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acetylene ammonia biodiesel calcium chloride calcium hydroxide calcium lactate calcium oxide cellulose cement charcoal and pine tar coal tar coke cordite ethanol ether gypsum hydrogen ice lactic acid lead methanol nitrates nitric acid nitroglycerin nitrocellulose penicillin petroleum jelly phosphorus potash potassium hydroxide potassium nitrate rubber sand smallpox vaccine sodium bicarbonate sodium borate sodium carbonate sodium hydroxide sodium lactate steroids sulfa sulfuric acid synthetic rubber vanadium oxide volcanic ash

 

     This section provides "real life" and game mechanics for common chemical processes and some materials science of the 22nd Century. See the resources page for some raw materials.

 

acetylene

 

     Calcium carbide is created in an electric arc furnace, from a mixture of lime and coke, at 2200° C. In turn, it's heated with water vapor to produce acetylene and calcium hydroxide. So-called "carbide lamps" drip water onto calcium carbide to make acetylene gas. A kilogram of calcium carbide will produce 311 liters of acetylene.

 

ammonia

 

     Typically found as ammonium hydroxide, which is ammonia in solution in water (about 30% ammonia by mass); "household ammonia" is more dilute (usually 10%, at most 20% ammonia by mass). 

     It's used in refrigeration machinery, as a fertilizer, in household cleaners, in some internal combustion engines, in stimulants (as "smelling salts"), in wool production, for darkening wood ("fuming"), in the production of nitric acid and a lot of nitrogen-containing compounds.

     Production of ammonia is mostly by heating and distillation of nitrogenous plant waste, animal and human dung and urine. Guano (sea-bird dung) is particularly rich in ammonia. At Styx and East Broad Top, ammonia is also made by coal distillation -- distilling one ton of coal produces 700 kg of coke, 100 liters of ammonium hydroxide, 50 liters of coal tar, 400 cubic meters of coal gas (used for lighting and heating in that town), 30 kilograms of sulfur and about 10 kilograms of vanadium pentoxide.

     In principle, pure ammonia can be produced from household ammonia by further distillation; carbon dioxide is used in this process.

 

biodiesel

 

      Grease or vegetable oils need to have their wax components removed before being useful as fuel. Some adjustment of the fuel pumps and fuel injectors would be needed, but less than for ethanol conversion. A biological-derived oil would probably need more cleaning and de-gunking of the engines -- they're not a happy in the high temperatures of an internal combustion engine, and produce a lot of gunky deposits (especially compared to gasoline or ethanol). Peanut oil, butter, animal fat, deep-fryer oil (used in "frybrid" engines), algae oils, etc. have been used to operate internal combustion engines -- especially diesel engines (in fact Rudolf Diesel's first engines ran on peanut oil). You need to add a pre-heater to the fuel feed system -- natural oils of this sort need to be heated to reduce their viscosity.

     The building where they're converting the natural oil to biodiesel is going to smell like hot ... whatever is being converted.

 

calcium chloride

 

     Production is usually as a byproduct in the creation of soda ash (sodium carbonate), by the brine purification process. Salt brine and limestone are required.

     Used in concrete mixing to speed up setting time (but not with reinforced concrete -- it promotes rusting). It's used in fire extinguishers, in wastewater treatment, and for various applications in chemical industries. In the 20th Century the major uses by weight were for de-icing and surfacing roads.

 

calcium hydroxide

 

     Usually known as slaked lime,or caustic lime; produced from calcium oxide mixed with water 

 

calcium lactate

 

     Produced by fermentation of glucose via lactobacillus, or on some cheeses. Used to fortify milk, as calcium supplement, an antacid, as part of baking powder, and to produce lactic acid. Sugar beets are the usual glucose source.

 

calcium oxide

 

     Also known as quick lime, burnt lime, or unslaked lime; produced by burning limestone and slaked with water. Used in steel making, concrete and cement production, glass making, and many other uses 

 

cellulose

 

     Typically made from wood pulp or cotton, using lye. Cotton is 90% or more cellulose already, and thus easy to extract.

 

cement

 

     Portland cement needs clay, shale, limestone and gypsum ... and a lot of heat.

