Chapter 461 - 374: The Most Advanced and The Most Suitable

Chapter 461: Chapter 374: The Most Advanced and The Most Suitable

Mr. Lavoisier, noticing the Crown Prince’s eyes gleaming with excitement, hurriedly explained, “Your Highness, if you only need a few thousand kilograms of casein glue each month, then an investment of 5,000 livres should suffice. However, if you require 50,000 kilograms, we would face a severe shortage of raw materials such as soda ash and water glass. Oh, the current soda ash production in the vicinity of Paris is only enough to produce 1,000 kilograms of casein glue per month.”

“So, you must first invest in a workshop for the production of soda ash, and the scale would be extremely large.

“You see, to produce soda ash, we must first build a Reverberatory Furnace and a workshop for the production of sulfuric acid. This alone would require at least 800,000 livres. Plus, producing water glass, purifying quicklime…”

“Wait,” Joseph raised his hand to interrupt him, “Did you just say that producing soda ash requires a Reverberatory Furnace? If I understood correctly, is it the same kind of furnace used for forging steel?”

“That is correct, Your Highness.” Mr. Lavoisier nodded, “You may not be very familiar with the latest mass production method for soda ash.

“It is a method recently invented by Dr. Leblanc. Mixing salt and sulfuric acid, then after distillation, adding limestone and coal and placing it into the Reverberatory Furnace to calcine into a molten state. This process requires reaching the melting temperature of iron, which is why the Reverberatory Furnace is so suitable…”

As he continued to explain, Joseph began to understand that in this era, soda ash was still produced using calcination and the crystallization method.

Just the high temperature of over 1,000 degrees needed for the process would consume a tremendous amount of coal. Moreover, the corrosive effect of the sulfuric acid on the Reverberatory Furnace at these high temperatures was severe, requiring a complete replacement every few years—such costs were astronomically high!

Therefore, soda ash was still considered a luxury chemical product. The kind sold by the gram!

No wonder Mr. Lavoisier was prompting him to invest a million livres, to set it up like a steel mill—this money might not even be enough.

Joseph quickly remembered, isn’t soda ash just sodium carbonate?

That is, soda ash.

As one of the five pillars of the chemical industry, back in the day, countless chemists went insane trying to reduce the cost of its mass production…

He couldn’t help but sigh.

Indeed, all profitable commercial products ultimately relied on the production of basic raw materials.

Fortunately, thanks to his roommate from the chemistry department, he hadn’t returned all his chemical knowledge to his teachers.

For example, he knew the “Solvay process”!

Wasn’t that enough to instantly outclass those “primitive methods” of the late 18th century?

Previously, he hadn’t been able to spare the energy to delve into the chemical industry, but now seemed like the perfect opportunity to start with soda ash.

Wasn’t it just a million livres? If it could drive the chemical industry in France, that amount was nothing more than a trifle.

Not to mention the significance of soda ash for the furniture revolution and bulletproof inserts, even selling it directly could earn back ten times the profit.

Joseph immediately recalled the Solvay process in his mind and looked at Lavoisier, “In fact, I have a completely new method for producing soda ash, which should cost less than a tenth of the method you just described.”

Mr. Lavoisier’s eyes widened in astonishment. Had anyone else made such a claim, he would likely have scoffed. However, coming from the “Child Blessed by God,” he had to take it seriously.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, it generally involves salt, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.” Joseph didn’t keep it secret, the esteemed “Father of Chemistry” wasn’t likely to steal his technique, or rather, he wouldn’t dare. Besides, knowing the principles was one thing, but implementing them in a specific mass production process still required Lavoisier’s expertise.

“You start by passing ammonia gas into saturated brine to form ammonium chloride. Then, carbon dioxide is introduced to produce…”

Having explained the Solvay process, he waited for Mr. Lavoisier’s exclamations of surprise.

However, after a good half minute, the “Father of Chemistry” frowned and shook his head, “Your Highness, your method is good in theory, but it seems unfeasible.”

Joseph was momentarily stunned, “What? Are you sure you heard correctly? This is the Hou Process for producing soda ash!”

Mr. Lavoisier continued, “Your method requires the consumption of a large amount of ammonia. If I remember correctly, the price of sodium nitrate is about 7 livres per kilogram. Thus, the soda produced in this way will not be much cheaper than Dr. Leblanc’s method.

“Most importantly, the entire supply of sodium nitrate in Europe would hardly satisfy the consumption needed for producing 50,000 kilograms of casein per month.”

Joseph blinked, “Sodium nitrate? What is that?”

“It’s the mineral used to produce ammonia…”

As Mr. Lavoisier explained further, Joseph couldn’t help but begin to look gloomy—sodium nitrate must be ammonium chloride. With the current chemical technology, it was not possible to synthetically produce ammonia, one could only obtain it by calcining this expensive mineral.

The price was through the roof.

Only then did he remember that the synthetic ammonia process wasn’t perfected until the end of the 19th century, and Dr. Hou’s method of producing soda ash was invented in the 20th century when the price of ammonia had become incredibly cheap.

And producing synthetic ammonia, if he remembered correctly, required high-temperature, high-pressure reaction technology, something completely unfeasible in the 18th century…

So, what about the chemical industry, what about the furniture revolution—were they all just wishful thinking on his part?

Seeing his changed expression, Mr. Lavoisier hurriedly comforted him, “Your Highness, your line of thinking is very innovative, it’s a method I’ve never thought of before.

“However, sometimes the old ways might still be useful…”

Joseph smiled bitterly. He hadn’t expected that Dr. Hou’s world-shaking improved method for producing soda ash would lose to the reverberatory furnace in the 18th century.

He couldn’t help but recall the documentary he had watched about Dr. Hou, how he had improved the Solvay process step by step under very harsh conditions, ultimately achieving success.

Hm?

Suddenly, he thought of something. What was Dr. Hou’s improvement? It seemed to involve joint soda production—producing soda ash and fertilizer at the same time, thus enhancing output and raw material efficiency.

And how was the Solvay process for producing soda ash done?

Joseph desperately recalled the documentary he had watched, murmuring to himself, “Salt plus ammonia plus carbon dioxide, dissolved in water. Remove the precipitate, add limestone, heat the reaction…

“Ammonia and carbon dioxide are generated, and the sinter contains soda ash and calcium chloride, then it’s purified through crystallization…

“Such a method for producing soda ash wastes the chlorine in the salt and the calcium in the limestone, which is why the production efficiency and cost are not as good as the Hou Process for producing soda ash…”

Joseph suddenly stopped, wait, during the process both ammonia and carbon dioxide are released, and they can be reintroduced into the next reaction!

If that’s the case, the consumption of ammonia would be very, very small. Although without the fertilizer production of the Hou Process, it bypasses the chasm of ammonia.

Thank goodness…

He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He had really fallen into a trap, always wanting to jump straight to the most advanced technology. But the most advanced isn’t necessarily suitable for this era!

“Mr. Lavoisier,” he smiled again, “if I have another method that does not require the consumption of ammonia, please help me design the mass production process.”

Mr. Lavoisier’s eyes suddenly widened, was the Crown Prince truly inspired by the gods?!

To produce soda ash, such a cutting-edge technology, and he had come up with two approaches in less than half an hour!!