Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 50 49 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Two Methods

When he came to the office, Hou Debang briefly introduced to Chen Muwu the process of synthesizing soda ash by Solvay's soda production method while drawing pictures on paper.

He was not afraid at all that Chen Muwu would come to the soda factory to steal the teacher, and after stealing the core secrets, he would set up a soda factory elsewhere and compete with Yongli.

First, although the chemical equation written in textbooks for the Solvay soda production method is very simple, the specific operation process and production process are very complicated. Chen Muwu has no access to or masters the core data such as temperature and pressure.

The second is that Hou Debang is not a person who likes to hide private things.

After he thoroughly mastered the Solvay soda-making method, he wrote a monograph on soda-making and published it in the United States, and made this method completely public, allowing people all over the world to escape from the monopoly of the soda industry giants.

While listening to the explanation, Chen Muwu's brain was running fast, carefully recalling the knowledge he had learned from the chemistry textbook, as well as the various exercises he had done in the "Five-Year College Entrance Exam and Three-Year Simulation".

When Hou Debang mentioned in the introduction that the equipment purchased by Yongli Alkali Factory contained ammonia and carbon dioxide to produce waste calcium chloride, Chen Muwu finally remembered Hou's soda production method and the present The difference in this Solvay soda process.

"Mr. Hou, why did I see a lot of barrels filled with ammonia...ammonia water in the factory? Can the ammonia in this method really be recycled?" Chen Muwu asked his question .

Amonia, the transliteration of English ammonia, is the old name for ammonia.

This title is too convoluted, and I don't know when it will be changed to the convenient and concise ammonia word.

"This..." Hou Debang seems to have been poked at a sore spot, "Theoretically, it can be recycled, but we have actually operated it a few times and found that no matter whether it is ammonia or carbon dioxide, the loss in each cycle is not small. So it is still necessary to prepare a large amount of ammonia water and limestone. Alas, I heard that there are already many synthetic ammonia factories in Europe, and it would be great if we have the money to build one."

"Indeed, with a synthetic ammonia factory, not only ammonia but also carbon dioxide can be provided. In this way, neither ammonia water nor burning lime is needed."

Hou Debang mentioned in the introduction just now that the limestone used in the Yongli Alkali Plant comes from the quarry in Beijiadian, Qishan.

The carbon dioxide produced by limestone after high-temperature heating and burning is used as a supplement for the large amount of carbon dioxide lost in the soda-making cycle.

"How can it be done without burning lime!" Hou Debang really got into the trap, "Without lime milk, ammonia gas cannot be recycled!"

Quicklime, another product of burning, is added with water to turn it into milk of lime, which is then thrown into the waste tank, producing recycled ammonia gas and a waste liquid containing large amounts of calcium chloride and sodium chloride.

"Director Hou, forgive me for my ignorance, but I feel that the current production method seems to have fallen into a strange circle.

"It is said that the two gases can be recycled, but they still need to be continuously replenished during production.

"Limestone is also a huge waste, producing a lot of useless calcium chloride, which is cumbersome to dispose of.

"Since ammonia must be continuously replenished after all, why not simply abandon the addition of milk of lime to the waste liquid in the cycle?"

Chen Muwu finally wanted to see him.

Hou Debang seemed to have understood Chen Muwu's implication: "You mean, leave the ammonia in the waste liquid? But what's the use of curium chloride?"

Ammonium is now translated as 铔, which is called ammonium in later generations, and 铔 chloride is ammonium chloride. This is another difference between the transliteration of the Republic of China and modern times.

"I think that the curium chloride can be separated and used as nitrogen fertilizer, which can be applied to the ground to help the crops grow. This by-product that can be sold for money is always stronger than the calcium chloride that is thrown away for nothing."

"After applying curium chloride, won't the pH of the land become lower?"

"Cerium chloride can be sold to the south as a special fertilizer for paddy fields. Running water and frequent rainfall can take away chlorine well and prevent them from staying in the soil."

Hou Debang pondered for a long time: "Hanchen, you have provided us with a new idea. However, if we can finally realize your idea, we need more ammonia than we have now.

"As far as I know, a set of equipment for synthesizing ammonia is very valuable now, the key is that there is no market for it, even if you have money, foreigners may not be willing to sell it to you.

"Even our current soda-making process was secretly obtained by General Manager Fan from foreigners at a high price."

Indeed, as Hou Debang said, in this era when one ton of soda ash was equivalent to one ounce of gold, foreigners would never give up the opportunity to make a fortune.

Chen Muwu knew that in the 20s the synthetic ammonia plant was definitely considered the most high-end thing in the world.

Although there is crude ammonia water in the product after the coal is dry-distilled, it is not a little bit worse than the efficiency of the ammonia synthesis plant.

The advantage of the plan he gave is that it can cancel the lime kiln and at the same time, it does not need to produce useless waste calcium chloride, but as Hou Debang said, it will need to purchase a larger amount of ammonia water. Chen Muwu doesn't know From an economic point of view, which option is more suitable.

He didn't know what to comfort him, so he said a line from the movie: "There will be bread, there will be milk, and everything will be fine."

……

Before leaving, Chen Muwu mentioned to Hou Debang that when he came, he saw rusty spots in the components of those reactors.

He suggested that Hou Debang must completely remove the rust, otherwise, the pure white soda ash may be stained.

Rejecting Hou Debang's invitation to entertain him at night, Chen Muwu left the Yongli Soda Factory while it was still bright, and returned to the stateroom berthed at the "Xin Minghao" at the China Merchants Wharf.

The "heavenly secret" has been leaked inadvertently, but how long it takes to realize it depends on Hou Debang.

I hope that he, a real doctor from Columbia University, will have an inexplicable sense of familiarity in the face of his future research, and then speed up the research process!
Chen Muwu admires entrepreneurs such as Fan Xudong and Hou Debang, but if he is asked to end up in business and take the old road of saving the country through industry, he will definitely choose to refuse without hesitation.

Now the Beiyang government is not bad, at least Liang Rengong can help Fan Xudong avoid the sea salt tax for decades, so that he will not be too constrained by money, and can devote all his body and mind to his career.

But after the white sun flag changed at the top of the city, the chemical plants of the Yongli Department began to struggle.

How did Fan Xudong die in the end?
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he wanted to restore the chemical industry and make Wynn bigger and stronger. He applied for a loan of 600 million US dollars from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

After his friend Chen Guangfu went all over the place, the Bank of America finally agreed to the loan, but it required a guarantee from the national government.

As a result, Fan Xudong sent countless reports to the Executive Yuan to apply for guarantees, all of which fell to nothing. In the end, he got a shocking news. The Executive Director Song XX sent someone to say that as long as he Song XX can become the chairman of Wynn, He immediately assigned the Bank of China branch in New York to sign the guarantee agreement.

Naturally, Fan Xudong rejected this shameless request without hesitation, and then the Executive Yuan immediately sent back a "Not Approved" reply.

The father of the poor generation of chemical industry was so anxious that he fell.

Even Fan Xudong ended up like this, how can there be a ruthless person not surnamed Jiang, Song, Kong, or Chen who can make his business bigger and stronger in the Republic of China without being missed by others?
Of course, Chen Muwu's surname is indeed Chen, but his Chen is the same Chen Yuchen, but not the same Chen Xingchen, so it still doesn't work.

The more he thought about it, the more upset he had no appetite, so he just asked the waiter to randomly bring up two tonkatsu, and after he was full, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

(End of this chapter)