 

cement resources in Michigan

There's a fair amount of limestone available in the northern part of the "lower peninsula". Along the Lake Huron shore, the Rogers City quarry (near Port Calcite) was especially productive; several other quarries were in a range along the coast (roughly speaking) from Cheboygan to Alpena. On the upper peninsula, limestone was quarried on the "Burnt Bluffs" in Mackinac county (north of the straits).      Gypsum used to be mined (2 underground shafts) at Grand Rapids and quarried (open pits) at Alabaster and National City.      Shale was produced in the norther part of Michigan at Alpena county and in Antrim county.

 

cement resources in Kentucky

Limestone is abundant in Kentucky -- the Grand Rivers quarry is one of the largest limestone producers in the Ancient U.S (though sort of far to the west for Bluegrass Country's purposes). Meade and Breckenridge counties, about 50 or 60 km downstream from Louisville along the Ohio River, had many limestone quarries, including some along the river's edge. The edge of the Cumberland Plateau is particularly rich in limestone; there was a big quarry at Frenchburg, for example.      Gypsum is found in caverns, such as Mammoth Cave, and other caves in Edmonson county. Within 80 kilometers of Mammoth Cave were a half-dozen quarries producing small amounts of gypsum.

 

     Proportions used are:  73% limestone, 24% clay or shale, 2% gypsum, and some other minor bits. 2678 kg of pure calcium carbonate (the best limestone) can be burned in an efficient kiln, using 300 kg of anthracite coal, to provide 1500 kg of quick lime (calcium oxide, see above). Cements made with volcanic ash will include the addition of about 25% ash.

     Required amounts of other fuels:  poor coal, 430 kg; 340 kg of charcoal; or 660 kg of wood (15% moisture). Even garbage can be burned, but results in poor quality output (and sells for about 2/3 of the "good stuff").

 

 

     This kiln built of brick is 1.8 meters on a side, and 3.7 meters tall (the brick part -- the metal chimney is 2.5 meters tall). It would cost about $500 to build at Bastion, and take about a month to build. It will hold about 1.75 tons of coal and limestone; the daily output would be about 1.5 tons of quicklime (and would require 300 kg of coal per day).

     Producing the portland cement is an energy-intensive process:  quicklime and the other components (not including the gypsum) are blended together, and then fed through a rotary kiln (more complex than the bulk kiln for producing quicklime); this product "clinker" is pulverized, mixed with gypsum, and then ground extremely fine to make cement. Rotary kilns have the advantage that the fuel does not come into contact with the limestone, which allows more flexibility in the type of fuel used. Common kiln systems:

 

• Fuel oil:  0.106 kg of heavy fuel oil is burned per 1 kg of clinker passing out.
  

• Coal:  In an inefficient coal-fired rotary kiln circa 1906, 0.58 kg of coal is burned  to produce 1 kg of cement.

• An efficient coal-fired kiln of that period might use as little as 0.18 kg of coal for the same output. Variation is based on size (larger kilns are more efficient), the material being processed, and good technical methods.

• Electricity:  2 kilowatt-hours of electric heat is required to produce 1 kg of cement
  

 

     1.5 tons of quicklime (plus the other components) results in (about) 2 tons of portland cement. To make a cubic meter of concrete, mix:

 

• 307 kg of cement

• 926 kg of sand

• 950 kg of aggregate (typically gravel)

• 163 liters of fresh water
  

 

     Thus a cubic meter of concrete requires at least 46 kg of coal to be burned ... probably twice that much, since the rotary kiln needs to be pretty hot, also. That brick kiln is one of of a process that creates 6.5 cubic meters of concrete each day.

     For ambitious Morrow Project teams, here's a complete (but small) 20th Century cement plant:

 

 

     Limestone is unloaded at the left side, crushed in a hammer mill or jaw crusher to about 15mm diameter nodules, fed into the two vertical kilns, and then mixed with other components and fed to the rotary kiln on the right. Just out of the picture on the right is a mill to grind the cement to a powder. The vertical kilns are about 2.5 meters in diameter, and the actual kiln section (below the loading deck) is 5.5 meters tall. The chimneys probably have some pollution control equipment (unless it's an electric-fired plant). Each of the kilns probably produces 7 or more tons of lime per day, so the plant produces at least 20 tons of cement each day, enough for about 64 cubic meters of concrete. Probable cost, about $10,000 ... maybe only $5,000 once it's more standardized and mass-produced. If electric-fired, about 2 megawatts of electric power is needed for heating (plus some for motors, conveyor belts, pumps, etc.).

