-425: The usefulness of nitroglycerin as a military explosive; less sensitive explosives such as TNT , RDX , and HMX have largely replaced it in munitions. Alfred Nobel developed the use of nitroglycerin as a blasting explosive by mixing nitroglycerin with inert absorbents , particularly " Kieselgur ", or diatomaceous earth . He named this explosive dynamite and patented it in 1867. It was supplied ready for use in

6278-451: The viscosity of the mix, are commonly known as "gelatins". Following the discovery that amyl nitrite helped alleviate chest pain, the physician William Murrell experimented with the use of nitroglycerin to alleviate angina pectoris and to reduce the blood pressure . He began treating his patients with small diluted doses of nitroglycerin in 1878, and this treatment was soon adopted into widespread use after Murrell published his results in

6364-581: The will. In his one-page testament, he stipulated that the money go to discoveries or inventions in the physical sciences and to discoveries or improvements in chemistry. He had opened the door to technological awards, but had not left instructions on how to deal with the distinction between science and technology. Since the deciding bodies he had chosen were more concerned with the former, the prizes went to scientists more often than engineers, technicians or other inventors. Sweden's central bank Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1968 by donating

6450-416: The work. There he met Ascanio Sobrero , who had invented nitroglycerin three years before. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin because it was unpredictable, exploding when subjected to variable heat or pressure. But Nobel became interested in finding a way to control and use nitroglycerin as a commercially usable explosive; it had much more power than gunpowder . In 1851 at age 18, he went to

6536-488: The workplace, leading to the development of tolerance for the venodilating effects. Over the weekend, the workers lose the tolerance, and when they are re-exposed on Monday, the drastic vasodilation produces a fast heart rate , dizziness, and a headache. This is referred to as "Monday disease." People can be exposed to nitroglycerin in the workplace by breathing it in, skin absorption, swallowing it, or eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set

6622-429: The works. In the late 1960s construction began on a nylon and nitric acid plant, but this had a short life, closing down just 12 years later. In 2002 the division, now named Nobel Enterprises, was sold to Inabata. On 8 September 2007 a major fire was reported at the site when 1,500-1,700 tons of nitrocellulose, stored in an open area, caught fire. There was little property damage and no serious injuries. The site

6708-431: Was a descendant of the Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck (1630–1702). Nobel's father was an alumnus of Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and was an engineer and inventor who built bridges and buildings and experimented with different ways of blasting rocks. He encouraged and taught Nobel from a young age. Following various business failures caused by the loss of some barges of building material, Immanuel Nobel

6794-461: Was awarded the 1905 Nobel Peace prize "for her sincere peace activities". Nobel's longest-lasting relationship was an 18-year relationship with Sofija Hess from Celje whom he met in 1876 in Baden bei Wien , where she worked as an employee in a flower shop that catered to wealthy clientele. The extent of their relationship was revealed by a collection of 221 letters sent by Nobel to Hess over 15 years. At

6880-518: Was designed by local artists Sergey Alipov and Pavel Shevchenko, and appears to be an explosion or branches of a tree. Criticism of Nobel focuses on his leading role in weapons manufacturing and sales. Some people question his motives in creating his prizes, suggesting they are intended to improve his reputation. Nobel has also been criticized for displays of antisemitism . In his letters to Hess, he wrote "In my experience, Jews never do anything out of good will. They act merely out of selfishness or

6966-407: Was forced into bankruptcy, Nobel's father moved to Saint Petersburg , Russia , and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented the veneer lathe , which made possible the production of modern plywood , and started work on the naval mine . In 1842, the family joined him in the city. Now prosperous, his parents were able to send Nobel to private tutors, and

7052-487: Was in Russia with a girl named Alexandra who rejected his marriage proposal . In 1876, Austro-Bohemian Countess Bertha von Suttner became his secretary, but she left him after a brief stay to marry her previous lover Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. Her contact with Nobel was brief, yet she corresponded with him until his death in 1896, and probably influenced his decision to include the Nobel Peace Prize in his will. She

7138-414: Was invented by Nobel in 1875, using nitroglycerin, wood pulp , and sodium or potassium nitrate . This was an early, low-cost, flexible explosive. Nitroglycerin belongs to a group of drugs called nitrates, which includes many other nitrates like isosorbide dinitrate (Isordil) and isosorbide mononitrate (Imdur, Ismo, Monoket). These agents all exert their effect by being converted to nitric oxide in

7224-509: Was made by mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth (" Kieselguhr " in German) found in the Krümmel hills. Similar mixtures, such as "dualine" (1867), "lithofracteur" (1869), and " gelignite " (1875), were formed by mixing nitroglycerin with other inert absorbents, and many combinations were tried by other companies in attempts to get around Nobel's tightly held patents for dynamite. Dynamite mixtures containing nitrocellulose , which increases

7310-434: Was previously known that these beneficial effects are due to nitroglycerin being converted to nitric oxide , a potent venodilator, the enzyme for this conversion was only discovered to be mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase ( ALDH2 ) in 2002. Nitroglycerin is available in sublingual tablets , sprays, ointments, and patches. Nitroglycerin was the first practical explosive produced that was stronger than black powder . It

7396-555: Was synthesized by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846, working under Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the University of Turin . Sobrero initially called his discovery pyroglycerine and warned vigorously against its use as an explosive. Nitroglycerin was adopted as a commercially useful explosive by Alfred Nobel , who experimented with safer ways to handle the dangerous compound after his younger brother, Emil Oskar Nobel , and several factory workers were killed in an explosion at

#46953