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THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEiWISTRY
Ernest Solvay-An
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Vol. 14,No. 12
Appreciation
By William H.Nichols 6 1 BROADWAY, N E W YORK, N. Y.
T
H E DISTINGUISHED subject of this sketch, an honorary member of this SOCIETY, passed away in his sleep the 26th of May, 1922. It is well for us t o pause and take note of some of the salient features of his life, so that those of us who have borne the heat and burden of the day may take renewed courage and pursue our course with determination to the end, and those who are just beginning life may learn what is necessary to attain that success which everyone should strive t o achieve. I n an article as brief as this, only certain phases of Mr. Solvay’s life and struggles can be considered. It would take a volume to do justice to them all, and to give an adequate idea of the character of the man. He did great things, but what attracts me to him most is not so much what he did, as what he was. Ernest Solvay was born in the little Brabant town of RebecqRognon, April 16, 1838. His father, a most estimable man, was a, refiner of salt on a modest scale. To use Ernest’s own words, his “infancy was passed in an atmosphere of chloride of sodium.” He had a younger brother, Alfred, of whom he was extremely fond, and who was closely allied to him by bonds of love and mutual understanding during all his early struggles and later successes until called away January 23, 1894. The relations of these brothers were of such an intimate and touching nature that taken alone they will repay a careful study in these days when family affection and loyalty are not too frequently in evidence. After Alfred’s death until his own final hour, Ernest’s regard for him became a real religion. He would never consent to receive praise unless his brother’s name was coupled with his own. Let us, therefore, in speaking of Ernest, remember how much Alfred should be considered as part of himloyal co-laborer. Ernest passed several years at a boarding school in Malonne. He was planning a university course, but a grave malady obliged him to give this up-a bitter disappointment, as we can imagine. So he returned to his native village and kept his father’s books. He naturally had considerable leisure, which he employed in reading elementary books on chemistry and physics, He was not long in putting some of his new-found knowledge into practice by making experiments in chemical combinations and reactions. His uncle, Mr. Semet, was director of a small gas works at Schaarbeek. In 1860, Ernest was called to be his assistant, and here a new life began on a wider plan:. He had always been familiar with salt, and now he added a knowledge of the preparation and properties of ammonia. In a year he had discovered and patented in Belgium the reactions now known as the Ammonia-Soda, or Solvay process, utterly unaware of work, without result, by several predecessors. Soon after began that memorable struggle to apply his discovery, which seemed so many times to be a t the brink of failure, but which ultimately emerged So magnificent a success, owing to his dauntless courage and faith in himself. We must remember that chemical engineering was not very far advanced in 1861, and this young man was neither a chemist nor an engineer as we understand the terms. That he became both later was much to his credit, and furnishes another instance of the efficiency of hard knocks. I n 1861, a small experimental plant was installed a t Schaarbeek. On December 28 of that year, Ernest writes: Our apparatus is now in order and I believe nothing prevents beginning our experiments. If all goes as I have foreseen, as all
I have been able t o try out up till now-apparatus, different combinationsall will go well. As far as I am concerned, however, I do not put too much faith in them and expect t o have t o make changes, for it would indeed be almost unheard of if everything were to succeed in an undertaking of this importance, and, moreover, entirely new. I have never been in doubt, and a t present less than ‘ever, of the success of the apparatus itself, and of the great advantage which there would be in operating on an industrial scale. What I cannot answer for, as indeed no one in my position could, is that I will see all my combinations succeed a t the first attempt. I made a summary beforehand of all the difficultieswhich might arise, and already a certain number of these have been cleared up. No trouble has arisen in so far as my own conceptions are concerned. Six days later, on January 4,Mr. Solvay wrote: I believe that I can now tell you something serious, something really certain. If I have ever had the slightest doubt as to the value of my process in so far as its industrial application is concerned, it would now be completely cleared. On Monday, we put all the apparatus in operation, working on 100 kilos of material; everything went perfectly smoothly. All I had foreseen in so far as the ease, the regularity and the practical side of the process were concerned, was far surpassed. Difficulties arose, and on June 4, 1862, after a shutdown of three weeks given up to repairs and new preparations, Mr. Alfred Solvay wrote: We began t o operate by trying out each apparatus, one a t a time; all went well until yesterday. During the night we found that the pump was no longer drawing water. The well was dry, and we had to stop. This is a new delay, but as is always the case i t does not come from the process itself! We really have had bad luck with our equipment! And we had had t o work like horses day and night! That same year, the two brothers and their foreman were nearly asphyxiated by an escape of gas, and were only saved by the lucky return of a workman who carried them into the open air. Experiments went on, however. When the trials were considered sufficiently advanced, negotiations were opened up i n view of interesting two industrial companies in the enterprise, but without success. Negotiations were then begun with Mr. Pirmez, and after six months Solvay & Co., with headquarters at Couillet, was founded on December 26, 1863. This was the first step. The second was no less difficult. It lasted until the end of October 1865, when the works were shut down after the most important unit had given way. The year 1864 was passed in construction work and negotiations of all sorts. Before the end of the year it became necessary to issue a certain amount of new stock to increase the company’s capital which was insufficient. On December 15, 1864, everything was ready to begin work again, and Mr. Solvay wrote: I spent yesterday and last night a t Couillet trying out the new apparatus with water. All the units show leakages but nothing serious***. I am quite satisfied with the general result. When the repairs are completed we will have another trial, and I hope that by New Year we will be able t o run the proper raw material through. Our well has not been giving enough water. We will have to run a pipe line t o the Sambre which will take about eight days, unless there is an exceptional frost. Of course there was a frost, but that was only the beginning of new difficulties, and on January 4, 1865, Alfred Solvay wrote:
Dec., 1922
THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEiMISTRP
' Ernest arrived and we worked all day S11ndaY; we did not
that it was the first Of January. A bad leak had just broken out in the distilling apparatus. Everything had been going so smoothly! There had already been a leak, but we had been able to get around this difficulty by not using this particular part of the apparatus. Isn't it rough luck when we had taken such care and gone t o such trouble?
