The so-called Tao gives birth to one, life to two, and three to all things.

There is a lot of truth to this statement. For example, when sulfuric acid is produced in a chemical plant, nitric acid can be synthesized from sulfuric acid and saltpeter.

In addition, in the older way, hydrochloric acid was also prepared by the reaction of sulfuric acid and salt, but it was later changed to the electrolytic salt preparation method. This is the so-called three-life life. With the three acids, the chemical factory has collected the Shenlong, and countless chemical products can be conjured.

After the successful trial production of sulfuric acid, the original team first summarized and learned, and then began to prepare nitric acid.

The preparation of nitric acid is the simplest contact method of concentrated saltpeter sulfate. This method consumes a lot of acid, has high pollution, and has serious equipment corrosion, so it has long been discontinued in later generations.

But there is no choice for the traversal. As mentioned earlier, the general synthetic ammonia process in Steel City is not at all something that Hong Xu and his kittens can play.

In fact, even the existing equipment in the chemical plant cannot be fully operated by the workers. At present, Hong Xu can only take the same group of people to take turns to operate different sets of equipment, and they can't even do the simple process of producing sulfuric acid and nitric acid at the same time, and there are not enough mature technicians.

The "ancient method" synthesis of nitric acid is very simple in principle, but it has to go through many processes in practice. First of all, the saltpeter collected from the smelly nitrate field contains a lot of impurities, and it is a troublesome process to deal with the various impurities attached to the saltpeter. In addition, when sulfuric acid and saltpeter meet in the reaction dish, a little carelessness will produce violent splashing and acid mist, which is easy to cause accidents, and qualified industrial nitric acid is not so easy to obtain.

After the first batch of sulfuric acid is reacted with saltpeter, the nitric acid trial production is completed. Looking at the 2 tons of finished products that were pushed into the warehouse by the workers in a trolley, Hong Xu couldn't help but shake his head, there were too few raw materials.

The nitrate field area, which is built in the north of Chihkan New Area, is being expanded in units of 5 acres. However, this expansion is very limited, and production must be determined by "manure".

Although there have been open emigration operations on the other side of the sea with the permission of the government, as of today, the total number of people under the control of the crossing forces has just exceeded 150,000, and it will take time to transport and digest the migrants.

The feces and urine that these 150,000 people usually "produce", plus some stinky fish and rotten shrimp, are all the raw materials of the nitrate pond. And what is the final production of saltpeter, 20 tons per month.

Of course, saltpeter here does not refer to the semi-finished product "nitrate", but to the finished saltpeter after purification, crystallization and purification.

The decomposition of the product by nitrifying bacteria is a process that goes through many processes. The most comfortable conditions have been given to the bacteria as much as possible, such as a shading canopy, such as a constant temperature of 25 degrees, such as a weak alkaline environment, such as oxygen-rich, moist large particles of soil, and so on.

Despite this, saltpeter production is still far from keeping up with consumption.

You know, firing a cannon will use up dozens or hundreds of grams of black powder, and in addition, not only black powder, but also nitric acid is waiting for nitric acid to make the much-needed nitroglycerin. In addition, the kiln base itself also needs a lot of nitric acid to make products and upgrade itself.

Finally, the excess saltpeter has to fill the bottomless pit of fertilizer consumption, whether it is ammonia or urea, which is now a scarce product, and for the crossing forces that have reclaimed more than 20,000 acres of thin fields, this output is purely a drop in the bucket.

In short, 20 tons of saltpeter per month is far from satisfying a thirsty primary industrial society.

The traversal can now only rely on the saltpeter brought by the Dutch and the Ming from time to time. This situation has undoubtedly caused a shortage of nitric acid, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most important chemical product at this stage.

After testing the production of nitric acid, Hong Xu immediately ordered the work to be stopped. The next day, the original team tested the hydrochloric acid production line again. The preparation of hydrochloric acid is relatively easy, at least the output of the salt field this year has moved towards the 1,000-ton level, so as not to cause the embarrassment of insufficient raw materials.

The saturated brine is electrolyzed, and in addition to sodium hydroxide, hydrogen and chlorine are also produced. In the reactor, hydrogen and chlorine are passed to a quartz burner and ignited to produce hydrogen chloride gas, and a large amount of heat is emitted. Hydrogen chloride gas is cooled and absorbed by water to become hydrochloric acid.

Due to the relatively powerful electrolyzers and reaction equipment imported by various imports, they have completed the preparation of hydrochloric acid and caustic soda relatively easily today.

Then it's time for the team to become proficient. Hong Xu's requirements are not high, and within half a month, everyone can start the three acid production line at the same time. As for the other equipment, it can only be idle step by step for the time being, don't you see that there are not enough raw materials now, and some products don't have to be practiced if you want to practice.

To some extent, Hong Xu and the others took advantage of the loophole this time. Because according to everyone's tacit understanding, all imported equipment is human equipment, and there are few such equipment and workers in chemical plants.

And Hong Xu took advantage of the strong professionalism of the chemical plant and secretly added some equipment, which led to the strange situation of equipment and others.

This situation quickly aroused the dissatisfaction of some people, especially Zou Guoqing and Yao Zhesheng, the chief and deputy directors of the kiln area.

"I kind of understand why that bastard Hong Xu went crazy on the day of the tour, this is called a thief's weak heart, for fear of being seen as flawed."

Yao Zhesheng put his arm and stood in the general machinery factory with the roar of machines, looking at the long army of machine tools on both sides of the workshop, and said with indignation on his face.

"This is the legendary old thief. Don't say it, that thing is quite similar, and he pretended to be the essence of a nerd. Zou Guoqing on the side was not so annoyed, but commented on Hong Xu's acting skills with a smile.

However, Yao Zhesheng, who has been so fanatical since the crossing that he has devoted his whole life to the great cause of crossing, can't stand Hong Xu's behavior of "deceitful organization". So when he found out that Zou Guoqing was actually in a good state of mind, he couldn't help but turn his head and glared at Lao Zou who was protruding from his forehead, "Just let him slide over, and how much equipment others urgently need is so delayed."

Zou Guoqing, who had already been in the cabinet and was in charge of the overall industrial planning of the crossing forces in the big office, showed a tolerant expression of "Young man, you are still too little done by Chinese people in your life", and then he smiled and said, "People have installed all the equipment, what can we do, dismantle it"

Speaking of this, he patted Yao Zhesheng on the shoulder and stopped the hot-blooded man's words, "Don't worry, justice will only be late, but it will not be absent Hong Xu, that old boy committed public anger this time, and pretended to be forced in front of Emperor Cao, next time he cries"