Chapter 999 New Alkali Production Process
In turn, the aluminum semi-finished products from Hindai Town are transported to Beira and Tete cities via rail and water transportation for further processing, and are made into daily utensils and electrical equipment parts, forming a closed industrial loop.
Of course, if East Africa wants to, it is entirely possible to deploy related industries in Hindai Town, and it has indeed done so. However, the Zambia River estuary where Hindai Town is located does not have the same advantages as the estuaries of other rivers. Shipping is a big problem, and refining Bauxite ore and preliminary processing cause considerable pollution, especially to water sources, so they are not suitable for building large cities locally. However, the cities of Beira and Tete, which are closest to Hindai City, undertake a large amount of subsequent processing work.
The potential of Hindai Town is still good, but in order to be developed, unless East Africa comprehensively develops and regulates the Zambezi River, this is also the main reason for restricting the development of Hindai Town. Although the Zambezi River is the second largest river in East Africa, its The shipping conditions are too poor, at least from Hinde upwards, it can only be navigable to the city of Tete. This level has no advantage compared with some rivers in the East African coastal plain.
…
May 1901.
When the First Five-Year Plan in East Africa was in full swing, the East African Ministry of Science and Technology came to Nairobi City University for inspection. A new technology was born here, which attracted the attention of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The scientific research team of the school received the personnel of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The leader of the scientific research project team, Professor Robben, and his students conquered the new alkali production process.
Robben: "my country's alkali production industry started in the 1980s. Although a set of equipment was introduced in the 1970s, the output was low due to the lack of relevant talents. It was not until the 1980s that my country recruited a large number of technical personnel from Europe. and workers, and built alkali production plants in Mbeya City and other places.”
East Africa began its initial industrial construction phase in the 1970s, which can be said to be relatively bumpy. Although a large number of equipment was introduced to take advantage of the economic crisis at that time, due to the lack of technical personnel, many industrial equipment could not be put into operation and maintenance was difficult.
However, the situation in East Africa was a little better than that of the Far East Empire at that time. Although East Africa itself lacked relevant talents and technology, East Africa had the technical guidance of the Hechingen Consortium.
In the early industrial construction of East Africa, the Hechingen Consortium can be said to have played the role of the Soviet Union in the First Five-Year Plan of the Far Eastern Empire in its previous life.
The Hechingen Consortium has a large number of companies under its umbrella, so it is relatively easy to obtain technical and professional talents. On this basis, East African industry could develop in a bumpy way in the 1970s.
Without this premise, no matter how much industrial equipment East Africa introduced in the past seventy years, it would be equivalent to spending money to buy a pile of scrap metal.
Fortunately, in the 1980s, East Africa introduced a large number of technical personnel from Europe and the United States. With the development of education in East Africa and the return of overseas students, East Africa's industry stabilized. In the 1990s, East Africa's industry achieved greater development. In terms of capital, technology, Labor force and other fields are already relatively mature.
The alkali production industry in East Africa also ushered in great development in the 1990s. Currently, East Africa's soda ash production is self-sufficient, and some of it is exported.
The special industrial and social conditions of East Africa have led to a relatively strong demand for soda ash in East Africa. This starts with the use of soda ash.
Robben said: "Soda ash, commonly known as soda, has a chemical composition of sodium carbonate. It is widely found in nature and distributed around the world. It is divided into heavy alkali and light alkali according to density.
According to the use, it is divided into industrial grade soda ash and food grade soda ash. Industrial grade soda ash is one of the main raw materials of flat glass. It can also be used as a cosolvent for smelting, a flotation agent for mineral processing and a desulfurization agent for steelmaking. In the textile field, soda ash can Acts as water softener in textile production process, etc.
Food-grade soda ash can be used as a pasta additive to act as a neutralizing agent, leavening agent, buffering agent, and dough improver to increase the taste and flexibility of pasta. It can also be used as an auxiliary additive in the production of MSG and soy sauce. "
Among these, in addition to general uses, the importance of soda ash to the glass industry and detergent industry is an important driver of the development of the soda ash industry in East Africa.
In this time and space, for the development of the automobile industry, under the guidance of Ernst, the first industrial mass-produced flat glass was produced in East Africa. East Africa’s early emphasis on sanitary conditions also destined East African society to attach great importance to detergent products. Pay attention to.
For example, for the cleaning work of early East African immigrants, a large number of required products were imported from Europe, and the cost was much higher. Therefore, East Africa has attached great importance to the alkali production industry since the colonial era.
"Currently, my country's alkali production industry mainly adopts the Lubulan alkali production method, which is also the most mature and widely used alkali production process in Europe."
"Of course, countries around the world are now transitioning to the Solvay alkali production process in the alkali production industry. However, my country obtained the Solvay alkali production process relatively late because major countries blocked the Solvay alkali production process until After the South African War, our relationship with Germany further improved and we obtained the relevant technology.”
The Solvay alkali production method is the mainstream trend in the current alkali production industry, and it is also monopolized by the great powers. It was born in the last century (the late 1860s), so at that time the East African industry could only introduce the earlier Lu Bu Blue alkali production method.
In the beginning, soda ash was mainly extracted from plants. In Europe, alkali was extracted from the juice of seaweed ash.
However, as the Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the mid-18th century, the amount of alkali required by industries such as textiles, printing and dyeing, papermaking, soap making, and glass increased dramatically. The alkali extracted from trona and plant ash alone was obviously insufficient. Requires manual manufacturing.
Later, under the heavy reward of the French government, the Frenchman Leblanc made the first breakthrough, and the Leblanc alkali process was born. In addition to salt, the raw materials used in the Leblanc alkali process also include sulfuric acid, charcoal and limestone.
This alkali production process has continued to this day, and is used in European countries and East Africa. It will take more than ten years for the Solvay alkali process to completely replace the Leblanc alkali process.
For various reasons, the most advanced Solvay alkali process currently accounts for a small proportion of the East African alkali industry. Just when East Africa was preparing to vigorously promote the Solvay alkali process, East Africa also had a major technological breakthrough in the alkali industry.
The emergence of the new alkali production process in East Africa is different from the Leblanc alkali process and the Solvay alkali process. The fundamental reason for its emergence is the resource advantage of East Africa.
The specific details of the new alkali production process in East Africa are actually the refining of alkali ore existing in nature, rather than chemical synthesis with other raw materials like the previous two.
This has to mention the distribution of natural alkali mines in the world. Generally, alkali mines are mostly stored in surface alkali lakes and mineral deposits exposed on the surface, mainly in North America, East Asia, Turkey, and most parts of Africa.
The Egyptian Alkali Wadi is a world-renowned natural alkali mine, and the ancient Egyptians were one of the first people to use soda ash.
In Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and other regions in the East African Rift Valley, and Botswana in southern East Africa, there are a large number of natural alkali mines, so the natural alkali mine resources in East Africa are very rich.
The birth of the new alkali production method in East Africa was developed by the Chemical Research Laboratory of the University of Nairobi. They used local alkali mines for refining, thereby obtaining a new alkali production process, which is actually the natural alkali method mainly used in the United States in later generations.
Professor Robben said in a somewhat Versailles way: "The new alkali production process actually does not have much technical content. It can only be regarded as an accidental discovery of mine. In the end, the experiment was successful. Its main application method is to use the abundant alkali mines in East Africa to directly refine soda ash. Moreover, this method is cheaper than the current mainstream alkali production process in the world. If it can be implemented on a large scale, it will undoubtedly make a huge contribution to my country's alkali production industry."