E. E. Kurth

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Ernest Edgar Kurth
Born(1895-11-01)1 November 1895
Died4 January 1966(1966-01-04) (aged 70)
Resting place Cornelian Bay, Tasmania

Ernest Edgar Kurth, also known as E. E. Kurth, is best known for his work at the University of Tasmania with investigations into the chemical constitution and properties of Tasmanian and New South Wales oil shales, for which he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science in 1934. During WWII he gave special attention to the pyrolysis of timber and its trace elements. He was author of several papers on the subject and held a patent for improvements to charcooal kilns.

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Personal life

E. E. Kurth was born on 1 November 1895 in Broken Hill, Australia. His parents were Friedrich Ernst Kurth and Emma Ceaserina, née Muller. He married Irene Saunders in 1924 and they had four children: two boys, Dudley and Geoffrey and two girls, Shirley and Dorothy. Kurth died on 4 January 1966 and is buried in the Cornelian Bay, Tasmania.

Broken Hill Town in New South Wales, Australia

Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is 315 m (1,033 ft) above sea level, with a hot desert climate, and an average rainfall of 235 mm (9 in). The closest major city is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, which is more than 500 km (311 mi) to the southwest and linked via route A32.

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Cornelian Bay, Tasmania Suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Cornelian Bay is a small suburb in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It lies just north of the urban parkland, the Queens Domain. The bay itself is a safe anchorage for yacht owners.

Schooling

Kurth was raised in the West Australian gold fields and attended the Daveyhurst Primary School from 1899 to 1907 and the Scotch College Secondary School in Claremont, West Australia. From 1911 to 1915 Kurth studied at the Western Australian School of Mines, Kalgoorlie, qualified for the Associateship in Metallurgy and in 1915 held the position of demonstrator in Chemistry.

Early Career Positions

After gaining experience in assaying chemicals at the Oroya Links Ltd plant in Kalgoorlie, Kurth was awarded a Robert Falconer Research Scholarship for research into iron corrosion on water supplies. From 1916 to 18 he joined the Sons of Gwalia Ltd Gold Mine at Gwalia, WA, and in 1918 moved to Hobart, Tasmania, where he first worked as a Research Chemist for the Electrolytic Zinc Co. in the early stages of its establishment at Risdon, and then joined the staff of the Hobart Technical College.

University Positions

In 1923 Kurth was appointed Lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Applied Chemistry and Geology, and was appointed Head of the Chemistry Department in 1924. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1928 and his Doctorate in Science in 1934 with his work on Oil Shale. In 1941 he became Foundation Professor at the newly created Chair of Chemistry at the University and Head of the Chemistry Department at the Hobart Technical College, a position he held until his retirement in 1960. Kurth became Dean of the Faculty of Science in 1946 and designed the new Chemistry Building at Sandy Bay. Following his retirement he was honoured with the title of Professor Emeritus, University of Tasmania.

Professional Roles

1934 - Holder of the Australian Letters Patent 19231/34 for the process of manufacturing of bituminous substances by the concentration of Tasmanite Oil Shale. 1924-1937 - Referee Analyst for Government on commercial interests on liquors, foods, oils, bitumen, alloys, soils, fish product and other items and was a member of the State Development Advisory Board. 1935 - His investigation into the Smithton Dolomite Deposits resulted in the formation of the Magnesium Products Ltd company. 1940 - Applied for Patent for an improved, continuously working charcoal kiln to produce consistent quality charcoal as a motor fuel substitute for petrol. Built a quarter-size prototype kiln at Dover, Tasmania. 1941 - granted Charcoal Kiln Patent No 2563/41 titled: ″Improvement in and connected with charcoal kilns″. Supervise construction of a 25-ton capacity kiln at Gembrook, Victoria Australia. The kiln was completed in 1942 and first fired on 18 March that year and decommissioned in 1945.

The kiln, now known as Kurth Kiln, is a landmark in the area and was added to the Victoria Heritage Register in 2008 under H2012.

Kurth Kiln

Kurth Kiln was established by the Forests Commission Victoria in 1941 on a site about 7 km north of Gembrook on the Tomahawk Creek.

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