Nicolas Leblanc was a French surgeon and chemist who discovered how to manufacture soda from common salt. The Leblanc process was vital to making soap, glass and other products from soda ash. His discovery became one of the most important chemical processes of the ninetieth century. He became a private physician in the house of Philippe Egalite Duc d’Orleans (1747- 1793).
Background
Nicolas Leblanc was born on 6th January 1742 in Ivoy-le-pre France. His father who was a minor official at an iron works died in 1751. Leblanc was sent to Bourges to live with Dr. Bien, a close family friend. Under the influence of his guardian, he developed an interest in medicine. When Bien died in 1759, Leblanc enrolled at the Ecole de Chirurgie in Paris to study medicine.
He graduated with a master’s degree in surgery and opened a medical practice. He married in 1775, and their first child followed later. In 1780, he accepted a position of the Duke of Orleans, later known as the revolutionary figure Philippe Egalite.
Education
He graduated with a master’s degree in surgery at the Ecole de Chirugie in Paris. During this time, the study of chemistry was becoming more popular. He had obtained financial stability in a position that allowed him a substantial amount of free time to begin conducting experiments. He started with the study of crystallization, primarily because the material required for the experiments was affordable. In March 1786 he sent his results to the Academy of Sciences which recommended that he should consider the formation of a complete collection of crystallized salts and that the research to be supported by the government.
Career
Leblanc’s next project was of much greater importance; the creation of soda from non- organic sources. At that time the main source of soda was wood ashes, and the wood supply in industrial Europe was diminishing. As a result, most of the sodium carbonate that the French glass, textile and soap industries needed was imported from Spain at a substantial price. Other markets, such as Russia and North America were too distant and shipping costs too high to provide practical solutions.
Leblanc began his study of the development of sodium carbonate around 1784. After making some progress, he approached Duke and requested his financial support. The Duke agreed on the condition that Darcet, a long time consultant to the Duke, be included in the process. Leblanc was allowed to set up a laboratory at the College of Paris, and Darcet assigned J. Dize, his assistant to collaborate with Leblanc.
The process by which Leblanc developed sodium carbonate is not known, nor is the exact date. After numerous attempts and partial failures, Leblanc eventually succeeded in isolating soda crystals by fusing sulfate, coal and limestone. In its final incarnation, the method which became known as the Leblanc process, produced sodium carbonate by first exposing sea salt to sulfuric acid and then converting the product to soda by calculating with limestone and charcoal.
Once the process was established, Leblanc turned his attention to producing soda. He and Dize went to London, where the Duke had been sent as a result of rising political tensions, to discuss the necessary steps. An agreement was reached on 27th March 1790 among Leblanc, Dize and Henri Shee the Duke’s steward stipulated that Leblanc submit a complete description of the process, which would be certified Darcet. Dize also submitted his invention of a method for manufacturing sal ammoniac, a complementary process to the production of soda. In return, Dize and Leblanc were to receive 200000 livres to pursue the development of a profitable business of soda production.
In 1791 Leblanc applied for a patent and was granted a secret patent on 25th September 1791 which gave him the sole right to the process for the next 15 years. A manufacturing plant was built in St. Denis, a small village located four miles outside of Paris and production began. The soda works had sales totaling 420000 livres by the spring of 1794. However due to unstable political times brought devastating changes to Leblanc’s operation.
By the time the Leblanc process was facing competition from the newer Solvay alkali. The dominance of the Leblanc soda was extended by improvements most notably the Deacon process which converted the wasteful and harmful hydrochloric acid gases into chlorine and the chance process which recovered waste Sulphur. By the turn of the twentieth century, however, the Leblanc and Solvay processes were eclipsed by new electrolytic methods for making chlorine and caustic soda
Leblanc began the study of the development of sodium carbonate around 1784. Once the process was established, he turned his attention to producing soda.
A manufacturing plant was built at St. Denis, a small village four miles outside of Paris and the production began. The production rate was between 500 and 600 pounds of soda every day. The soda works had sales totaling 420000 livres by the spring of 1794.
Due to the unstable political times which brought devastating changes to Leblanc’s operation, there was a critical shortage of potash because it was needed to produce gunpowder so the French government instructed all soda manufacturers to disclose plant production levels, processes and sales. Leblanc was ordered to reveal the secrets of his inventions. Leblanc was further hampered by the arrest of Duke, known during the revolution as Philippe Egalite and his subsequent beheading on 6th November 1793.
The revolutionary government confiscated all his property including his interest in the soda plant. The French government became the chief shareholder of the business. In the chaos of the revolution, the government suspended production at Leblanc’s plant. Even though a review committee highly recommended the operation and commended Leblanc and Dize for their patriotism for revealing the secrets of the process, the French government established soda production at other locations leaving Leblanc’s plant closed.
Rather than being allowed to provide his country with soda, he was ordered to leave the premises, including the house on the factory grounds in which he lived with his wife and children. He received no financial reward for his chemical contribution nor for his interest in the soda plant. Just months before, Leblanc stood at the threshold of great financial success, suddenly he was in poverty.
Leblanc held several government positions after the soda operation was shut down. Beginning in 1792, he served as the administrator to the departments of the Seine for five consecutive terms but he received no salary for his work. In January 1794 he secured a salaried position as the commissioner of powder and saltpeter but the department was resolved within six months along with his job. In February 1794, he was appointed to the temporary Commission of the Arts, a branch of the committee of public instruction.
He was responsible without remuneration, for taking an inventory of the contents of properties confiscated by the government, including those facilities left vacant because their owners had been guillotined.
In June 1795, as the Revolution was winding down and France was working to restore normalcy, Leblanc was appointed by the committee on public safety to investigate the steps necessary to rebuild the mining industry. He was named director of a copper and alum mining operations after sending back numerous papers and information from the mining regions. He never received a salary and reimbursement for the expenses. He returned to Paris in desperate financial status after one year.
Leblanc was exploited severally by the political regime. The Leblanc process was simple, cheap and direct but because the French Revolution had began by the time Leblanc completed his experiments in 1790, he never received his prize. The national Assembly awarded him a 15 year patent in September 1791 but confiscated his patent and factory three years later with only token compensation. Though Napoleon returned the factory about 1800, Leblanc was never able to raise enough capital to reopen it and died a suicide in 1806.
Views
Leblanc was a chemist and surgeon who discovered how to manufacture soda. His discovery was a solution to a great crisis that was there at that time. He never received the deserved reward for his discoveries. He developed a small scale mechanism that effectively produced ammonia from animal waste; Leblanc petitioned the government for a grant to establish a commercial plant. In 1804, the arbitrators determined Leblanc was due payment of 52473 francs. It was far less than he had hoped, and no money was ever paid. Leblanc fell into deep depression. He became withdrawn and Morose and his health deteriorated. On January 16, 1808, he committed suicide in his study by putting a bullet in his head.
Personality
Leblanc was a tolerant person. He worked hard to discover the process of making soda from in organic raw materials. He shared the formulas with the government despite the government not paying him what he deserved. He was stripped off the ownership of his company and the government still continued to use his formulas to manufacture soda in other companies. He was even forced to vacate the basement of his company where he stayed with his wife. He was frustrated but never attempted to revenge; he wasn’t a vengeful person. The company was later on given back to him but his desperate financial position didn’t allow him to run it. He committed suicide by a bullet in his head.
Physical Characteristics:
There are not much records about his personal looks but with the records that are available today, it is clear he was a very humble and well-respected person during his time.
Interests
reading
Connections
He married Adele Comeau and together they had one son named William Joseph White.