Chapter 1000 Walking on Two Legs
Feideli from the Ministry of Science and Technology said: "Professor Robben, the alkali-making process you mentioned looks good, but I still have to interrupt this fantasy. Since the raw material of this alkali-making process comes from trona ore, that is to say There is a lot of uncertainty about this mineral."
“Just like coal, not every area is plentiful. If trona reserves are not plentiful in East Africa, it will obviously be greatly constrained.”
Robben: "Director Fidel, I am somewhat certain about this. East Africa does not pay much attention to the exploration of trona ores. After all, in the past, due to differences in technology and alkali production processes, the society generally did not pay attention to trona ores. Lack of understanding and awareness.”
“In my past field scientific research, I found that East Africa is relatively rich in trona minerals, especially in the East African Rift Valley, where many lakes contain trona minerals.”
"The most noteworthy among them is Lake Magadi, which is less than 80 kilometers southwest of Nairobi. I dare to say with certainty to the Ministry of Science and Technology that this lake is very rich in trona minerals. If it is effectively developed, it can completely solve the current problem. National demand for soda ash.”
"This trona mine has advantages in terms of distance and resource reserves in terms of development. The refining cost is quite low and the purity is relatively high. And according to the situation of Lake Magadi, there should be many similar resources in the East African Rift Valley. Distribution.”
As the largest scar on the earth, East African scientists are very enthusiastic about the study of the East African Rift Valley. Even if they are not geologists, there are many people who go to the East African Rift Valley to look for materials, especially some zoologists and botanists, so Luo Instinct’s discovery of trona mineral resources in Lake Magadi is no surprise.
What’s more, Lake Magadi is so close to Nairobi. The distance of 80 kilometers is equivalent to the distance from the first town to Bagamoyo.
Moreover, Lake Magadi is rather peculiar. This lake is bright pink, which is very easy to attract people's attention. After all, pink lakes are rare, and the weird color also shows the chemical composition of Lake Magadi. Very high.
Robben continued: "Ankapov, a professor of geology in Nairobi, and I conducted in-depth research on this lake for two months. Lake Magadi is located in a semi-desert area. It is an inland lake with several streams of cold water and Hot water pours into the lake.”
"The hot water contains a large amount of alkaline substances, turning the lake water into a dense sodium carbonate brine. A few meters thick trona is deposited on the bottom of the lake. Its high concentration of salt makes it impossible for any aquatic life to survive in the lake. Underground The spring water gushes out of the caked alkaline shells, dyeing the lake a bright pink that looks like the color of wine from a distance.”
"That is to say, Lake Magadi will continuously produce trona minerals and other substances. In the past, this was a place used by the indigenous people to refine salt, but it was later abandoned. The surface of Lake Magadi is close to about 80 square kilometers. , in the dry season, the lake evaporates rapidly, and the alkali substances accumulated at the bottom of the lake will be exposed. "
"So in Lake Magadi, two resources, salt and soda ash, can be developed at the same time. It is still a rare open-pit mine in the dry season. These factors combined make the cost of developing resources in Lake Magadi very low. The only thing that needs to be solved now is transportation and Factory construction.”
“And this lake is so close to the Northern Railway, it only needs a road to continuously transport its resources.”
This makes the staff of the Ministry of Science and Technology have a clearer understanding of the Magadi Lake alkali mine mentioned by Robben.
Fedeli said: "Professor Robben, we are still undecided about your trona method. We will send more professional personnel to Lake Magadi to conduct systematic survey work, and finally determine this alkali production process. Is it worth promoting?”
Robben: "Of course, without sufficient raw materials, the trona method is like a clever woman making a meal without rice. However, I believe that after you fully inspect Lake Magadi, you will definitely be interested in the trona method." The trona method in the previous life was the United States. The mainstream alkali production technology in countries such as Turkey and Turkey, especially the United States, has trona ore reserves of more than 60 billion, which cannot be fully developed. It is estimated that the trona ore resources in East Africa will be difficult to surpass the United States in a short time.
However, East Africa is also lucky. Lake Magadi itself is the largest trona mine in Africa, and it has the right time, location, and people. It is easy to develop, has low refining costs, has large reserves, and is close to East African cities and transportation. There is such a resource. It would be East Africa’s sin not to mine.
Soon this matter also reached Ernst’s desk. Ernst attached great importance to the alkali-making industry. In addition to the importance of soda ash itself, the alkali-making industry occupied a certain space in previous history textbooks. , the famous United Alkali Production Method and its founder Hou Debang both left a deep impression on Ernst.
The full name of the joint alkali production method is Hou's joint alkali production method. It can be said to be a rare benchmark in the chemical industry in the modern Far Eastern Empire.
Of course, the joint alkali production method has not been born at this stage. Even if the joint alkali production method came into being in the previous life, it was already close to the 1940s. It is now the time when the Solvay alkali production method is becoming popular.
“Your Highness, should this trona method be fully implemented?” Kemens, the Minister of Science and Technology, asked.
Ernst: "I have always advocated that industry should walk on multiple legs. At present, the new alkali production process has great advantages, but chemical synthesis also has irreplaceable advantages. Even the Lubrand alkali production method cannot be completely replaced. After all, except for In addition to making alkali, it can also produce chlorine, which can be used to purify water sources or be used in the chemical industry and disinfectants.”
"Therefore, there is no need for us to choose one of the three methods between trona method and Solvay alkali production method, including Lubulan alkali production method. We can continue to improve related processes and can determine unexpected effects, and it does not only involve soda ash. product."
“And the Lubulan alkali production method currently occupies the mainstream position in my country’s alkali production industry. The change is a change for the entire industry. Of course, from the perspective of cost and utilization efficiency, we must adopt more new processes.”
“So, based on this, my country’s alkali production industry must simultaneously popularize the two processes of natural alkali production and Solvay alkali production.”
"And in my opinion, Solvay's alkali production process also has a lot of room for improvement to continue to improve its resource utilization, and these tasks require the efforts of East African scientific researchers and our companies. In the alkali production industry, you must cooperate with the industry departments and state-owned enterprises to continuously improve our country’s alkali production industry.”
Overall, the next task for the East African industrial sector is to simultaneously develop the Solvay alkali production method and the natural alkali production method to replace the current Lübrand alkali production method as the mainstream of the East African alkali production industry.
The main reason is that the output of Lubulan's alkali production method is low. With the development of industry, its production capacity is increasingly unable to keep up. It is not suitable to develop only the trona method. After all, East Africa's trona ore resources are relatively abundant, but it is also not suitable. It is not as rich as the United States in its previous life. If East Africa also has 60 billion tons of trona ore reserves, then there is no problem in the East African alkali production industry waiting to die. However, the current specific data on trona reserves in East Africa is not clear. This is Can easily trigger anxiety.
Just like oil in previous generations, humans can always find new oil resources through technological progress, and the earth's oil reserves are always underestimated, but this does not prevent most countries in the world from experiencing oil anxiety.
Therefore, East Africa must develop both the Solvay alkali production method and the trona method. At present, the Solvay alkali production method in the East African alkali production industry has just started. The development of the trona method is important for the East African industry and mining industry. Useful supplement.
(End of this chapter)