Linde Enters into Liquefaction and Separation of Gases

Abstract

Laden as he was with the move to Munich in 1890 and with his duties as chairman of the board of directors in Wiesbaden, Linde shifted his engineering interests from refrigeration to cryogenic engineering. A new field for him, cryogenic engineering was technologically less discovered than refrigeration engineering at that time. Originally, the company was to finance small-scale research for the next five or so years. However, after 1895, when Linde began to make pioneering discoveries in cryogenic engineering, it became clear not only that the company would delve further into this field, but also that technology development would become a core competence. Indeed, competition for Linde was to evolve less around price than technological competence. This department of gas liquefaction and separation in Munich grew increasingly following the turn of the century. By 1920, it had become in many ways more important than the older Department A for refrigeration machines in Wiesbaden. This chapter recounts the founding of this area of operations, which, up until the end of the 1970s, constituted the core and identity of the company. Organizationally, this department, as an engineering department for technological development, was similar in some ways to Department A of the 1880s in Wiesbaden. The following describes the foundation, expansion and inner structure of the department up to 1930.