Adrien-Jean-Pierre Thilorier (16 February 1790 – 2 December 1844) was a French inventor who was the first person to produce solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice").
Early years
Adrien-Jean-Pierre Thilorier was born in Paris, France, on 16 February 1790.Joost Mertens (2003) "Du côté d’un chimiste nommé Thilorier: Balthazar Claës modèle d’Adrien Thilorier" (Towards a chemist named Thilorier: Balthazar Claës model Adrien Thilorier), L'Année balzacienne 2003, 1 (4) : 251-263. He was the son of a lawyer, Jean-Charles Thilorier (1756-1818).According to this source -- Frantz Funck-Brentano, L'Affaire du Collier [The Affair of the Necklace] (Paris, France: Librarie Hachette et Cie., 1901), page 281 footnote. -- Jean-Charles Thilorier was born in 1756 in la Rochelle, France, the son of a lawyer; he had two sons: Adrien and Nicolas-Charles.Available in English as: Frantz Funck-Brentano with H. Sutherland Edwards, trans., The Diamond Necklace … (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J.B. Lippincott, 1901), footnotes on pages 284-285. Jean-Charles achieved some notoriety:Biographie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne, 2nd ed. (Paris, France: Madame C. Desplaces, 1843-1865), vol. 41, pages 376-377. In 1786, he served as defense attorney to Count Alessandro di Cagliostro in the "Affair of the Queen's Necklace". In this affair, a French cardinal (the Cardinal de Rohan) tried to ingratiate himself with the queen of France (Marie Antoinette) by buying for her—through intermediaries—a diamond necklace. However, the intermediaries proved to be con men who defrauded the cardinal and the jewelers. Count Cagliostro was suspected of being involved in the fraud and was arrested, but Thilorier won a verdict of not guilty. Jean-Charles was also interested in science and mechanics: He invented a radeau-plongeur (diving wheel) to allow vehicles to cross rivers.See: (Minutes of the meeting of January 20, 1795), Procès-verbaux des séances de l'Académie [Minutes of meetings of the Academy] (Académie des sciences), 1 : 5, 7, and 33. Jean-Charles Thilorier, Nouvelle théorie sur la navigation des fleuves (Paris, France: Imprimerie de la rue des Petits-Augustins, 1795). In 1800, he designed a poêle fumivore (smoke-eating stove; i.e., smokeless stove).See: Patent 192: Thilorier, "Pour des poêles fumivores, … " (For smoke-eating stoves, … ), Description des machines et procédés spécifiés dans les brevets d'invention …, 3 : 144-186 (1820); issued: June 30, 1800. "Poêles fumivores de M. Thilorier" in: Ardenni and Julia de Fontelle with M.F. Malepeyre, eds., Nouveau Manuel Complet du Poelier-Fumiste, ou Traite complet de cet art …, 2nd ed. (Paris, France: Librarie Encyclopédique de Roret, 1850), pages 229-235. In 1803, he published a pamphlet on meteorites,Jean-Charles Thilorier, Genèse philosophique, précédée d'une dissertation sur les pierres tombées du ciel [Philosophical genesis, preceded by an essay on stones [that have] fallen from the sky] (Paris, France: Imprimerie de Chaignieau Aine, 1803). in 1812, he published a pamphlet on comets,Jean-Charles Thilorier, Découverte de la véritable cause de la queue des comètes … [Discovery of the true cause of tails of comets] (Paris, France: Chaignieau Aîné, 1812) and in 1815, he published a four-volume work on science.Jean-Charles Thilorier, Système universel, ou de l'Univers et de ses phénomèmes considérés comme les effets d'une cause unique [Universal system, or on the universe and its phenomena considered as the effects of a single cause] (Paris, France: Self-published, 1815).
Nothing is known about where Adrien Thilorier received his scientific education, although his father obviously was interested in the subject. Adrien may have been trained as a lawyer.Frantz Funck-Brentano (February 1, 1901) "Le Collier de la Riene" (The Queen's necklace), La Revue de Paris, 1 (3) : 626-652; see especially the footnote on page 629. From page 629: "Jean-Jacques Thilorier mourut le 20 juin 1818. 7. rue Neuve-des-Capucines, avec le titre d'avocat aux Conseils du roi. Il était âgé de soixante-deux ans. Il laissiat deux fils dont l'un, Adrien-Jean-Pierre, fut lui-même avocat." (Jean-Jacques Thilorier [this is an error; his correct name was Jean-Charles Thilorier] died on June 20, 1818, at 7 Neuve-des-Capucines Street, with the title lawyer to the King's Council. He was age 62 years. He left two sons, one of whom, Adrien-Jean-Pierre, was himself a lawyer.)
Mention of Thilorier's technical work first appeared in 1826: he developed and patented a "hydrostatic lamp" for lighthouses.Patent 4913: Adrien-Jean Thilorier, "Pour une lampe hydrostatique," Description des machines et procédés spécifiés …, 44 : 416-429 (1841); issued: May 12, 1826. As the lamp burned and consumed its oil, a dense aqueous solution of zinc sulfate flowed from the solution's reservoir into the oil reservoir, displacing the oil and thereby maintaining a steady flow of oil to the lamp's wick.For a detailed description and explanation of the hydrostatic lamp, see: Edmund Ronalds and Thomas Richardson, Chemical Technology; or Chemistry in its applications to the arts and manufactures, 2nd ed. (London, England: H. Baillière, 1855), vol. 1, part ii, pages 486-488.
