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Contribution #52 of 365
Norbert Rillieux
Inventor of the Multiple-Effect Evaporation Process
1840s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Inventor and engineer Norbert Rillieux invented the multiple-effect evaporation process, transforming sugar refining by making evaporation safer, more efficient, and more economical. The underlying process became foundational to modern industrial evaporation and was adapted for other manufacturing applications.