dustry, namely the production of bleaching agents without the use of the
alkali. If, on the electrolysis of a solution of common salt, the caustic soda
formed at the negative electrode is not separated by a diaphragm from the
chlorine which is formed at the positive electrode, and which is fairly soluble
in water, and if the products are allowed to meet, particularly if the solution
is cold and not perceptibly alkaline, the result is at first, a solution of sodium
hypochlorite, which is an efficacious bleaching agent, exactly as is chloride of
lime, which has an analogous composition.
Such bleaching liquor is produced by electrolysis in Siemens-Schuckert apparatus,
at Billingsfors, in Dalsland, by the B i ll in g s f o r s A k t ie b o la g , for the
purpose of bleaching soda pulp. The plant consumes 400 electric h. p., and
the quantity of bleaching liquor produced is sufficient to bleach the annual
production of soda pulp, which amounts to 4 000 or 5 000 tons.
Chlorate and Perchlorate. The electrolysis of alkaline chlorides can be carried
on in a third direction. When the concentration of sodium hypochlorite has
leached a certain limit, it begins to change into sodium chlorate, which is
richer in oxygen, while at the same time a quantity of chloride is again formed;
this change is promoted by high temperature, and by the solution being as a
rule somewhat more strongly alkaline than in the production of hypochlorite.
In the electrolytic production of chlorate direct from a chloride solution, a high
temperature is therefore maintained, and the solution is allowed to be a little more
alkaline than in the manufacture of hypochlorite. The most important chlorate
is potassium chlorate, which can be produced either directly by electrolysis of
a solution of potassium chloride, or by the electrolysis of a solution of common salt,,
which is then converted into sodium chlorate; by adding potassium chloride, the'
less soluble chlorate of potash is precipitated, while pommon salt (sodium chloride)
is again formed in the solution. Chlorate of potash is principally used
for the heads of matches, but also for fireworks and for medicinal purposes.
The . electrolytic method i of producing chlorate of potash has proved so superior
to the older, purely chemical method, which consisted in conducting chlorine
into warm lime-white and adding potassium chloride • to the solution of chlorate
of lime thus produced, that the older method has been almost entirely superseded.
/,
The first electrochemical chlorate factory in Sweden, and the second in the
the world, was established in 1894, at the branch of the S to c k h o lm s Super-
f o s f a t f a b r ik s A k tie b o la g , at Mansbo, on the Avesta Fall of the Dalalven
River. This took place on the initiative of the managing director of the
company, O. Carlson, who. has been one of the most active pioneers of the
electro-chemical industry in Sweden (cf. above under the heading Carbide and
Cyanamide). He also worked out the method employed. The manufacture is
carried on with the use of about 3 750 h. p., and about 2 000 tons of chlorates
and perchlorates are produced annually, of a value of 1 270 000 kronor.
Chlorate of potash is the principal product, but sodium chlorate and other
chlorates and perchlorates are also produced. Of the latter, which have come to he.
used as explosives, sodium perchlorate is, for instance, obtained, simply by a
continued electrolysis of a solution of sodium chlorate. Ammonium perchlorate
etc. is obtained by conversion with sal-ammoniac.
Somewhat later (1900), the Alby Chlorate Factory was established at the
Alby railway station, on the Ljungan (cf. above under Carbide), on a method
originally worked out by £?. E. Cassel. The factory is now owned by the A lb y
N y a K lo r a t fa b r ik s A k t ie b o la g and employs about 2 000 electric h. p. With
a production of 0*7 tons of chlorate of potash per horse-power per year, this,
corresponds to an annual • production of about 1 400 tons of chlorate of potash,
with a commercial value of about 840 000 kronor.
The home production of chlorate of potash is more than is required for the-
country’s consumption, and there is a considerable export.
Bicalcic Phosphate. Working on a method invented by V. Palmier, the first,
s m a l l factory has been Greeted by-the A k t ie b o la g e t D i f o s f a t , at Trollhattan,
for the manufacture of bicalcic phosphate, for use as a fertilizer, with the help
of acid and alkali, produced by the electrolytic process. The raw material, which
may be very poor, is soaked with acid, where upon the tribasic phosphate of lime-
contained in it is extracted; the alkali obtained by electrolysis is added to the-
solution, when bicalcic phosphate, with 35 % of citrate-soluble phosphoric acid is
precipitated, and the electrolyte is regenerated in order to be used afresh. The-
method is principally intended to render possible the utilization of the poor raw
material to be found in the country.
Hydrogen and Oxygen. The N o r d isk a S y r g a s v e r k e n , Aktiebolag, have,,
at Örebro, a plant for the electrolytic production of hydrogen and oxygen, by
means of Schmidt electrolysers. The power used amounts to 35 h. p. Most-
of th'e/nxygen produced by the factory is, however, manufactured by the fractional
distillation of liquid air.
Oalvano-technics. ■ The largest galvano-technical plant in the country is probably
the factory for silver-plating, gilding, etc. owned by the G u ld sm ed s—
a k tieb o la g e t. This factory has about 350 male and female employees. For
silver-plating, 650 kg silver was used in 1912, and for gilding, 3'7 kg of gold.
The value of the galvano-technical products of the factory in the same year
amounted to about .half a million kronor. In addition to this factory, there are-
a number of smaller works for..silver-plating, gilding, and nickel-plating, and for
the manufacture of stereotype plates.
Accumulators and Oalvanic Cells. The manufacture of accumulators and galvanic
cells should, in reality, come under the heading of electro-chemical industry,
although it is not included in the definiton of this industry, which is consequently,
like most definitions, not quite exact. In this branch of industry may
be mentioned the accumulator invented by the Swede E. W. Jungner, of which,,
when charged, the active parts are, on the one hand, iron sponge and, on the
other hand, nickel oxide, and, as electrolyte, a solution of potash.- Edison has
also arrived at the same system, although the two inventors have worked independently
of each other. The great advantages of Jungner’s accumulator are
its insensibility to shaking and the fact that it requires little care in manipulation:;,!
in a word, that it is more durable than the lead accumulator and can
therefore be employed for a large -number of so-called traction purposes, for
which the lead accumulator is unsuitable. It is manufactured by the S v en sk a .
A ck um u la to f a k t ie b o la g e t J u n g n e r in their factories at Fliseryd in Smaland.
The main use is for accumulator locomotives, train lighting, submarine batteries,
and other transportable batteries. The value of the output is one million kronor
a year, about a 100 000 cells a year being produced. At present the capacity
of the factories is about 2 million kronor.
Among the manufacturers of galvanic cells (Leclanche cells, dry cells) in
Sweden may be mentioned R y la n d e r & R u d o lp h s F a b r ik s a k tie b o la g , Hen-
riksdal, Stockholm.
Carbon Electrodes. The manufacture of carbon electrodes for electric furnaces
is carried on by the H o g a n a s -B ille s h o lm s A k t ie b o la g , which in 1913
turned out 1 870 tons of electrodes to the value of 430 000 kronor, and by
the A k t ie b o la g e t H b r o u lt s E le k t r isk a S ta l of Kortfors, which in 1913-
produced 167 tons to the value of 39 800 kronor.
The table given below shows an estimate of the extent to which the
electro-chemical industry in its entirety, i. e., including the electro-metall