Melvin De Groote
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Melvin De Groote (1895–1963) was one of America's great unlauded inventors. At the time of his death he held 925 patents. Time magazine's millennium issue recognized him as second only to Thomas Edison in this regard. When one takes into account the fact that Edison died at 84 and held 1,097 patents, De Groote's contributions seem even more impressive.
De Groote's invented and patented many of the de-emulsifying agents that separate crude oil from salt, sulfur and water. Without de-emulsification, most of the oil pumped in the US for the last century would have been too corrosive for pipelines or tankers and would have been discarded.
Petrolite, De Groote's employer, was a pioneer in oil field treatment. De Groote was recruited to the firm from the Mellon Institute in 1924 upon the death of the company's founder, William S. Barnickel. Under De Groote's leadership, the company became the industry giant.
De Groote graduated from Ohio State University in 1915 with a degree in chemical engineering. He took a second chemical engineering degree in 1942, also from Ohio State, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science in 1955. He was awarded the Lamme Medal in 1950 by the College of Engineering for "meritorious achievement in engineering and the chemical arts". He was also a member of Tau Beta Pi, an engineering society.
In addition to de-emulsification, Time Magazine credits him with having invented the emulsion that allows chocolate to stick to ice cream which lead ultimately to the Eskimo Pie. DeGroote, in his work as a flavorings expert at the Mellon Institute was rumored to have been hired by Coca Cola to re-formulate its syrups to eliminate the alcoholic ingredients that were outlawed during prohibition (It should be noted that Coke does not acknowledge any changes to its recipes).
He worked for the Petrolite Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri for 36 years; he married once (Esther Grossman) and had two children (Stanley and Barbara).
