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Chapter 211 Poor use of sulfur and iron, rich use of sulfur
Liuguangzhai has not been focusing on manufacturing transparent glass tea sets and wine sets in recent years. That is just an illusion to the outside world. In fact, under Hong Tao's remote control command, it has been researching new technologies, such as flat glass, optical glass, instrument glass, etc.Although most of them are still in the process of trial and error, there are also successful examples.

Mercury thermometer is one of them. The technology it requires is not complicated and there is no shortage of raw materials. It is just that the processing is more difficult.The main reason is that when blowing thin glass tubes, it is not easy to make the cavity in the middle thick and straight.

But as long as it is a problem that can be solved by repetitive work, there is no problem that Chinese craftsmen cannot solve.After several years of continuous attempts, he finally succeeded, and then the mercury thermometer came into being.

How to unify temperature and scale?It’s too easy, just rely on people!Humans are endothermic animals, and the normal body temperature is basically maintained between 36-37 degrees, with the rectal body temperature slightly higher by one degree.

As long as you find the target object, the following work will be very easy, give it a try.Use thermometers of different lengths and filled with different amounts of mercury to make cross-comparisons between different human bodies. As long as the number of samples is large enough, and the final middle value is taken, it will basically be very close to 36.5 degrees.

But it seems that just one punctuation point cannot complete the scale. At this time, it is time to look at nature.There is an object whose temperature is basically constant when it changes physical form under normal atmospheric pressure, and that is water!

When water boils, the temperature is basically around 100 degrees. If the interference of water vapor can be eliminated, it should be 100 degrees Celsius.With 36.5 degrees and 100 degrees, any temperature is possible.

Theoretically, as long as the workmanship is correct, the temperature measurement range of the mercury thermometer is between -39 degrees and 356 degrees, which is exactly in line with the needs of fractionating coal tar and petroleum.

Is this a big mistake?There is indeed an error, and theoretically it may be higher than 1 degree.But it doesn’t matter, anyway, we won’t be able to use a very accurate thermometer in a short period of time. Let alone 1 degree, even if the difference is 3 degrees, it is still considered the most precise temperature measuring instrument in the world in the 17th century, and it is the only one for scorpions to poop!
一个小小的分馏煤焦油试验整整耗费了四天时间，20斤脱水煤焦油经过从130度到280度之间的馏分，变成了1斤多粗汽油、1斤多粗煤油、3斤多粗柴油、和10多斤沥青。

It is said that they are gasoline, kerosene and diesel. In fact, these fractionated fuel oils are quite different from the gasoline, kerosene and diesel of later generations. The main reason is that they contain too many impurities. In the petrochemical industry, the correct name should be light. Oil, phenolic oil, scallion oil, and further refinement include naphthalene oil and washing oil.

Light oil is also called naphtha and crude gasoline. It is a kind of gasoline that has not been purified by distillation and contains impurities. If the equipment and technology allow, ethylene and propylene can be extracted through tube furnace cracking. If there is a suitable catalyst, it can also be Benzene, toluene and xylene can be produced from it and are very important chemical raw materials and fuel oil.

Phenolic oil is also widely used and is an important raw material for synthetic resins, dyes, and spices. However, its chemical composition is more complex and difficult to purify by simple fractionation, so it is of little use for the time being.

No, let’s not say it’s useless. Phenolic oil itself is a kind of medicine. It has good antibacterial effects and can effectively kill a variety of bacteria and fungi. It is commonly used to treat skin diseases.

At the same time, it also has good antioxidant and moisturizing functions. It can neutralize free radicals and reduce cell oxidation. It is most suitable for use in skin care products. It can significantly increase skin elasticity and maintain moisture.

Scallion oil is a bit like liquid asphalt, dark. When this oil is fractionated, the amount is very small, and it is basically mixed with the asphalt. Hong Tao really doesn't know what its ingredients are and what it can be used for.

The gasoline, kerosene and diesel here have not gone through distillation, pickling, alkali washing and other processes. They have many impurities and are of poor quality, so they can only be regarded as simple crude distillations.If more equipment can be added for distillation, more than a dozen products can be produced, such as naphthalene, phenol, benzene, sodium sulfate, and even asphalt will not be wasted, and paraffin can be extracted from it.But Hong Tao is not that greedy. The main reason is that the technology and equipment are not up to such high standards. It is already good to have crude distillate gasoline, kerosene and diesel.Then look at the operating procedures and key points that are fully recorded in the small notebook in each person's hand. It must be satisfying.

After several days of observation, it was found that at least one-third of the more than 20 students had strong hands-on ability and ability to accept new things.And among them, there are two or three people who seem to have some talent.

Compared with the task of fractionating coal tar, selecting talents is more important.Because the following not only requires small-scale fractionation of coal tar, but also acid and alkali production. It may be a bit difficult to rely on rote learning.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Hong Tao basically stayed on Qiongdao and watched the students tirelessly repeating every step of fractionating coal tar, while also preparing sulfuric acid using laboratory methods.

This time, he did not produce dilute sulfuric acid by distilling green vitriol or bile vitriol, but directly used a simpler and cruder method.Find a large Yongle blue and white porcelain vat filled with distilled water, put a Chenghua bucket color tray on the bottom, put sulfur and a small piece of saltpeter, ignite it, cover the mouth of the vat and seal it with mud, and stifle it for half an hour to get sulfuric acid.

In fact, this is what later generations call the contact method. In large-scale production, sulfur is usually not used. Instead, lower-cost pyrite is chosen, which produces sulfur dioxide gas through calcination, while saltpeter produces nitrogen oxides.Sulfur dioxide is oxidized by nitrogen oxides into sulfur trioxide, which becomes sulfuric acid when dissolved in water.

The specific concentration depends on the amount of sulfur and saltpeter used. This data needs to be summarized slowly through repeated experiments.But it doesn't matter. The contact method can be carried out repeatedly. As long as it doesn't waste the raw materials and the sulfuric acid concentration is not enough, just react again.

The reason why Hong Tao chose sulfur instead of pyrite was mainly for the convenience of operation.With Yuan Keli's bandit-suppressing Admiral Yamen battleship, it is easy to exchange sulfur and saltpeter from Japan. The price is cheap, the quality is good, and the money is full.

By directly burning sulfur and saltpeter, the conversion rate of sulfur trioxide is higher, making it easier to increase the concentration of sulfuric acid solution, and can even directly produce fuming sulfuric acid with a concentration exceeding 100%.

As for whether to use sulfur or pyrite as raw materials for mass production in the future, Hong Tao has not yet decided.Anyway, you can't build a factory in the city. You have to find a relatively deserted place with abundant water, suitable humidity, and develop a particularly complete production safety system before you can start it.

As long as the students master the correct steps and understand the purpose of each step, burning more sulfur is nothing.They are the chemical plant engineers and technicians of the future, and they will lead the Ming Dynasty and the world into a new century with new discoveries.

The industrial revolution will have to wait later, let’s have a chemical revolution first.Smelting, casting, machining and manufacturing are all inseparable from the support of the chemical industry. If you want to build an army that fully uses thermal weapons, you need the powerful weapon of chemistry to promote it.

(End of this chapter)