Furnace House C
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Can you see Kristian Birkeland? The statue stands in front of Building 20, the old Furnace House C in the Hydro industrial park. Kristian Birkeland was an inventor and professor of electromagnetics, and he managed the development of the technology that led to the industrial production of fertilizer at Notodden. In Furnace House C behind the Kristian Birkeland statue, the Norwegian Birkeland/Eyde electric arc furnaces and the German Schönherr furnaces were tested and developed in 1909-10 to find out which could make the most fertilizer. The winner was to be used in the fertilizer factories that were under construction in Rjukan. Imagine, this building was built to house a competition! When the competition was over, Furnace House C was used to produce artificial fertilizer –eventually with only Birkeland’s electric arc furnaces.