African Entrepreneurship Record

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, and if trona reserves are not plentiful in East Africa, that will obviously be very 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, society generally did not pay attention to trona ores. Lack of understanding and awareness.”

"In my past field scientific expeditions, 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 Great Rift Valley. Even if they are not geologists, there are many people who go to the East African Great 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 80-kilometer journey is about the same as 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 that the chemical composition of Lake Magadi is 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 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 resource development 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 made the staff of the Ministry of Science and Technology have a clearer understanding of the Magadi Lake alkali mine mentioned by Robben.

In fact, as Robben said, the development of Lake Magadi already existed before the founding of East Africa. The local indigenous people would use the lake to refine coarse salt. This situation lasted for hundreds of years. However, later the East African colonists arrived. interrupted the process.

Fedeli said: "Professor Robben, we are still undecided about your natural alkali 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, after all, without sufficient raw materials, the trona method is equivalent to a skillful woman making a meal without rice. However, I believe that after you fully investigate Lake Magadi, you will definitely be interested in the trona method."

In the past, the trona method was the mainstream alkali production process in countries such as the United States and Turkey. The United States, in particular, 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 those of 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 Lubrun process cannot be completely replaced. After all, in addition to alkali production, it can also produce chlorine, which can be used to purify water or applied to the chemical industry and disinfectants."

"So there is no need for us to choose between the natural alkali process and the Solvay process, including the Lubrun process. Continuing to improve related processes can determine unexpected effects, not just involving the product of soda ash."

"And at present, the Lubrun process occupies the mainstream position in my country's alkali industry. Changes are changes in the entire industry. Of course, from Considering the cost and utilization efficiency, we must adopt more new processes. "

"So next, our alkali industry should popularize both the natural alkali process and the Solvay alkali process on this basis. "

"And in my opinion, the Solvay alkali process also has a lot of room for improvement, and continue to improve its resource utilization rate. All these tasks require the efforts of East African researchers and our companies. In the alkali industry, you should cooperate with industrial departments and state-owned enterprises to continuously improve our alkali industry. "

In general, the next task of the East African industrial department is to develop both the Solvay alkali process and the natural alkali process to replace the current Lubrun alkali process and become the mainstream of the East African alkali industry.

The main reason is that the output of the Lubrun alkali process is low. With the development of industry, its production capacity is increasingly unable to keep up. If only the natural alkali process is developed, it is not very suitable. After all, East Africa has relatively rich natural alkali ore resources, but not as rich as the United States in the past. If East Africa also has 60 billion tons of natural alkali ore reserves, then the East African alkali industry will have no problem waiting for death. However, the specific data on natural alkali reserves in East Africa is not clear at present, which can easily cause anxiety.

Just like oil in the past, humans can always find new oil resources through technological progress. The earth's oil reserves are always underestimated, but this does not prevent oil anxiety in most countries in the world.

Therefore, East Africa must develop both the Solvay alkali process and the natural alkali process. At present, the Solvay alkali process in the East African alkali industry has just started. The development of the natural alkali process is a beneficial supplement to the East African industry and mining industry.