The problems that Muxi Town urgently needs to address are so numerous that Todd feels somewhat overwhelmed.
He organized the information at hand and summarized the three most urgent matters.
First, try to improve your relationship with the Valkyrie and gain access to the Sacred Forest to investigate the truth behind the transformation of the aliens into ordinary people.
Second, we need to find a new way to manufacture saltpeter and restore the explosives production line.
Third, we must find solutions as soon as possible to address a potential food crisis.
After considering and comparing the three points above, Todd decided to prioritize the second issue—the production of saltpeter.
The reason is:
First, improving one's relationship with the Valkyrie in order to enter the "Holy Land" is not something that can be done overnight; it can only be done step by step.
Second, the development of Muxi Town, from municipal roads to large-scale construction, requires substantial funds. Where will this money come from? Tax revenue and investment returns are simply insufficient to fill these gaps. The only way is through continuous warfare to plunder the property of surrounding noble fiefdoms to meet the town's development needs. And to deal with the nobles' towering castles and thick walls, explosives are indeed indispensable. Therefore, finding new ways to manufacture saltpeter should be a top priority.
Thirdly, regarding the food crisis, Todd had some ideas. The North Island fleet could sail south to sell seafood, and on their return voyage, they could be entrusted to purchase grain from the south and then sell it to Muxi Town, which would solve the food crisis; as for the money to purchase the grain, the income from war plunder and trade could fully cover the expenses.
Now that we've decided to prioritize the production of nitrates, the question is: how do we obtain nitrates?
Todd recalled the time-travel novels and movies he had seen in his previous life, many of which featured technological elements and included information on how to obtain saltpeter.
First, the time traveler explored and mined natural nitrate deposits. After a moment's thought, Todd dismissed this method as utter nonsense. Natural sodium and potassium nitrate deposits are extremely rare in nature. Taking the country Todd traveled to as an example, across its vast territory, only one region, Turpan in Xinjiang, possesses sodium nitrate deposits; no other areas have any trace of nitrates. (Many historical novels interpret the mirabilite mentioned in the *Compendium of Materia Medica* as saltpeter, thus assuming that saltpeter deposits are common. In reality, mirabilite in ancient times referred to two substances: sodium sulfate and potassium nitrate.)
Secondly, soil was collected from earthen walls, saline-alkali land, and outhouses to obtain saltpeter. This was also the main way to obtain saltpeter soil in technologically underdeveloped areas. However, this method had many problems: First, this "saltpeter-scavenging" collection method was geographically limited and generally more suitable for arid or cold regions; second, after one collection, it took a long time for saltpeter soil to regenerate; third, the obtained saltpeter soil contained many impurities and had a very low saltpeter content, which affected the effectiveness of gunpowder.
Having rejected the above two methods, Todd, a biochemistry teacher, ultimately decided to use microbial methods to produce saltpeter.
There is a type of bacteria in nature called nitrifying bacteria, which are aerobic bacteria and include two completely different genera: nitrosomonas and nitrobacter.
Nitrosamine bacteria are generally known as "ammonium oxidizers" because their sole food source is ammonium. What is ammonium? Ammonium is a cation (NH4+) formed when ammonia (NH3) dissolves in water. It is mainly produced from decaying organic matter. Because its chemical behavior resembles that of a metal ion, it is named "ammonium." In the presence of air, ammonium can be absorbed and utilized by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. They oxidize its hydrogen atoms to water, replacing them with oxygen, thus ammonium becomes water and dissolved nitrogen oxides, the latter being called "nitrite." The reaction formula is as follows: 2NH3 + 3O2 → 2HNO2 + 2H2O + 158kcal
Nitrifying bacteria are generally known as "nitrite oxidizers" because their main food source is nitrite, and the nitrate they produce is the end product of the nitrogen cycle. The reaction is as follows: HNO₂ + 1/2 O₂ = HNO₃, -ΔG = 18 kcal
In simple terms, decaying matter produces ammonium, which is then oxidized into nitrite by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. The resulting nitrite is then oxidized into nitrate by nitrifying bacteria. This reaction is called nitrification. This reaction is carried out by two different types of bacteria.
Having explained the principles of microbiology and chemical reactions, Todd's next task is to develop a specific process for microbial nitrate production.
The first step is to prepare a test field as a petri dish to allow nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and nitrate-oxidizing bacteria to multiply.
The second step is to prepare the raw materials for microbial nitrification, such as a large amount of human and animal excrement or rotten fish and shrimp rich in nitrogen. The reaction will generate a large amount of ammonium by letting it stand.
The third step is to construct a nitrification tank, with the bottom sealed with cement. The inside of the tank is lined with a mixture of loose clay and fine sand, with some slightly alkaline ash added (because nitrifying bacteria cannot survive in acidic environments). Then, the bacterial culture soil from the experimental field is transplanted here, and the soil is loosened regularly to ensure soil permeability.
The fourth step is to build a canopy that is completely opaque, as nitrite bacteria are very sensitive to visible light and ultraviolet rays from sunlight, which can cause fatal damage to the bacteria.
The fifth step is to adjust the temperature inside the tank according to the temperature of the external environment, ensuring a constant temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius. Too high or too low a temperature will affect the cell division and reproduction of the nitrifying bacteria population.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com