The Leblanc and Solvay Process

The Leblanc Process for obtaining soda
It was the first process to artificially obtain sodium carbonate (soda). By reacting common salt (HCl) with sulfuric acid (H
2 SO 4 ) to give sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 )(1), which is subsequently burned with coal and limestone to obtain sodium
carbonate (Na 2 SO 4 ) (2), which by extracting water we can separate from calcium sulfide (CaS), since the first is soluble
and the second is insoluble.
(1) H 2 SO 4 + NaCl → NaSO 4 + HCl

(2) Na 2 SO 4 + 2C + CaCO 3 → Na2CO 3 + CaS + 2CO 2
For many years, the Leblanc process only obtained one useful product, soda or sodium carbonate, and two polluting
residues, hydrochloric acid (HCl) and calcium sulfide (CaS), which gave rise to major environmental pollution problems,
and which in the long run condemned this process.
Gosaage (1836) developed towers for absorbing HCl in water.
Chance (1882-1887) improved a method proposed by Gossage for recovering S. He injected it into the galligú (the
residue that contained CaS), releasing H 2 S; Through an enrichment process, a gas rich in hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) was
obtained, which was subjected to the Claus process (to obtain elemental sulfur). The S obtained was used in the
production of H 2 SOH 4 .
CaS + H 2 O + CO 2 → CaCO 3 + H 2 O
CaS + H 2 S → Ca(HS) 2
Ca(HS) 2 + CO 2 + H 2 O → CaCO 3 + 2H 2 O
Ernest Solvay was a Belgian industrial chemist . Born on April 16 , 1838 in Rebecq-Rognon in the province of Walloon
Brabant and died in Ixelles on May 26, 1922 .
An illness prevented him from going to university , so he began working in the chemical industry in his uncle's factory at
the age of 21. He devised several methods of gas purification, but is best known for the development of a method for
the production of sodium carbonate that improved on the existing Leblanc method and for the invention of the Solvay
Carbonating Tower (in which a solution of sodium carbonate ammonia could be mixed with carbon dioxide ). He
acquired his first patent for the production of soda in 1861 .
In 1863 he built his first factory in Couillet , where he finished perfecting his method in 1872 . In 1890 he had already
founded companies in various foreign countries and in 1900 , 95% of the growing world production of soda came from
the Solvay process . Today about 70 factories that use it are still operational. Soda is an essential component in many
industrial applications, such as glass manufacturing, metallurgy or detergent manufacturing.
This success brought Solvay considerable wealth, which he used for various philanthropic purposes, including the
founding of several international scientific research institutes in physiology ( 1893 ), sociology (University of Brussels ,
1902 ), physics ( 1912 ), and chemistry ( 1913 ). The Solvay physics lectures were particularly renowned for their role in
the development of theories of quantum mechanics and atomic structure . At the same time, it took social initiatives,
being a precursor of social legislation in its industries, where it initiated a social security system that did not exist at the
time: a pension for workers, since 1899 , limitations on working hours and an 8-hour day. since 1908 , the establishment
of paid vacations since 1913 and a kind of professional recycling.
In 1911 he was the promoter of an important scientific conference, the so-called ( Solvay Congress ) where some of the
most important physicists of the time were present, such as Albert Einstein , Ernest Rutherford , Max Planck or Marie
Curie among others, introducers of radiation , Quantum mechanics and the atomic model . After the success of this first
conference, others were held every three years, attended by other important scientists such as Niels Bohr , or Werner
Heisenberg , among many others. The most important conference of all was the fifth, held in 1927 in Brussels .
Solvay process
The Solvay method is a chemical process used to manufacture sodium carbonate at an industrial level.
It was discovered by Schloesing who could not give it industrial application and later studied by the Belgian industrialist
and philanthropist Ernest Solvay .
Chemical process
By passing ammonia and carbon dioxide (both in a gaseous state ) through a saturated solution of sodium chloride,
sodium hydrogen carbonate and ammonium chloride (both soluble in water ) are formed:
NaCl + NH 3 + CO 2 + H 2 O --> NaHCO 3 + NH 4 Cl

