History
Tribute to Mario BIAZZI
Mario Biazzi (1897 – 1974) – pioneer in the field of explosives manufacture and nitration processes gave his name to our company and left an impressive record of achievements including manufacturing plants spanning the five continents.
He developed and patented the first continuous nitroglycerine unit in 1936, the same year he founded BIAZZI. The 120 kg/hr plant innitiated the commercialization of the continuous nitroglycerine production process and laid the foundations for BIAZZI’s Nitration Technologies, which were subsequently to dominate the market.
1932 – Mario Biazzi was hired as an expert in civil explosives by S.I.P.E. Nobel Company (Società Italiana Prodotti Esplodenti), a company established in 1872 by Alfred Nobel and where the first industrial nitroglycerin and dynamite production started in 1873.
1933-1943 – Mario Biazzi created, perfected and patented a safer process for the continuous production of nitroglycerin. This process was recognized by nitroglycerin experts and installed in dynamite factories in various European countries, including Germany, Scotland, and Switzerland where Dr Biazzi was contracted by the Swiss military.
1935 – Phokion Naoùm of Dynamit Nobel AG, world renowned explosives expert and advocate of the BIAZZI nitration system, with the very first continuous nitration apparatus constructed by BIAZZI.
Dr. Mario BIAZZI and his team further developed the technology and in 1942 realised the next step by the application of a direct neutralization stage on an industrial scale plant.
1936 – start up of the first installation for nitroglycerin ordered by S.I.P.E.
1944 – Isleten: First BIAZZI nitroglycerin plant in Switzerland.
1946 – The first industrial nitration plant for the production of nitroaromatics, a 3000 metric tons per year (MTPY) unit for mononitrobenzene and mononitrotoluene production was built.
1949 – Mario Biazzi formally installed his offices in Vevey, Switzerland. He also became an investor in a small explosives factory near Udine, Italy, Dinamite S.p.A.
1950s – During his entire career Mario Biazzi’s major concern was plant safety. There were far too many accidents in the explosives industry in the 1950s and the severity of most of these incidents was alarming.
1954 – Mario Biazzi was the instigator and one of the founding members of SAFEX International, a non-profit association whose aim is to improve safety in the explosives industry. SAFEX currently has over 110 members in over 50 countries throughout the world.
1956 – The world’s largest plant for nitroglycerin manufacture (nearly 2000 kg/hour) situated in Deer Park (Australia).
1957 – A remote control system was devised for the ICI plant at Ardeer in Scotland. The first positive result from the safety research was the application of remote controls in all BIAZZI production facilities. The plant operators were situated in a shelter well protected from the danger of explosion.
1959 – Dinamite at Udine, founded in 1949 by Dr. Mario BIAZZI, installed the first automatic plant. The company continued to develop and to diversify its production. Several pharmaceutical and agrochemical products requiring delicate or dangerous production steps were added to the existing explosives portfolio.
1950 – 1960 This was the decade of the BIAZZI expansion. The Vevey office employed around twenty people, most of them highly specialized. The research centre and factory at Mereto di Tomba contributed to the success of the enterprise and the development and application of new production methods won many future clients.
Mario Biazzi (centre) examines an installation plan with representatives of the United States Navy.
1960 – A huge step forward in industrial automation and a great leap towards safety: The first entirely automated plant for transporting, storing and weighing nitroglycerine.
1974 – Death of Mario Biazzi in Torino, IT, aged 77. 130 nitration plants have been delivered and installed worldwide by the time of his death.
With the aid of highly skilled specialists, Dr. Mario BIAZZI’s innovations made BIAZZI today a world leader in niche industrial technologies such as nitration, liquid-phase hydrogenations, and other gas/liquid reactions.
To date BIAZZI has built more than 350 industrial plants in these three technology fields.
Today BIAZZI has a leading position in hydrogenation, nitration and explosives technologies.
2011 BIAZZI celebrated its 75th anniversary…
2016: 80 years celebration and the success continues…