Bad luck, however, continued. On June 26, 1865, it was decided to put the works in run again. Mr. Alfred Solvay writes a t that date : We may still have setbacks, but with the changes we have made we have great hope. Let us hope that this time all will go well, and that Ernest will finally be rewarded for so much energy, courage, perseverance, and sacrifice of every sort. Poor boy, he has already suffered a great deal!
In the meantime, the production reached 600 to 800 kilos a day. Mr. Ernest Solvay writes a t this time. All our efforts have always been aimed a t keeping going, if only a few days a t a time, on a basis of 2 to 3,000 kilos in order to form a definite opinion of our affair. We always see the promised land in the distance without being able to reach it. He ended his letter of August 3, 18B5, as follows: The Drocess will win out. Of this I i m absolutely certain, but much perseverance must still be applied. Our task is not yet finished. All would go more quickly if we were able to go straight ahead when we see what there is to be done, but we are in a situation which calls for reflection. The situation which he mentions so delicately was financial. On June 26, 1865, in the midst of almost insurmountable difficulties, Mr. Ernest Solvay had made an admirable report to Mr. Pirmez, in which he definitely stated his faith in the future of the process, giving as reasons, the enormous production of soda ash in the world, the lowering in the future of the cost of production to the extent necessary to take the place of sulfate of soda in the glass industry, the manufacture of soda crystals and the utilization of residues-in short, a complete program of what was to be realized later. In October a crack appeared in one of the units, but the apparatus was kept going by lowering the pressure and by admitting more gas. Bad luck, however, followed the brothers. A few weeks later the main unit blew up, carrying away, it would seem, their last hopes. They were completely broken down. Ernest Felt that he was losing his hold on himself in the midst of so much misfortune; something had to be done. It was in such terms that a member of the family stated the case by letter, for it was in the midst of their family a t Rebecq that the two Solvay brothers withdrew to comfort themselves, with their mother who was confident in the efforts of her sons, as all mothers should be, and with their sister. At this time, Mr. Ernest Solvay was married and his wife gave him that wonderful moral support which was to enlighten all his life. The works were shut down under pretext of repairs. The winding up of the affairs of the company was imminent, but this eventuality was avoided, for a t this moment the Solvay parents gave
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their sons a mark of confidence and abnegation which was to save them. They made a last sacrifice and put 40,000 more francs into the business. The young men took up the fight anew. h a touching way we are given an opportunity of appreciating the ~. combat which was going on in the mind of the inventor. Mr. Solvay writes:
If I am a t times discouraged it is because I feel that I am in vain weighed down under all this burden, because I feel that despite my will power I am losing confidence in my strength-I am afraid to go on for fear of wearing myself out still further. But this letter closes with a burst of enthusiasm: I believe that 1 am capable of making a last effort, and of regaining sufficient energy t o forget all, or a t least a great deal, and to consider the work that I am about to do as a trial. Finally on February 18, 1866, Mr. Ernest Solvay ends his letter in these terms : We reached our 1,000 kilos mark at the end of last week. The product is superb. If we can go on a fortnight in this way, it will be as clear as day that our manufacturing problem is solved, and we must complete it and put ourselves a t ease in so far as material is concerned. Let us hope that this time we will have attained success, and been able t o prove it. There are so many reasons for desiring this. Eight days later success was no longer in doubt, and Mr. Solvay writes: After being so often within aminch, within a hairs-breadth of failure, can I finally succeed in regaining from others and from myself, that moral strength which the entire world seems to refuse me. After all that has happened, this would indeed be a splendid triumph! Let us not speak of it, we are too accustomed t o setbacks and deceptions. On July 1, 1866, a t the time when the Austro-German war had just been declared all continued to go well, but then he writes: Had it not been for the war we could consider ourselves saved. This is indeed about the last straw. Eight days later, however, a letter brings out the fact that for three days in succession production had reached 1,300 kilos: We are working t o reach 1,500 or 2,000 kilos. Then only will I believe that we are saved.
A month later, the daily production of 1,500 kilos became a regular thing; all was saved. Space prevents further quotations. All the world knows what happened after this; plants to utilize the process were constructed in many countries, including our own, and the price of soda the world over came down by leaps and bounds. Neither can we pause t o consider the immense influence this had in the whole field of chemical operations. Where others failed, a complete success had been scored. And yet, with all the concrete results, the story shows conclusively that the man was much greater than his works. He succeeded in the face of what seemed insurmountable difficulties, because o€ his character.
