I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 376 Busy Lavoisier
"If there is no problem with the previous step of producing baking soda at high temperature..." Lavoisier pondered, "Oh, I just have never conducted an experiment to make baking soda with ammonia. I am not questioning you, Your Highness.

"Other processes, such as collecting the released ammonia and carbon dioxide gases, are possible."

The "carbonic acid gas" he referred to was carbon dioxide.

He was obviously very excited, and looked at Joseph and said, "Then if we use the method you mentioned to produce soda, the price will be only one tenth of the current price..."

He was not only the most outstanding chemist of the time, but also had a good business sense. He immediately shook his head again: "No, more than one tenth, because this method has no restrictions on raw materials. I mean, salt and lime are easy to obtain, so the output can be expanded almost infinitely!
"Your Highness, I must return to the laboratory immediately to verify the method you mentioned.

"I swear, if this is feasible, it will definitely be a groundbreaking event in the history of chemistry!"

He was not exaggerating at all. As the pillars of the chemical industry, the importance of the three acids and two bases is self-evident. Among these five basic preparations, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid are relatively easy to obtain. Nitric acid, at the level of the 5th century, basically did not need to be considered for industrial production. Soda ash became the star of the chemical industry in the 18th century.

In fact, the French government had previously offered a large prize to solicit an industrial method for producing soda ash, and the winner was Dr. Leblanc, who produced soda ash using a reverberatory furnace.

Although his method was expensive, it was still the most advanced technology of the time. If Joseph's alkali production method was put into production, it would directly reduce him to slag.

As they were talking, the carriage stopped at the Tuileries Palace.

Lavoisier was about to say goodbye and return to the laboratory, but Mirabeau, who had been waiting here, came up to him quickly and saluted Joseph, saying, "Your Highness, I heard that you left the Palace of Versailles, so I thought you might be here."

He had a lot of industrial development matters to report to Joseph, but the Crown Prince had been busy in the arsenal before, and as soon as he left the arsenal today, he disappeared.

"It seems you have a lot to tell me." Joseph smiled back at him.

"Indeed."

Mirabeau was about to go to the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau with the Dauphin, but when he turned around, he noticed Lavoisier and bowed to him, "Oh, Mr. Lavoisier, you are here too."

"Oh, yes, but I'm leaving soon." Lavoisier touched his chest and bowed. "Your Highness told me a method to produce soda ash. I just want to fly back to the laboratory immediately."

"Soda ash?" Mirabeau was familiar with Dupont and had some knowledge of the chemical industry. "That's incredible. Soda ash is a necessity in many chemical industries."

When Joseph heard the word "chemical industry", he was immediately inspired and pulled Lavoisier up to the second floor: "Don't rush to conduct experiments. If we want to develop the chemical industry, we can't do without your expert advice."

"But……"

Lavoisier entered the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau with great resistance, still thinking about the "Royal Alkali Process" in his mind - this was the new name Joseph gave to the "Solvay Process". After all, Mr. Solvay was not born yet.

However, when he heard Joseph asking Mirabeau about the gas street lamp project, his attention was immediately drawn. "Then we need to speed up the construction of the supporting coal tar processing laboratory," Joseph said. "Mr. Murdoch obtained the coal distillation patent last month. We will try to start the construction of the Paris gas street lamp before the end of the year."

Mirabeau said with some embarrassment: "Your Highness, in fact, I have purchased all the experimental instruments according to the standards of the laboratory of the University of Paris, but the kind of 'benzene' you mentioned has never been heard of by chemists..."

Joseph hurriedly looked at Lavoisier beside him, only to see that the latter also had a confused look on his face.

He suddenly felt helpless. It seemed that organic chemistry in this era was still a wasteland. Even the most basic organic substance, benzene, had not been discovered yet.

He had to patiently explain to Lavoisier that coal tar contained a large amount of benzene, as well as other organic compounds such as aniline and phenol, and that they could be extracted.

Lavoisier's eyes lit up immediately: "Are you saying that there is a new substance in coal tar that we don't know about yet?"

"Yes, it's a bit complicated to explain." Joseph didn't know where to start introducing organic chemistry. After all, it is a very large subject.

Finally, he had to cut the Gordian knot and said, "You distill coal tar, and at different temperature ranges, you will find benzene among the distilled substances. Oh, and in this process, you will also discover some other new substances."

Lavoisier's breathing became rapid. As a chemist, discovering a new substance was enough to make him famous in the academic world, but the prince told him casually that many new substances could be obtained through simple operations!
Either His Highness is just speaking nonsense, or it must be a revelation from God!
He subconsciously made the sign of the cross on his chest and said anxiously: "Your Highness, please let me handle the coal tar experiment!"

Joseph said with some embarrassment: "I really hope you can help me, but you still have to help me design the production process of soda ash."

"This..." Lavoisier was not willing to give up, and hurriedly said, "You can ask my wife to help. Please believe that she has excellent experimental skills. Oh, I have many excellent students, and I will definitely not delay the Royal Alkali Process from being put into production!"

Joseph smiled immediately. The Lavoisiers and his students meant that nearly half of France's chemical elites had joined his project.

He nodded to Lavoisier and said, "Since you are so interested, I will entrust you to take over the coal tar laboratory. You can apply directly to Count Mirabeau for the necessary funds."

Coal tar can be used to extract a large number of valuable compounds such as aniline and phenol, which are used to produce disinfectants, dyes, flavors and medicines.

Especially the first two. As the earliest medical disinfectant, phenol has saved countless patients' lives - it is much cheaper than alcohol. After all, it is a product of coal tar waste and can be used on a large scale to disinfect an entire building or an entire camp.

Aniline is a raw material for dye production, and its economic value is simply amazing. You know, the purple dye extracted from plants is even more expensive than the clothes themselves when used in the fashion industry!
Even for the nobles of the Palace of Versailles, it was a matter of face if they could wear a full purple dress. It was not until the advent of aniline purple made from aniline that purple clothing finally entered the homes of ordinary people.

If this dye goes into production, it will also become a powerful weapon for the French textile industry to compete with Britain!
Joseph stopped daydreaming. After all, the organic chemical industry was still a bit far away - even Lavoisier didn't know what benzene was, so it was unknown how long it would take to develop an industry - the most urgent task now was to implement the production of soda ash as soon as possible, use soda ash to establish a chemical industry chain, and reap dividends from it.

(End of this chapter)