Georges Claude
Encyclopedia
Georges Claude was a French engineer and inventor. He is noted for his early work on the industrial liquefaction of air, for the invention and commercialization of neon lighting
, and for a large experiment on generating energy by pumping cold seawater up from the depths. Considered by some to be "the Edison of France", he was an active collaborator with the German occupiers of France during the Second World War (1939-1945), for which he was imprisoned in 1945 and stripped of his honors.
(ESPCI). He then held several positions. He was an electrical inspector in a cable factory and the laboratory manager in an electric works. He founded and edited a magazine, L'Étincelle Électrique (The Electric Spark); his important friendship with Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval
apparently dates from this time. About 1896, Claude learned of the explosion risk for bottled acetylene
, which was used at the time for lighting. Acetylene is explosive when stored under pressure. Claude showed that acetylene dissolved well in acetone
, equivalent to storing it under 25 atmospheres of pressure, which reduced the risk in handling the gas.
. The system enabled the production of industrial quantities of liquid nitrogen, oxygen, and argon; Claude's approach competed successfully with the earlier system of Carl von Linde
(1895). Claude and businessman Paul Delorme founded L'Air Liquide, S.A. (Air Liquide
), which is presently a large multinational corporation headquartered in Paris, France.
s and by Daniel McFarlan Moore
's invention of a nitrogen-based light (the "Moore tube"), Claude developed neon tube lighting to exploit the neon that was produced as a byproduct of his air liquefaction business. These were all "glow discharge" tubes that generate light when an electrical current is passed through the rarefied gas within the tube. Claude's first public demonstration of a large neon light was at the Paris Motor Show (Salon de l'Automobile et du Cycle), December 3-18, 1910. Claude's first patent filing for his technologies in France was on March 7, 1910. Claude himself wrote in 1913 that, in addition to a source of neon gas, there were two principal inventions that made neon lighting practicable. First were his methods for purifying the neon (or other inert gases such as argon). Claude developed techniques for purifying the inert gases within a completely sealed glass tube, which distinguished neon tube lighting from the Moore tubes; the latter had a device for replenishing the nitrogen or carbon dioxide gases within the tube. The second invention was ultimately crucial for the development of the Claude lighting business; it was a design for minimizing the degradation (by "sputtering") of the electrodes that transfer electrical current from the external power supply to the glowing gases within the sign.
The terms "neon light" and "neon sign" are now often applied to electrical lighting incorporating sealed glass tubes filled with argon, mercury vapor, or other gases instead of neon. In 1915 a U.S. patent was issued to Claude covering the design of the electrodes for neon lights; this patent became the strongest basis for the monopoly held in the U.S. by his company, Claude Neon Lights, through the early 1930s.
In 1923, Georges Claude and his French company Claude Neon, introduced neon gas signs to the United States
, by selling two to a Packard
car dealership in Los Angeles
. Earle C. Anthony
purchased the two signs reading "Packard" for $1,250 apiece. Neon lighting quickly became a popular fixture in outdoor advertising. Visible even in daylight, people would stop and stare at the first neon signs for hours, dubbed "liquid fire."
, the inventor of the "Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion" (OTEC) concept. Claude was also the first person to build prototype plants of that technology. Claude built his plant in Cuba
in 1930. The system produced 22 kilowatts of electricity with a low-pressure turbine
.
In 1935, Claude constructed another plant, this time aboard a 10,000-ton cargo vessel moored off the coast of Brazil
. Weather and waves destroyed both plants before they could become net power generators. (Net power is the amount of power generated after subtracting power needed to run the system.)
, which favored restoration of a monarchy in France. He was a close friend of the monarchist leader Charles Maurras
. Following the 1940 defeat of France by Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, the subsequent German occupation of northern France and the German installation of the Vichy regime
in the south, Claude publicly supported French collaboration with Germany. Among his other activities, he published several tracts supporting collaboration. He was a member of a Distinguished Committee of the Groupe Collaboration, which had been founded in September, 1940. He was nominated by the Vichy regime as a member of the Conseil National Consultatif in 1941.