By 1828, competing versions of Thilorier's lamp had appeared on the market, and Thilorier was upset by what he regarded as patent infringement. (Thilorier's lamp was a refinement of similar "hydrostatic lamps", which had been patented by the Girard brothers on 15 December 1804 and by Mr. Verzy on 8 March 1810.) Thilorier asked the French Academy of Sciences to investigate the matter, which they did; but Thilorier didn't receive much satisfaction as the academy simply stated that the lamps of Thilorier and his competitors were all better than those of the Girard brothers.(Minutes of the meeting of 15 December 1828), Procès-verbaux des séances de l'Académie [Minutes of meetings of the Academy] (Académie des sciences), 9 : 161-163 (1828-1831; published: 1921). Nevertheless, Thilorier continued to patent improvements to his lamp in 1828 and 1832 and in 1835.La France industrielle, 2 (14) : 186 (May 1835). In 1835, Thilorier, with Mr. Serrurot (a lamp maker), received a patent for an improved lamp, which was called a lampe-autostatique.La France industrielle, 2 (14) : 188 (May 1835). In 1837, Thilorier, with Mssrs. Serrurot and Sorel, received a patent for an apparatus that heated liquids by using thermal expansion of the liquid and a siphon to circulate liquids between a heater and a holding tank.Patent 5096: Sorel, Thilorier, and Serrurot, "Pour le chauffage des liquides par circulation" (On the heating of liquids by circulation), Description des machines et procédés spécifiés …, 46 : 71-74 (1842); issued January 11, 1837. The apparatus is illustrated in the lower right-hand corner of page 517.
Thilorier's compressor
By 1829, Adrien Thilorier had developed a machine for compressing gases. A wealthy French aristocrat, Baron Montyon (1733-1820), had endowed a set of prizes, which were awarded annually by the French Academy. One of the prizes was for mechanical improvements. Thilorier entered his compressor in the competition and won the Montyon prize of 1829–1,500 francs.See: "New compression pump of M. Thilorier," The Athenæum (of London), 1 (85) : 366 (June 10, 1829). "Rapport à l'Académie des Sciences par la commission chargée de décerner en 1829 le prix de mécanique fondé par M. de Montyon" [Report to the Academy of Sciences by the committee responsible for awarding in 1829 the prize for mechanics established by M. de Montyon] (session of May 18, 1829), Procès-verbaux des séances de l'Académie [Minutes of meetings of the Academy] (Académie des sciences), 9 : 247-252 (1828-1831; published 1921). "Machine à comprimer les gaz; par M. Thilorier" (Machine for compressing gases; by Mr. Thilorier), Bulletin des sciences technologiques, 13 : 340-343 (1829). "Machine à comprimer les gaz, par M. Thilorier" (Machine for compressing gases; by Mr. Thilorier), Annales de l’industrie française et étrangère, 4 : 132-132 (1829). The compressor consisted of three cylinders: the largest cylinder had a diameter of 7.5 cm and the piston in it had a stroke of 14.6 cm; the intermediate cylinder had a diameter of 2.25 cm and its piston had a stroke of 14.6 cm; the smallest cylinder had a diameter of 0.6 cm and its piston had a stroke of 24.7 cm. The compressor was powered by a rocker arm, which in turn was powered by a team of ten men. The largest and intermediate cylinders were positioned symmetrically on opposite sides of the rocker arm's axis; the smallest cylinder was placed on the same side of the axis as the intermediate cylinder but twice as far from the rocker arm's axis. During one half of each cycle of the rocker arm, each piston would compress the gas within its cylinder; during the next half cycle, the gas would be transferred (presumably through a check valve) to the next cylinder, to be compressed further. The compressor was capable of producing a pressure of 1,000 atmospheres.
Thilorier subsequently made several improvements to his compressor. One problem with his original compressor was that the effort that was required to compress the gas was greatest at the bottom of the piston's stroke, at which point the gas's pressure was greatest. Thilorier solved this problem by using a fusée, a device that watch makers used to allow a watch's mainspring to exert a constant torque as the mainspring unwound and its force became weaker. Thilorier reversed the function of the fusée: in his compressor, the fusée allowed a constant force that was supplied by the compressor's source of power (men) to be converted into a force that increased as the piston neared the bottom of its stroke. Thanks to this modification, one man could now power the compressor instead of the ten men that had been required earlier. He also changed the method of cooling the compressor, and he reduced the number of cylinders from three to two. He obtained a patent for this improved compressor.Patent 2896: Thilorier, Adrien-Jean-Pierre, "Pour le perfectionnement d'une machine à comprimer le gaz, …" (For the improvement of a machine to compress gas, …), Description des Machines et Procédés consignés dans les brevets d'invention, …, 30 : 251-267 (1836); issued: May 16, 1831.A number of journals reproduced the contents of Thilorier's patent application for his pump. See, for example: Thilorier (1829) "Machine à comprimer les gaz" (Machine for compressing gases), Bulletin des sciences technologiques, 30 : 340-343. "Rapport fait à l'Academie royale des sciences par M. Navier, sur une pompe à comprimer les gaz, inventée par M. Thilorier" (Report made to the Royal Academy of Sciences by Mr. Navier, on a pump for compressing gases, invented by Mr. Thilorier), Bulletin de la Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, 16 : 114-118 (1830). Thilorier (1833) "Pompe à comprimer les gaz, exécutée d’après la théorie qui a obtenu en 1829 le prix de mécanique fondé par M. de Montyon" (Pump for compressing gases, made according to the theory that in 1829 won the mechanics prize endowed by Mr. de Montyon), Mémoires présentés par divers savans à l’Académie des sciences de l’Institut de France. Sciences mathématiques et physiques, 4 : 565-589.