The Romance of Modern Chemistry
Forfatter: James C. Phillip
År: 1912
Forlag: Seeley, Service & Co. Limited
Sted: London
Sider: 347
UDK: 540 Phi
A Description in non-technical Language of the diverse and wonderful ways in which chemical forces are at work and of their manifold application in modern life.
With 29 illustrations & 15 diagrams.
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THE VALUE OF THE BY-PRODUCT
would have given anything to be rid of. In fact, the
utilisation of the hydrochloric acid rapidly became the
most profitable part of the manufacture of soda by
Leblanc’s method.
What was responsible for this sudden transformation,
for this striking conversion of waste into wealth ? One of
the chief factors was undoubtedly the removal of the duty
on paper in 1861, as the reader will agree when the
connection between these apparently unconnected events
is explained.
The removal of the restricting duty gave an immense
stimulus to the demand for paper materials. Cotton and
linen rags, which had previously served for the manu-
facture of paper, were no longer adequate to supply the
demand. Other raw materials, straw, wood, and esparto
grass, were therefore requisitioned, but these substances
had to undergo very drastic treatment before they
appeared in the form of paper. Among other things,
they required much bleaching, and the source of bleaching
materials is hydrochloric acid. Chlorine, prepared from
hydrochloric acid, is used for the purpose, either directly
or after conversion into bleaching powder. The connec-
tion between the paper duty and the fortunes of the soda
industry is therefore pretty obvious.
The discovery of this valuable outlet for their hydro-
chloric acid, and the passing of the Alkali Act in 1863,
stimulated the manufacturers to devise improved methods
of absorbing the acid; and so efficient is the absorption
now that the escaping gases contain less than 0*2 grain of
hydrochloric acid per cubic foot. Any one who allows a
larger proportion of the acid to escape is liable to a fine.
Having seen the good fortune which at length attended
the efforts of the alkali trade to get rid of waste product,
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