The company

1933

First sketch for a continuous installation for glycerine nitration

In 1933 Mario Biazzi sketched a continuous installation for glycerine nitration, according to his original idea. The nitration apparatus, is equipped with a maximum of cooling coils and with a system of extremely strong mixing turbines.

1935

First continuous nitration apparatus

The very first continuous nitration apparatus was constructed by BIAZZI in 1935. Multiple world-renowned explosives expert such as Dr. Phokion Naoum, of Dynamite Nobel AG were advocate of the new BIAZZI nitration system.

The following year the startup of the first BIAZZI’s installation for nitroglycerine was conducted.

Dr. Mario BIAZZI and his team further developed the technology and in 1942 realized the next step by the application of a direct neutralization stage on an industrial scale plant.

1936

Mario Biazzi (1897 – 1974)

Mario Biazzi,  pioneer in the field of explosives manufacture and nitration processes gave his name to the 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 initiated the commercialization of the continuous nitroglycerine production process and laid the foundations for BIAZZI’s Nitration Technologies, which were subsequently to dominate the market.

1943

Continuous production process of nitroglycerine

Mario Biazzi created, perfected and patented a safer process for the continuous production of nitroglycerine. This process was recognized by nitroglycerine experts and installed in dynamite factories in various European countries including Switzerland where Dr Biazzi was contracted by the Swiss military.

1946

The first industrial nitration plant

The first industrial nitration plant for the production of nitroaromatics, a 3’000 metric tons per year (MTPY) unit for mononitrobenzene and mononitrotoluene production was built.

1949

The decade of the BIAZZI expansion

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.

This was the start of 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.

Dinamite at Udine also 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.

1954

SAFEX International

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.
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

Nitroglycerine manufacture plant

The world’s largest plant for nitroglycerine manufacture (nearly 2000 kg/hour) located in Deer Park (Australia).

1957

Remote control system

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 risk of explosion.

A few years later in 1960, a huge step forward in industrial automation and a great leap towards safety was made by BIAZZI. The first entirely automated plant for transporting, storing and weighing nitroglycerine.

1974

Mario Biazzi

Death of Mario Biazzi in Torino, Italy, aged 77.

130 nitration plants had been delivered and installed worldwide by the time of his death.

With the aid of highly skilled specialists, Dr. Mario BIAZZIs innovations made BIAZZI a world leader in industrial niche technologies.

1980

With a focus on safety and efficiency, BIAZZI continually innovated and enhanced its expertise in aromatic nitration. They consistently expanded their capacity and embraced automation to improve their capabilities. During this decades, over 20 plants with capacities up to 50’000 MTPY were built. 

1990

Hydrogenation

In 1990, BIAZZI embarked on a new field: hydrogenation. This intricate process, often executed at elevated pressures and temperatures, demanded profound expertise in safety, process technology, and equipment design. The BIAZZI team engineered a special reactor to address challenges encountered in hydrogenation and similar gas-liquid reactions. 

2002

BIAZZI’s Magnetic Drive System

BIAZZI developed a magnetic drive for its hydrogenation reactor without mechanical seals. This system guarantees a fully secure confinement of hydrogen. Its magnetic functionality eliminates a wide range of mechanical problems and reduced the maintenance and downtime of the reactor.

2014

Largest dinitrotoluene (DNT) and toluenediamine (TDA) production plants with an equivalent total capacity of 300’000 MTPY of TDI.

2020

Focusing on safety, reliability and efficiency, BIAZZI constantly refines and develops its technologies within its energetic materials portfolio. At the beginning of the decade, BIAZZI modernized to the current state of the art for some downstream processes of energetic materials.