Chapter 459: The Road to Chemical Engineering

Seeing the alien guest in front of him becoming more and more excited, Paul waved his hand and said, "Please calm down, your noble prince."

He made an unbearable expression and said: "I fully understand your urgent enthusiasm for the restoration of the country, but unfortunately, I can only provide you with moral support."

"Moral support? What is moral support?"

The dwarf, who was not familiar with the Aldo language, took three seconds to react.

"What? Just don't give it to me. Ah, powerful human lord, I have seen your soldiers. They are brave, resolute, well-trained, and hold weapons as powerful as thunder."

The dwarf looked incredulous.

"Think about the rewards I can give you once you succeed. As far as I know, no dwarf tribe in the Rocky Mountains has ever had good relations with humans, and you will set a precedent in history and become a bridge between the two tribes. "Messenger of Friendship."

Paul spread his hands: "Perhaps you have some misunderstanding about my identity? I have no power..."

"Misunderstanding? Power? Aren't you the master of this land? As long as you give an order, the people of this land will fight for you."

Paul smiled and said: "Your Highness, 'Prince', maybe because you are new here, you don't know much about the political structure of our human beings. Let me explain to you. I, Paul Graiman, am just a member of the Aldo Kingdom. One of the many lords, there is a King above me. If I send troops to fight outside Aldo without authorization, I will be reported to the emperor, and then I will be put in the shoes of His Majesty."

"What? You are still being controlled by others?"

Irma Stonemason's eyes widened, "Okay, where does the King you are talking about live?"

"In a city called Jingyao in the south."

"How long does it take to get there?"

"If you ride a horse, it will take about 20 days."

"20 days? Still have to ride a horse?"

The dwarf Irma was disappointed.

He had mustered up great courage to follow the exploration team to Arda.

If you go further south...

Perhaps a human lord along the way would be happy for a fat "dwarf" to appear at his banquet.

"Okay, human lord, can you support me with some money?"

"As the beginning of our friendship, I will be happy to provide you with a travel allowance and provide for your food and drink in my territory."

Emaar: "..."

In this way, Paul's meeting with the dwarf guests ended in an unharmonious atmosphere.

He called Stanford and detailed his meeting with the dwarf.

Then asked Stanford: "Do you think what I did is right?"

Stanford nodded, "I think there's nothing wrong with your approach. We still know very little about what's going on in the Rocky Mountains. And my knowledge of this Irma is very limited, but at least on the surface, his He has a bad temper and is...a difficult person to get along with. In short, from a personal perspective, he is not a good candidate for friendship. "

Apart from the fact that he was just a lord, Paul really had no interest in supporting the restoration of the dwarf prince. As Stanford said, Alda's knowledge of the dwarves in the Rocky Mountains was almost blank, so how could she believe the other party's words.

Even if Paul had the will, he was powerless. Although the territory's fiscal revenue is increasing year by year, every penny must be spent wisely.

Not long ago, Paul and several heads of the chemistry laboratory at Wyss College finalized a major plan - to start the chemical industry.

In fact, Alda already has primitive chemical industry - extracting nitrate from dung heaps, uh... if this counts.

Paul's new goal was to produce sulfuric acid on a large scale.

Alchemists in this world currently obtain sulfuric acid by distilling alum-based substances, which is time-consuming, laborious, and inefficient in small amounts.

So Paul suggested that the alchemists use the lead chamber method to make sulfuric acid.

The general strategy is to build a cubic lead chamber using lead plates that are resistant to sulfuric acid corrosion, and burn a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter in it, so that the sulfur oxides produced are absorbed by the water sprayed on the four walls, and the saltpeter is continuously replenished. and sulfur, and finally take out the acid and heat it in a glass container to concentrate.

This is just the earlier lead chamber method. The more complete lead chamber method has a more complicated process and requires catalysts. But for Alda's chemical industry in its infancy, Paul's method was sufficient. And he couldn't come up with the complete method in one step. First, it increased the complexity of experiments and construction (this is the main thing). Second, Paul didn't want his alchemists to become a group of people who only knew how to execute orders mechanically. Idiots, you have to leave some space for them to think and improve.

Alchemists were skeptical when they first heard about this method, but if sulfuric acid could be produced efficiently and on a large scale, who wouldn't be willing to give it a try. You know, sulfuric acid is a very important material in their various experiments.

There are two reasons why Paul wanted to manufacture sulfuric acid on a large scale.

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One is that it can be sold to alchemists elsewhere to make money - guys who engage in this profession are often very wealthy.

Second, sulfuric acid is an important industrial raw material. Among the existing industries in Alda, sulfuric acid may be used in metallurgy, leather making, papermaking, pigments, and coking. Even if it is not used now because of primitive technical means, it will definitely be used in the long run in the future - this has been verified in the history of the previous life.

However, Paul's biggest hope is to make copper sulfate through sulfuric acid first. Copper sulfate can be used for tanning, mineral selection, and sterilization. It can be used to further produce early pesticides, such as Bordeaux liquid.

With pesticides, agriculture in the Northwest Bay can be further developed, and the issue of food is the most important.

The lead chamber method has achieved initial success after several experiments.

The alchemists are almost crazy with joy.

But at the same time, they can't figure out how a young man who has never heard of anything related to alchemy can come up with such a wonderful method.

And the previous saltpeter method, could it be that he received the divine revelation of the God of Light in his sleep?

After experiencing saltpeter and acid making, the last bit of pride of the alchemists in front of Paul disappeared without a trace. In their eyes, Paul is now a man of destiny.

The construction plan of a chemical plant is being prepared in full swing. Although the feasibility of the lead chamber method has been verified in the laboratory, there are still many engineering problems to be solved before it can be truly applied to large-scale production.

And what must be considered more is the safety of the chemical industry. Sulfuric acid is a very corrosive substance, not to mention, and the copper sulfate that Paul expects is also toxic. Therefore, the site selection of the chemical plant must be cautious and cautious. It cannot be built near residential areas or next to the Weiss River. God knows what strange things will be produced in the future.

In addition, there is the recruitment and training of workers. The two leaders of the alchemists, Hoffman and Wells, both suggested that the students who are studying chemistry at Weiss College should take over first. After all, they have some experience in chemistry and know the dangers of various materials and reagents.

Then slowly select and train qualified workers.

Paul knew that this group of alchemists couldn't wait to see the chemical plant blossom and bear fruit. Of course, he also wanted to see the results as soon as possible, so after repeatedly emphasizing the safety principle, he agreed to the two's suggestions.