     A "mini cement plant" produces 20 to 100 tons per day; a "small cement plant" produces up to 200 tons of cement each day, with about a 15% reduction in costs. Above 200 tons per day, other production systems are more efficient, and these simple vertical shaft kilns described above aren't effective above 300 tons per day. The more sophisticated plants start around 1,000 tons of cement production per day.

     Financially, it makes sense to build a cement plant if you have a 20 year supply of limestone within cheap transport range.

 

charcoal and pine tar

 

 

     Under average conditions a "simple kiln" charcoal burner yields about 60% charcoal by volume, or 25% by weight, from dry wood; small-scale production methods often yield only about 50% by volume, while large-scale methods enabled higher yields of about 90% by the 17th century. Charcoal production makes a lot of pollutants, both smoke and oils.

     Tar kilns are constructed and operated a bit differently from a basic charcoal kiln.

     Retort systems of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries will be hefty structures of brick, timber and iron, as seen in the image above..

 

coal tar

 

     Produced from coal. Used for producing paints, paving, and for making soaps and in medicated shampoo (to kill head lice).

 

coke

 

     Coke is to coal as charcoal is to wood. The basic coke oven is a big brick furnace. A ton of coal yields 700 kg of coke. Used in smelting, steel recycling, and as smokeless fuel. A process for making ammonia is know which uses coke, but few groups have gotten that ambitious yet.

 

cordite

 

    An early smokeless propellant for firearms and artillery. It's 65% nitrocellulose (guncotton), 30% nitroglycerin, and 5% petroleum jelly. Ballistite is similar, and is a used in solid fuel rocket motors.

 

ethanol

 

     An alcohol product, used as an antiseptic, disinfectant, chemical ingredient and solvent, beverage and motor fuel. It's normally produced by fermentation of sugars -- sugar beets are grown for this purpose in some areas (62 kg of sugar beet taproot will produce 1 liter of ethanol in a still).

 

ether

 

     Specifically dimethyl ether (there are other ethers); used as an anesthetic, a refrigerant (usually blended with ammonia or butane), a useful chemical solvent, as a component of some smokeless propellants, and to help start diesel engines. It's highly flammable.

     Normally produced by mixing the ethanol with strong sulfuric acid, heating the mixture to about 140-145 °C, while attached to a distilling apparatus; the product is cooled to temperatures under 150 °C. A small amount of caustic soda is mixed with the distillate to remove the remaining sulfuric acid; then some common salt is added to dissolve out the remaining alcohol. The sulfuric acid is mostly preserved in this process, acting somewhat like a catalyst. Some calcium chloride (a dessicant) and metallic sodium are used to remove any water remaining in the ether product.

 

gypsum

 

     Also known as calcium sulfate dihydrate. Usually imported from White Sands, New Mexico. Heated to only about 150°C it converts to plaster of Paris; this sets very rapidly when mixed with water, and in fact about 5% of the mix should be lime to slow down the process. Also used for fertilizer, and in making chalk, mortar and cement, in adjusting water hardness, in baking and mead-making.

     In Spanish, it's called yeso, and was mostly produced from mines in Baja California, and open-pit iron mines in Durango state. A famous cave in Coahuila produces gypsum crystals. San Marcos Island, in the middle of the Gulf of California, has some gypsum deposits.

     Canadian sources include mines along the shores of the Great Lakes; and large deposits in Manitoba and Alberta.The world's largest gypsum quarry is in Nova Scotia.

     Lawrence county, north of Huntington and Ashland, Kentucky, contain a layer of shale, siltstone and mudstone a couple hundred meters thick, with significant amounts of limestone, gypsum, and some bituminous coal -- it's underground, however, and was not exploited before the Atomic War.

