PROGRESS OF CHEMISTRY IN SOUTH LANCASHIRE. Ill 



Wc estimate the weekly production of sulphuric acid of sp. gr. 1*85, in 

 this district, exclusive of that which is used in the manufacture of sodu-ash, 

 at about 700 tons. 



II. The Manufacture of Soda. 



In the most important chemical manufacture of the district, that of soda- 

 ash, but few changes in principle have taken place during the last ten years, 

 the essential points of the original method of Leblanc (1797) being still 

 adhered to, although minor alterations have been introduced in the various 

 processes. The extent of the manufacture has, however, largely increased 

 since the year 1851. The value of alkali made annually in England is 

 estimated at two million pounds sterling ; of this, half is made in the South 

 Lancashire and half in the Newcastle district. In the year 1860 the average 

 quantity of common salt (chloride of sodium) decomposed per week in the 

 alkali works of the South Lancashire district amounted to 2600 tons. This 

 quantity of salt requires for its decomposition 3110 tons of sulphuric acid 

 of sp. gr. 1*60, and produces 3400 ions of hydrochloric acid of sp. gr. 1"15. 

 The weight of salt decomposed serves as the simplest measure of the activity 

 of the alkali trade, as this raw material is worked up into a variety of pro- 

 ducts the exact relative quantities of which it is not easy to estimate. 

 Through the kindness of the leading firms in the alkali trade in this neigh- 

 bourhood we are, however, enabled to lay before the Section a reliable 

 approximate estimate of the total quantities of these various products now 

 made in the district; viz. salt-cake, soda-ash, soda crystals, caustic soda, and 

 bicarbonate of soda : — 



Statistics of the Lancashire Alkali- Trade, 1 86 1 . 



Tons. 



Common salt (Na CI) decomposed per week 2600 



Sulphui-ic acid (sp. gr. 1'6) used 3110 



Hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1*15) produced 3400 



Soda-ash sold per week 1800 



Salt-cake sold per week 180 



Soda crystals (NaO CO^-f- 10 HO) sold per week 170 



Bicarbonate of soda sold per week 225 



Caustic soda (solid) sold per week 90 



Since the year 1852 the alkali-trade in the South Lancashire district has 

 more than tripled, in that year only 772 tons of common salt being con- 

 sumed per week. 



These large quantities of products now manufactured are derived from about 

 twenty-five works, varying from a yield of 175 to 25 tons of ash per week; 

 the chief localities in which the trade is carried on are, St. Helens, Runcorn 

 Gap, and Widnes Dock near Warrington, the neighbourhood of Bolton, and 

 Newton Heath near Manchester*. Some idea may be formed of the extent 

 of the Lancashire alkali-trade when it is stated that two large firms are 

 engaged solely in breaking the limestone used by the alkali makers in the 

 Widnes district alone. 



I It would far exceed the limits of this Report were we even to mention the 



' very numerous patents for improvements in the alkali-trade taken out since 



1851. Suffice it to say that none have succeeded in materially altering the 



process. Many plans have been proposed for avoiding the loss of sulphur, 



* The numbers here given include the yield of three works beyond the limit of the 

 county — two situated on the Cheshire side of the Mersey at Runcoru, and one at Hint — but 

 all sending their products to the Lancashire markets. 



