Leblanc, Nicholas

Hydrochloric acid is used in numerous applications, but it is generally obtained indirectly as a by-product in other chemical processes. The first large-scale production of hydrochloric acid resulted from the mass production of alkalis such as sodium carbonate (Na C ) and potassium carbonate (potash, K2C03). The depletion of European forests and international disputes made the availability of alkali salts increasingly uncertain during the latter part of the 18th century. This prompted the French Academy of Science to offer a reward to anyone who could find a method to produce soda ash from common salt (NaCl). Nicholas LeBlanc (1743—1806) was credited with solving the problem. LeBlanc proposed a procedure in 1783 and a plant based on LeBlanc s method was opened in 1791. LeBlanc s method uses sulfuric acid and common salt... 

A major step toward large-scale commercial soap making occurred in 1791 when a French chemist, Nicholas Leblanc, patented a process for making soda ash, or sodium carbonate, from common salt. Soda ash in the alkali obtained from ashes combines with fat to form soap. The Leblanc process 5uelded quantities of good quality, inexpensive soda ash. 

Demand for alkalis for glassmaking and soap-making, for textile dyes and for bleach was growing rapidly in the second half of the eighteenth century, and it became clear that existing sources would not be sufficient. In response to a prize established by the Academie des Sciences, Nicholas Leblanc had devised by 1791 a method for converting common salt into soda ash, which was to become the central operation of the world alkali industry for about one hundred years. 

Lanzani, Guglielmo, 387 Larsen, Jan, 527 Leblanc, Roger M., 557 Lefrant, Serge, 375 Lerstrup, Knud, 527 Lerf, A., 227 Leventis, Nicholas, 627 Levin, P., 579 Lin, Shu-yuan, 257 Losche, Mathias, 491, 591 Lu, Li, 257... 

French chemist Nicholas Leblanc devises a process for... 

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