 

major gypsum sources in the U.S.,

Leading producing States, in descending order, were Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, Michigan, Nevada, California, and Indiana. These states accounted for 75% of production.      Other producing states east of the Mississippi included Louisiana (between New Orleans and Baton Rouge), New York (last mine closed 1999, deposits remain in a line from Niagara to Syracuse), and Ohio (large deposits in northern Ohio, near Port Clinton, underground about 7 to 20 meters below lake level and probably flooded).      Leading individual mines in 1994, in descending order of production, were:   Harrison's Cement #2 Mine, Caddo County, OK -- open pit mine USG's Plaster City Mine, Imperial County, CA USG's Sweetwater Gypsum Quarry, Nolan County, TX -- 2 open pit mine USG's Sperry Mine, Des Moines County, IA -- about 200 meters underground USG's Shoals Mine, Martin County, IN USG's Alabaster Mine, Iosco County, MI National's Tawas Mine, Iosco County, MI Temple-Inland's Fletcher Mine, Comanche County, OK Briar's Briar Mine, Howard County, AR National's Sun City Mine, Barber County, KS.        These ten mines accounted for 40% of the national total. from USGS Minerals Yearbook, 1988 and 1994

 

hydrogen

 

      Produced during various processes, but difficult to store. It's used immediately or vented to the atmosphere (or burned).

 

ice

 

     Evaporative ("swamp") coolers will only reduce the air temperature to about 60 °F on a dry day. Some towns have ice plants, using ammonia in a vapor absorption cycle. The resulting ice is mostly used for storing food, or in chemical engineering.

 

lactic acid

 

     Purity levels of commercial interest:  22%, 50%, and 90%

     In common North American practice of the 22nd Century, lactic acid is produced at breweries and distilleries, by fermentation at about 37 °C of various plants (e.g. sugarcane molasses, sugar beets, or potato starch for industrial grade product). Most often found at 22% purity; only a few tons of technical grade (50%; also known as food grade or cosmetic grade) lactic acid are produced each year at any given town, and only a few hundred liters of 90% purity lactic acid. The highest grade, 99% purity, is only a lab curiosity created at great expense.

     The process used calls for high temperatures (around 65 C) to kill the bacteria, so copper or wood tanks are needed (steel tanks corrode quickly). The process for 22% purity has three general steps:  fermentation, filtration, evaporation (sort of a tiny fractioning tower), Purification above 22% requires repeated crystallization via calcium lactate.

     Used for food and beverage flavor and preservation, pharmaceutical preservation, and for pH regulation in breweries. Some Ancient medical materials and biodegradable plastics require lactic acid for production.

 

lead

 

     Mostly recycled from wheel weights and car batteries. Employed in chemistry, batteries, and small-arms ammunition.

 

methanol

 

     An alcohol product, most often produced by distillation of wood (this can be as simple as boiling a pot of wood shavings in water, with a condenser tube attached), sometimes as a by-product of charcoal production. Poisonous.

 

nitrates

 

     These are mostly produced in compost piles of manure, ashes, straw, urine etc.. These "saltpeter plantations" are supremely smelly, and thus several kilometers outside of town; usually near farms with lots of livestock. Potash is (in essence) combined with the nitrates to provide the potassium component of potassium nitrate, used in turn for making black powder. For a VERY crude first approximation, a barrel of potash combined with the nitrates from the plantation produces a barrel of potassium nitrate.

• Since potassium nitrate is 75% of black powder by weight, a barrel of it (~200 kg) will end up being part of 266 kg of black powder.

 

nitric acid

 

     Nitric acid can be produced using ammonia; ammonia gas is mixed with air and led over a catalyzing (usually platinum) bed heated red-hot at 130 psi. The gas is dissolved in water to form nitric acid. More often in the 22nd Century it's produced by dissolving nitrate salts in very strong sulfuric acid and distilling the product. In either case, it's a very energy-intensive process, calling for a lot of corrosion-resistant containers and pipes. Typical purity is 68%.

 

nitroglycerin

 

     Produced by combining glycerol with sulfuric acid and 70% nitric acid. The reaction produces heat, but must be kept cool (under 25° C)  -- have a large supply of cold water on hand.

     It's an oily liquid, and will explode if heated, jarred or set on fire. Dynamite is made by mixing nitroglycerin with an absorbent material, usually diatomaceous earth (swimming pool filter material).

 

nitrocellulose

 

     Also known as guncotton. Can be used as a firearm propellant, rocket propellant, or as not-too-powerful explosive. Produced by treating cellulose with acids and a solvent. Further processing with camphor gives a plastic material, celluloid, which is used for photo film -- better known today as "nitrate film" -- the kind that catches fire easily.

