Chapter 250: Aftereffects

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It is said that the Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things.

This saying holds great truth. For example, once the Chemical Plant produces Sulfuric Acid, it can then use Sulfuric Acid and Nitre to synthesize Nitric Acid.

Additionally, in older methods, Hydrochloric Acid was also produced by reacting Sulfuric Acid with Salt, though this was later replaced by the diaphragm electrolysis method. This is what is meant by "three begetting all things." With the three acids, the Chemical Plant has assembled the dragon and can conjure countless chemical products.

After the successful trial production of Sulfuric Acid, the original team first summarized and studied, then next began preparing Nitric Acid.

The preparation of Nitric Acid used the simplest contact method: concentrated Sulfuric Acid plus Nitre. This method consumes a large amount of acid, causes high pollution, and severely corrodes the Equipment; it had long been discontinued in later generations.

But the Transmigrators had no choice. As mentioned earlier, a full-scale Synthetic Ammonia process like the one in Steel City was simply not something Hong Xu and his handful of people could handle.

In fact, even with the Chemical Plant's existing Equipment, the workers could not operate everything at full capacity. For now, Hong Xu could only lead the same group of people to rotate operating different sets of Equipment; they could not even manage the simple process of producing Sulfuric Acid and Nitric Acid simultaneously — they lacked enough skilled technicians.

Synthesizing Nitric Acid via the "ancient method" is very simple in principle, but the actual operation still involves many steps. First, the Nitre collected from the stench-ridden Niter Fields contains many impurities; dealing with the various impurities attached to the Nitre is a very troublesome process. Also, when Sulfuric Acid and Nitre meet in the reaction vessel, the slightest carelessness can cause violent splashing and acid mist, easily leading to accidents. Qualified industrial Nitric Acid is not so easily obtained.

After reacting the entire first batch of Sulfuric Acid with Nitre, the Nitric Acid trial was considered complete. Looking at the 2 tons of finished product being pushed into the Storehouse by workers on carts, Hong Xu could not help but shake his head: the reason was simply that the raw Materials were too scarce.

..... The Niter Field area being built directly north of the Chikan New District was continuously expanding in units of 5 mu. However, this expansion had a major limitation: production had to be determined by "feces."

Although open migration operations permitted by the government had already begun across the sea, as of today, the total population under the control of the Crossing Faction had just barely exceeded 150,000 — Transport and absorbing immigrants takes time.

The feces and urine "produced" daily by these 150,000 people, plus some rotten fish and shrimp, constituted the entire raw material for the niter pools. And what was the final output of Nitre? 20 tons per month.

Of course, the Nitre referred to here is not the semi-processed "Niter Soil," but the finished Nitre that has undergone purification, crystallization, and refinement.

Decomposing excrement using nitrifying bacteria requires many steps. The Transmigrators here had done their utmost to provide the bacterial Great Lord with the most comfortable conditions: for example, shade sheds, a constant temperature of 25 degrees, a weakly alkaline Environment, and oxygen-rich, moist, large-particle soil, etc., etc.

Despite this, the output of Nitre still fell far short of consumption.

One must know that firing a Cannon once uses dozens or even over a hundred grams of black Gunpowder Pack. Moreover, it was not just black Gunpowder Pack; the Gunpowder Pack factory and the mines were also waiting for Nitric Acid to produce urgently needed Nitroglycerin. Furthermore, the Kiln Area Base itself also needed a great deal of Nitric Acid to manufacture products and upgrade itself.

Finally, the surplus Nitre still had to fill the bottomless pit of fertilizer consumption... Whether ammonia water or urea, both were scarce products now. For the Crossing Faction, which had already reclaimed over twenty thousand mu of Thin Fields, this output was a mere drop in the bucket.

In short, 20 tons of Nitre per month was far from enough to satisfy a certain ravenous Primary Industrial Society.

The Transmigrators could now only scrape by on the Nitre irregularly shipped in by the Dutch and the Ming Side. This situation undoubtedly created a shortage of Nitric Acid, and it is no exaggeration to say it is the most important chemical product at this stage.

After testing the Nitric Acid production, Hong Xu immediately ordered the work stopped. The next day, the original team tested the Hydrochloric Acid production line once more. The preparation of Hydrochloric Acid was relatively easy; at least the Salt Field's Annual Output this year had already moved toward the thousand-ton level, so the embarrassment of insufficient raw Materials would not occur.

Electrolyzing saturated salt water, besides obtaining Sodium Hydroxide, also produces Hydrogen and Chlorine gases. In the reactor, the Hydrogen and Chlorine are channeled to a quartz burner nozzle, ignited, and burned to generate Hydrogen Chloride gas, releasing a large amount of heat. The Hydrogen Chloride gas, after cooling, is absorbed by water to become Hydrochloric Acid.

Since the various imported electrolytic cells and reaction Equipment were quite effective, Hong Xu and his team completed the preparation of Hydrochloric Acid and Caustic Soda relatively easily today.

Next came the process of the team mastering the techniques. Hong Xu's requirement was not high: within half a month, everyone should be able to start the Three Acids production lines simultaneously. As for the other Equipment, it could only sit idle for now... One Step at a time; couldn't they see that even the raw Materials were insufficient now? For some products, they didn't even have the materials to practice.

To some extent, Hong Xu and his group had exploited a loophole this time. Because according to the Tacit Understanding everyone had always held, all imported Equipment was hot Equipment; situations like the Chemical Plant where Equipment waited for workers were very rare.

And Hong Xu's group had exploited the highly specialized nature of the Chemical Plant to secretly Stuff in One Part of the Equipment, leading to the bizarre situation where Equipment was now waiting for workers.

This situation quickly aroused the dissatisfaction of some people, especially the Chief Steward and Vice President of the Kiln District, Zou Guoqing and Yao Zhesheng.

"Now I understand why that bastard Hong Xu threw a fit during the Visiting Delegation: it's a guilty conscience, afraid someone would see through his scheme."

Yao Zhesheng crossed his arms, standing in the General Machinery Factory filled with the Roar of machines, looking at the long ranks of lathes lining both sides of the workshop, his face full of indignation as he spoke.

"This is the legendary old fox. You have to admit, that guy acted pretty well; he fully embodied the essence of a bookworm." Zou Guoqing beside him was not so angry; instead, he smiled as he evaluated Hong Xu's acting skills.

However, Yao Zhesheng, who had fanatically devoted all his life's energy to the great cause of Crossing Over since the moment they crossed, was particularly unable to tolerate Hong Xu's act of "deceiving the Organization." So when he found that Zou Guoqing was actually in a rather good mood, he couldn't help but turn his head and glare at the balding Old Zou: "We're just going to let him slide by like that? How much urgently needed Equipment for others has been delayed because of this!"

Zou Guoqing, who had long since joined the cabinet and was Responsible For the overall industrial Planning of the Crossing Faction in the Great Office, now Revealed an expression of tolerance that said, "Young man, you've simply been screwed over too few times in your life by others," and then he smiled and said: "The man has already installed the Equipment; what can we do, dismantle it?"

Saying this, he patted Yao Zhesheng on the shoulder, stopping the hot-blooded man's words: "Don't worry, justice may be delayed, but it will not be absent... That old rascal Hong Xu has incurred public wrath this time, and even put on an act in front of Cao Huangshang. Next time, he'll be the one crying!"

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