Following the Allied liberation of France in 1944, Claude was taken into custody on December 2, 1944 because of his collaboration with the Axis Powers. He was removed from the French Academy of Sciences
. In 1945 he was tried and convicted of propaganda work favoring collaboration, but was cleared of another charge that he helped design the V-1 flying bomb
. He was condemned to life imprisonment, and was imprisoned. In 1950 he was released from prison, with acknowledgment of his research on ocean thermal energy conversion.
Patent, Improvements in Systems of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes. Jan 19, 1915.
Neon lighting
Neon lighting is created by brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Georges Claude, a French engineer and inventor, presented neon tube lighting in essentially its modern form at the Paris Motor Show from December 3–18, 1910...
, and for a large experiment on generating energy by pumping cold seawater up from the depths. Considered by some to be "the Edison of France", he was an active collaborator with the German occupiers of France during the Second World War (1939-1945), for which he was imprisoned in 1945 and stripped of his honors.
Early career
Georges Claude studied at the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de ParisÉcole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris
The école supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris or ESPCI ParisTech is a chemistry and physics engineering college run by the city of Paris, France and a member of ParisTech...
(ESPCI). He then held several positions. He was an electrical inspector in a cable factory and the laboratory manager in an electric works. He founded and edited a magazine, L'Étincelle Électrique (The Electric Spark); his important friendship with Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval
Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval
Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval was born in La Porcherie and was a French physician, physicist and inventor of the moving-coil galvanometer and probably of the thermocouple ammeter...
apparently dates from this time. About 1896, Claude learned of the explosion risk for bottled acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
, which was used at the time for lighting. Acetylene is explosive when stored under pressure. Claude showed that acetylene dissolved well in acetone
Acetone
Acetone is the organic compound with the formula 2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory...
, equivalent to storing it under 25 atmospheres of pressure, which reduced the risk in handling the gas.
Liquefaction of air
In 1902 Claude devised what is now known as the Claude system for liquifying airLiquefaction of gases
Liquefaction of gases includes a number of phases used to convert a gas into a liquid state. The processes are used for scientific, industrial and commercial purposes. Many gases can be put into a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure by simple cooling; a few, such as carbon dioxide, require...
. The system enabled the production of industrial quantities of liquid nitrogen, oxygen, and argon; Claude's approach competed successfully with the earlier system of Carl von Linde
Carl von Linde
Professor Doctor Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde was a German engineer who developed refrigeration and gas separation technologies...
(1895). Claude and businessman Paul Delorme founded L'Air Liquide, S.A. (Air Liquide
Air Liquide
L'Air Liquide S.A., or Air Liquide , is a major French company supplying industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, it is first in the world market in its field, now operating in over 80 countries. It is...
), which is presently a large multinational corporation headquartered in Paris, France.
Neon lighting
Inspired by Geissler tubeGeissler tube
A Geissler tube is an early gas discharge tube used to demonstrate the principles of electrical glow discharge. The tube was invented by the German physicist and glassblower Heinrich Geissler in 1857...
s and by Daniel McFarlan Moore
Daniel McFarlan Moore
Daniel McFarlan Moore was a U.S. electrical engineer and inventor. He developed a novel light source, the "Moore lamp", and a business that produced them in the early 1900s...
's invention of a nitrogen-based light (the "Moore tube"), Claude developed neon tube lighting to exploit the neon that was produced as a byproduct of his air liquefaction business. These were all "glow discharge" tubes that generate light when an electrical current is passed through the rarefied gas within the tube. Claude's first public demonstration of a large neon light was at the Paris Motor Show (Salon de l'Automobile et du Cycle), December 3-18, 1910. Claude's first patent filing for his technologies in France was on March 7, 1910. Claude himself wrote in 1913 that, in addition to a source of neon gas, there were two principal inventions that made neon lighting practicable. First were his methods for purifying the neon (or other inert gases such as argon). Claude developed techniques for purifying the inert gases within a completely sealed glass tube, which distinguished neon tube lighting from the Moore tubes; the latter had a device for replenishing the nitrogen or carbon dioxide gases within the tube. The second invention was ultimately crucial for the development of the Claude lighting business; it was a design for minimizing the degradation (by "sputtering") of the electrodes that transfer electrical current from the external power supply to the glowing gases within the sign.