Sodium hydrogen carbonate is separated from the solution by filtration and transformed into sodium carbonate by
calcination :
2 NaHCO 3 --> Na 2 CO 3 + H 2 O + CO 2
The ammonium chloride obtained is reacted with calcium hydroxide and ammonia is recovered:
2 NH 4 Cl + Ca(OH) 2 --> 2 NH 3 + 2 H 2 O + CaCl 2

Calcium oxide is produced in the same factory by calcination of calcium carbonate (limestone) and thus the carbon
dioxide necessary in the first reaction is produced:
CaCO 3 --> CaO + CO 2
Large quantities of sodium carbonate are consumed in the manufacture of soaps, soap powders, glass and hard water
purifiers.
Chemical reactions in the Solvay process (green = reactant, black = reaction intermediate, red = product)
Solvay process
For Ernest Solvay commercial process for the manufacture of sodium carbonate (washing soda). Ammonia and carbon
dioxide are passed into a saturated sodium chloride solution to form soluble ammonium hydrogen carbonate, which
reacts with sodium chloride to form soluble ammonium chloride and a precipitate of ammonium hydrogen carbonate.
Sodium hydrogen (sodium bicarbonate) temperature is kept below 15°C. Sodium hydrogen carbonate is filtered off and
heated to produce sodium carbonate.
Commercial soda, term applied to sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). It is a white powder with strong alkaline properties, with
a relative density of 2.35 and a boiling point of 851 ºC. It is found in nature in salt strata and also dissolved in the waters
of inland lakes, called soda lakes. Various hydrated forms of sodium carbonate are manufactured; The most important
are: the decahydrate (Na2CO3·10H2O), called bleaching soda, and the monohydrate (Na2CO3·H2O), called crystal
carbonate.
Sodium carbonate used to be obtained from the ashes of algae and was known as soda ash, but its consumption did not
become widespread until the French chemist Nicolas Leblanc invented a method, called the Leblanc process, to obtain
the compound from table salt, sodium chloride. The Leblanc process was surpassed by the much less expensive Solvay
process, which Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay invented when trying to use ammonia obtained as a byproduct in the coke
industry. In the latter process, sodium chloride is treated with ammonia gas and then carbon dioxide, forming sodium
bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and ammonium chloride. The sodium bicarbonate precipitate is filtered and separated from the
ammonium chloride solution, to be subsequently dried and heated, obtaining sodium carbonate. However, it is
increasingly common to obtain this compound from natural sources, such as soda lakes, instead of synthesizing it
through the Solvay process.
Sodium carbonate is used in the manufacture of glass and ceramic items, in making paper from the wood of trees, and
to make soap. It is also used in petroleum refining, as a water softener, cleaning and degreasing agent in detergents, and
to produce other sodium compounds such as sodium hydroxide.
ACIDS.
NAME FORMULA PRESENT IN
ACIDS
Acetic acid HC2H3O2 Vinegar
Acetylsalicylic acid HC9H7O4 Aspirin
Ascorbic acid H2C6H6O6 Vitamin C
Citric acid H3C6H5O7 Lemon and other citrus juice
gastric juices
Hydrochloric acid HCI
(digestive fluids from the stomach)
Sulfuric acid H2SO4 Batteries
BASES
NAME FORMULA PRESENT IN
Bases
household cleaners
Ammonia NH3
(aqueous solution)
slaked lime
Calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2
(used in construction)
Magnesium slurry
Magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)2
(antacid and laxative)
Potassium hydroxide (also

KOH Soft soap
called caustic potash)
sodium hydroxide NaOH Pipe and furnace cleaners

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The Leblanc Process for obtaining soda

(1) H 2 SO 4 + NaCl → NaSO 4 + HCl

NaCl + NH 3 + CO 2 + H 2 O --> NaHCO 3 + NH 4 Cl

2 NH 4 Cl + Ca(OH) 2 --> 2 NH 3 + 2 H 2 O + CaCl 2

CaCO 3 --> CaO + CO 2

NAME FORMULA PRESENT IN

Acetic acid HC2H3O2 Vinegar

Acetylsalicylic acid HC9H7O4 Aspirin

Ascorbic acid H2C6H6O6 Vitamin C

Citric acid H3C6H5O7 Lemon and other citrus juice

Sulfuric acid H2SO4 Batteries

NAME FORMULA PRESENT IN

Potassium hydroxide (also

sodium hydroxide NaOH Pipe and furnace cleaners

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