Paul (Louis-Toussaint) Héroult was born on April 10, 1863, and died on May 9, 1914. He was a French scientist who helped invent the Hall-Héroult process for extracting aluminum. He also created the first successful commercial electric arc furnace. He lived in Thury-Harcourt, Normandy.

Life and career

When Paul Héroult was 15 years old, he read a book about aluminum written by Henri Sainte-Claire Deville. At that time, aluminum was very expensive, costing as much as silver. It was mostly used for luxury items and jewelry. Héroult wanted to find a way to make aluminum cheaper. In 1886, he discovered a method called the electrolytic process, which allowed aluminum to be produced more affordably. Around the same time, in the United States, Charles Martin Hall (1863–1914) also discovered the same process. Because of this shared discovery, the method became known as the Hall–Héroult process.

Héroult’s second major contribution was the creation of the first commercially successful electric arc furnace (EAF) for steel in 1900. This furnace replaced large smelters used to make different types of steel. In 1905, Héroult was invited to the United States as a technical adviser to several companies, including the United States Steel Corporation and the Halcomb Steel Company. Halcomb installed the first Héroult furnace in the United States.

The idea of using electricity to produce heat for metalmaking began in 1800 when Humphry Davy discovered the carbon arc. Later, in 1878, Carl Wilhelm Siemens developed and used both direct and indirect electric arc furnaces. However, widespread use of these furnaces required more electricity and better carbon electrodes.

Paul Héroult is also known for other important inventions, including a self-supporting conduit that is still used today to transport water from high mountain areas and across rivers to hydraulic power plants. This design avoids the need to build costly bridges.

Paul Héroult died on May 9, 1914, at the age of 51 years and 29 days.