In the Tanggu area of ​​Tianjin Wei, the world's first soda ash factory has been built, and the workers inside are installing equipment and instruments.

Li Jinde followed a group of Tianjin Wei officials and chemical experts to visit the soda ash factory. The factory was highly expected to be used to produce important raw material soda ash.

"This place is rich in raw salt. There is coal from Tangshan a hundred miles away, and limestone from Luanzhou not far east. It is also facing the Bohai Sea, backed by railways, convenient transportation, and alkaline plants will definitely be able to complete it." said an official from Tianjin Wei.

The establishment of the soda ash factory in Tianjin Wei is a good thing for their Tianjin Wei officials. Being able to successfully supervise the soda ash factory is a political achievement.

"Of course, it is also inseparable from a nearby salt-finished salt factory and a sulfuric acid factory to provide us with raw materials. We use the Lubran alkali-making method, which uses sulfuric acid to convert salt into sodium sulfate salt, and then mixes sodium sulfate salt with coke and limestone to produce sodium carbonate and waste residue." The chemical workers took everyone to visit the alkali-making plant of brick, tile and cement buildings.

Soda ash plants include chemical instruments and pipelines that can be called precision in this era, as well as bags of raw materials for making soda ash, such as raw salt, coke, limestone, etc.

When Li Jinde saw the complex process, he couldn't help but feel laborious. These things have become very different from most traditional production activities, which is difficult to understand.

Although he had already gone to the Chemistry Academy to learn the most basic common sense before he arrived, he was still a little confused when he saw various instruments and pipes here.

"How much can the yield of soda ash be achieved?" Li Jinde asked.

"If the material is supplied, a daily soda ash production of 10 tons is not a problem," replied the director of the soda ash plant.

"The daily output is 10 tons!" Li Jinde was surprised. Such output can be said to be exaggerated, comparable to the output of blast furnace smelting steel.

So doesn’t a soda ash plant produce 3,000 tons of soda ash annually?

"This is ideally the output of raw materials when there is no problem. In fact, the supply of raw materials is a very serious problem. The refined salt plant next door can only produce 5 tons of raw materials per day, and it needs to be expanded to increase the output. We are also studying new alkali making methods. In fact, if the new alkali making methods are perfect, it will not be a problem to produce 40 tons of soda ash per day." The factory manager pointed to one of the laboratories, "The technicians there are experimenting with new methods and devices."

"It's strange. This device was not just put into use. Why are you eager to study new methods and new devices?" Li Jinde asked.

"Because the current methods are difficult to produce continuously, and concentrated sulfuric acid is required as raw materials, the equipment is seriously corroded. The product quality is impure, the raw materials are insufficient, and the price is relatively expensive. If new methods are used, these problems can be solved more effectively. First, we must prove practical in principle, and secondly, design a complete and durable equipment is also a time-consuming task. Generally speaking, when we use the current methods to produce, we will also conduct research on new methods to pursue increasing production capacity when demand increases in the future." The factory manager said.

"So that's how it is." Li Jinde was thinking about selling the soda ash produced here to Europe, or selling industrial products that need to be produced in soda ash to Europe for sale, so that the local market can be seized at a lower cost.

The director of the soda ash factory then took a group of people to visit the nearby fine salt factory and sulfuric acid factory. These factories formed an agglomeration effect, which could provide raw materials for the soda ash factory. Of course, their function is not just for the service of the soda ash factory. The sulfuric acid produced by the sulfuric acid factory can also be used in other factories.

"At present, sulfuric acid plants use the lead chamber method, that is, square empty chamber made of lead as the main equipment. The reason for using lead chamber is that the humid sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide mixed gas and dilute sulfuric acid with a concentration of less than 70% are very corrosive."

"The disadvantages of this method are also very obvious. The sulfuric acid concentration of the lead chamber method is only 76%, and it often contains a lot of impurities, and its use is limited."

The technicians at the sulfuric acid factory brought them a square lead chamber and checked their principles, such a unique structure made the inspectors feel novel.

At the same time, the explanations of technicians made them scratch their heads. Except for a few officials who studied at the Tanghua School of Beijing University, most of the officials actually could not understand the secrets. They could only ask more intuitive questions such as what the raw materials are, what the finished products are, how much production is, and whether there are enough personnel.

It is better to leave the complex principles and instruments to professional technical engineers and technical workers to solve, and they can only provide financial and manpower support.

In addition to soda ash plants, sulfuric acid plants, and refined salt plants, there are also some small chemical factories around. Unless they enter it, they really don’t know what items they are producing.

A small chemical industry chain has appeared in the Tanggu area, and it will be an important chemical center.

"Shopkeeper Li, I wonder what you think about chemical plants such as soda ash plants, salt plants, etc.?"

After inspecting these factories, some officials asked Li Jinde.

Li Jinde is a businessman representative invited by Chu Yun. What he is dissatisfied with may affect Chu Yun’s view on this project.

In fact, Chu Yun had another purpose to find Li Jinde.

The chemical products produced are far from enough for domestic demand only, and the export profit is even greater.

Li Jinde is a foreign trade businessman. Letting him come here to understand these chemical products has an unimaginable important role in improving the reputation of these factories and products among the merchant group.

Li Jinde shook his head: "These products are undoubtedly very good, but unfortunately I have a very shallow understanding of them. It seems that I still need to continue studying. If it is possible, I would like to go to the Chemical Academy for a while in Beijing."

"Yes, not only these soda ash, sulfuric acid, but also rubber factories and oil factories. The production technology in them is unheard of and is too magical. There are not many technicians in these factories, only one out of five masters chemical knowledge and technology, while other employed people are mainly engaged in packaging, processing and maintenance. Compared with textile factories, there are fewer employees. The core of course is the personnel who master the corresponding technology, and these people all came from the Tanghua College of Jingshi University." The official said.

Local officials also worked very hard. They were facing an era of rapid technological development. Their original experience of being an official is already difficult to use. In order to keep up with the pace of technological progress, they also faced the same pain as Li Jinde.
Chapter completed!