The 19th Element, A James Becker Thriller (A James Becker SuspenseThriller Novel) by Betcher John L

Author:Betcher, John L. [Betcher, John L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Self-Published through CreateSpace
Published: 2012-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

Monday, June 8th, at the Ottawa County farm.

An objective name for the professor’s invention might be a ‘potassium electrolysis separator.’ The theory was relatively simple. The execution, exceedingly risky.

Farris would use the professor’s device to extract pure potassium from the pile of potassium chloride outside. This is how it would work –

1) Farris would boil the potassium chloride, transforming it from a solid to a gas;

2) Electricity would separate the potassium element in the gas from its chlorine companion atom;

3) The pure potassium gas would cool until it became solid potassium metal.

It sounded easy enough. But the details made the process much more complicated. This is a more precise description of the professor’s device, and how it really would work.

The bottom section of the device was the ‘burner.’ Made from heat-resistant stainless steel, graphite, and glazed porcelain, it could withstand the full brunt of the oxy-acetylene flames. The mixture of acetylene and oxygen gases fueling the burner would have to be in perfect proportions to generate enough heat to boil the potassium chloride.

The electrolysis chamber was the ‘cooking pot.’ The temperature in this chamber needed to reach 760 degrees Celsius (1400 degrees Fahrenheit) to boil the potassium chloride. The body of the electrolysis chamber was made of heat-resistant materials similar to the burner’s. The working parts were a bit more exotic.

Suspended in the ‘pot’ were the terminals of an incredibly powerful electromagnet. The anode, or positively charged pole, was made of graphite. The cathode, or negatively charged pole, was titanium-encased mercury. When the flames brought the potassium chloride to a boil, and the compound turned into a gas, the electromagnet would rip the positively charged potassium atoms from the negatively charged chlorine ones.

Making a strong enough electromagnet to tear apart the molecules required four of the largest diesel electric generators on the market. They were situated behind the barn. Together, they could produce more than 1.1 megawatts of electricity – enough to power a small village.

Next to the pot, but separated from the heat by a half-wall, was the ‘cooler.’ Inside the cooler, the temperature of the gaseous potassium dropped, changing the potassium first into a liquid and then a solid. As it condensed, the liquid potassium dripped down a ceramic plate into white ceramic collection trays, where it cooled further, solidifying into ingots of pure potassium metal – like muffins in a muffin pan.

The poisonous chlorine gas byproduct vented through a port on the opposite side of the pot, where an exhaust fan channeled it through a PVC-lined duct and to the open air outside the lab.

To a chemist, the whole arrangement was something to behold! A farm milk house, converted to a hi-tech chem lab, complete with a fantastically fierce super-heater, an unimaginably strong electromagnet, and an elegant and effective elemental separator.

A little more than a month ago, Farris wouldn’t have thought it possible. Praise be to Allah!

Finished admiring the look of the lab, Farris decided to try out the equipment to see if it all would work as designed.

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