Rudolf Erren

Rudolf Arnold Erren (15 August 1899 – death date unknown) was a German engineer and inventor who did important work on the use of hydrogen fuels in the early 20th century. He had several patents, developed the Erren engine,^[1] and his work was "apparently the earliest reported use of hydrogen-engine supercharging of any kind."^[2] One of Germany's World War II U-boats supposedly had a hydrogen engine designed by Erren.^[3]

Erren was born in Prussia, served in both the German Army and Air Force during World War I, then became a police officer, and was "acquitted of a charge of murdering a superior officer."^[4] Erren was interned in Canada by the British during World War II^[5] and repatriated 28 October 1945.^[6] He may have applied for British naturalisation in 1946.^[7] He returned to Germany and remarried.^[4] Erren's research records were lost during WWII.^[2]

Erren's ex-wife Rosalie Mercy Burlin Erren Henderson (married 1931, divorced 1937) was one of John Haigh's murder victims.^[8][9][4]

The Rudolf Erren Award of the International Association of Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) is named in his honor.^[10]

See also

• German submarine V-80, an experimental Nazi mini-sub fueled by hydrogen peroxide

Selected publications

• Erren, R.A. and Camnbell, Vf.H., "Hydrogen: A Commercial Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines and Other Purposes", J. Inst. of Fuel (London), Vox. 6,   No. 29, June 1933, pp. 277–290.