The terms "neon light" and "neon sign" are now often applied to electrical lighting incorporating sealed glass tubes filled with argon, mercury vapor, or other gases instead of neon. In 1915 a U.S. patent was issued to Claude covering the design of the electrodes for neon lights; this patent became the strongest basis for the monopoly held in the U.S. by his company, Claude Neon Lights, through the early 1930s.
In 1923, Georges Claude and his French company Claude Neon, introduced neon gas signs to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, by selling two to a Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
car dealership in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Earle C. Anthony
Earle C. Anthony
Earle C. Anthony was a pioneer businessman based in Los Angeles, California. He is primarily known for his achievements in two fields: Broadcasting and automobiles...
purchased the two signs reading "Packard" for $1,250 apiece. Neon lighting quickly became a popular fixture in outdoor advertising. Visible even in daylight, people would stop and stare at the first neon signs for hours, dubbed "liquid fire."
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Claude's mentor and friend was Jacques-Arsène d'ArsonvalJacques-Arsène d'Arsonval
Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval was born in La Porcherie and was a French physician, physicist and inventor of the moving-coil galvanometer and probably of the thermocouple ammeter...
, the inventor of the "Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion" (OTEC) concept. Claude was also the first person to build prototype plants of that technology. Claude built his plant in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in 1930. The system produced 22 kilowatts of electricity with a low-pressure turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
.
In 1935, Claude constructed another plant, this time aboard a 10,000-ton cargo vessel moored off the coast of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Weather and waves destroyed both plants before they could become net power generators. (Net power is the amount of power generated after subtracting power needed to run the system.)
Wartime collaboration and post-war imprisonment
Even as a young engineer, Claude was unsympathetic to democratic rule. In 1933 he joined the Action françaiseAction Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
, which favored restoration of a monarchy in France. He was a close friend of the monarchist leader Charles Maurras
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
. Following the 1940 defeat of France by Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, the subsequent German occupation of northern France and the German installation of the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
in the south, Claude publicly supported French collaboration with Germany. Among his other activities, he published several tracts supporting collaboration. He was a member of a Distinguished Committee of the Groupe Collaboration, which had been founded in September, 1940. He was nominated by the Vichy regime as a member of the Conseil National Consultatif in 1941.
Following the Allied liberation of France in 1944, Claude was taken into custody on December 2, 1944 because of his collaboration with the Axis Powers. He was removed from the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
. In 1945 he was tried and convicted of propaganda work favoring collaboration, but was cleared of another charge that he helped design the V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
. He was condemned to life imprisonment, and was imprisoned. In 1950 he was released from prison, with acknowledgment of his research on ocean thermal energy conversion.
Selected bibliography
Claude wrote several semi-popular descriptions of his research, in addition to his wartime tracts and a memoir. Claude's first book, Electricity Made Accessible to Everyone, was a very popular exposition. It won the Prix Hébert de l’Académie des Sciences, and was translated into German. Christine Blondel writes of it, "In fact the success of the book was enormous. More than 60,000 copies were sold, nearly double the number of Jean Perrin's famous book, Les atomes." Liquid Air: Its production, its properties, and its applications, published shortly after the founding of Air Liquide. Translated by Henry E. P. Cottrell from . Bulletin, No. 486. On the Utilization of the thermal energy of the seas. My Battle Against the High Cost of Living. La vie chère literally refers to "dear life" (expensive living). It was an obsession of interwar France (1919-1939). My Life and My Inventions, Claude's autobiography, published a few years before his death in 1960.Further reading
Books The French title translates loosely as Genius Gone Astray; Baillot's appears to be the only book-length biography of Claude.Patent, Improvements in Systems of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes. Jan 19, 1915.