Nicholas Leblanc Chemist Date of Birth: 06.12.1742 Country: France

1. Biography of Nicolas Leblanc
2. Invention of the Leblanc Process
3. Collaboration with the Duke of Orleans
4. Legacy and Competition

Biography of Nicolas Leblanc

Nicolas Leblanc, a French chemist and technologist, was born in 1742 in Ivua-le-Pre, Cher department. Little is known about his life, but it is known that he studied medicine and attended lectures on chemistry by G. Ruelle at the Botanical Garden in Paris. From 1780, he worked as a doctor in Orleans. During the French Revolution, he managed the gunpowder and saltpeter production at the Arsenal and held various elected positions in revolutionary organizations.

Invention of the Leblanc Process

In 1791, Nicolas Leblanc obtained a patent for the "Method for converting Glauber's salt into soda." To obtain soda, Leblanc proposed to melt a mixture of sodium sulfate, limestone (calcium carbonate), and charcoal. In the description of the invention, he stated, "Many lights, similar to candle flames, appear above the surface of the melting mass. The production of soda is completed when these lights disappear." During the fusion of the mixture, sodium sulfate is reduced by charcoal. The resulting sodium sulfide reacts with calcium carbonate. After the complete combustion of the charcoal and carbon monoxide ("the lights disappear"), the melt is cooled and treated with water. Sodium carbonate dissolves in the solution, while calcium sulfide remains as a precipitate. Soda can be obtained by evaporating the solution.

Collaboration with the Duke of Orleans

Leblanc presented his soda production technology to the Duke of Philippe Orleans, whom he served as a personal doctor. In 1789, the Duke signed an agreement with Leblanc and allocated two hundred thousand silver livres for the construction of a plant. The soda plant, located in the suburb of Paris, Saint-Genis, was called "Franciade - Leblanc Soda" and produced 100-120 kg of soda daily. During the French Revolution in 1793, the Duke of Orleans was executed, his property was confiscated, and the soda plant and Leblanc's patent were nationalized. Only seven years later, the devastated plant was returned to Leblanc, but he was unable to restore it. The last years of Leblanc's life were spent in poverty, and in 1806, he ended his life by suicide.

Legacy and Competition

The Leblanc process for soda production was used in many countries in Europe. The first soda plant of this type in Russia was established by industrialist M. Prang and appeared in Barnaul in 1864. However, a few years later, a large soda plant of the firm "Lyubimov, Solve and Co" was built near the current city of Berezniki, producing 20,000 tons of soda per year. This plant used a new soda production technology - the ammonia process, invented by Belgian engineer-chemist Ernest Solvay.

From this time onwards, plants in Russia and other countries that used the Leblanc method gradually closed down due to competition; the Solvay technology proved to be more economical.