     Typical production calls for immersing 1 part fine cotton fiber in 10 parts of sulfuric acid and 5 parts of 68% nitric acid. After a couple of days, the cotton is removed, very carefully washed in cold water for a couple of days, and then dried (at temperatures below 100 °F). 

 

penicillin

 

     The most difficult issue for "starting from scratch" production of this powerful antibiotic is obtaining the "efficient, effective" strain of the penicillin fungus. 

the initial bio-reactor

 

     Big, deep aerated fermentation tanks are only the first step.

     In 1941 the United States [after six months effort] did not have sufficient stock of penicillin to treat a single patient. The first patient was treated in March of 1942; ten more by June. At the end of 1942, enough penicillin was available to treat fewer than 100 patients.

     A chemist involved in the effort said, "The mold is as temperamental as an opera singer, the yields are low, the isolation is difficult, the extraction is murder, the purification invites disaster, and the assay is unsatisfactory."

      "... as much as two-thirds of the penicillin present could be lost during purification because of its instability and heat sensitivity. Extraction was done at low temperatures. Methods of freeze-drying under vacuum eventually gave the best results in purifying the penicillin to a stable, sterile, and usable final form."

     By the end of 1943, though, 21 billion units had been produced (at $20 per 100,000 units); during 1944, 1,663 billion units, and in 1945 6.8 trillion units.

In March of 1945, penicillin became available in essentially every pharmacy in America; from June 1st 1946 in the UK.

     It's made in Styx for about $50 per dose, with about 50 doses made each year.

 

petroleum jelly

 

     Also known as petrolatum or soft paraffin wax. It's used as an ointment, as a lubricant or protective coating, and in chemical processes. It's produced by vacuum distillation, followed by filtration (usually through bone char).

     In explosive manufacturing, it's often used as a plasticizer.

     The mineral oils and waxes which form petroleum jelly are a by-product of crude oil refining.

 

phosphorus

 

      Produced from soy husks, rock phosphates (if available), urine or bone ash; about 1% of animal live weight is phosphorus, and 85% of it is in bones and teeth. Used in chemical preparations, in steel and bronze production, for making matches, for making pottery, in baking powder, and in limited quantities for fertilizers (it costs $0.20 per kilogram around Memphis). 

• production of white phosphorus from urine (using charcoal or silicate sand) is easy. Red phosphorus is obtained from white phosphorus be heating it to 482 F in an container entirely free of air; this is a delicate operation. White phosphorus is very toxic, and liable to catch fire in air; it should be stored in mineral oil or water. Red phosphorus is stable in air.

• if sulfuric acid is available, a more efficient process can be used to produce phosphorus from phosphate rock or bones. The bones or rock are dissolved in sulphuric acid to give phosphoric acid and calcium sulphate as a by-product. The acid is concentrated, mixed with 25% of its mass with carbon, dried in iron pots to a black powder and then distilled over and over in clay retorts. It is condensed into 10-15 kg blocks called 'cheeses'. After refining and casting into sticks (all under water to prevent it catching fire), the product is ready to be shipped, stored in water or mineral oil.

 

potash

 

     Potassium carbonate, potassium chloride (aka muriate of potash), potassium hydroxide (caustic potash or potash lye) and other potassium compounds

      Produced in moderate quantities at several "asheries", for chemical use and for fertilizers, brewing, bleaching textiles, black powder production, glassmaking, etc.. The production process starts with burning hardwood trees and leaching the ashes in water. Partway through the process, they get lye (useful for making soap); this is further boiled down to make potash. Potash is fairly cheap ... probably not more than $20 per ton. It's sold in 42 gallon barrels of 200 kg capacity, for ... let's say $4 plus the cost of the barrel ($2.50). The asheries near Memphis have a total production of about 25 tons per year (250 barrels) -- actual total production depends on demand for wood in other industries, but usually at least 25 tons per year (250 barrels). The ash comes from about 22 hectares of forest lumber being burned. Leaching the wood ash, and the conversion of nitrates to potassium nitrate (aka saltpeter, or nitrate of potash), creates a lot of water pollution. Some potash comes on flatboats along the Fox River, from the Great Lakes; and much of it is shipped into the West.

• There's good, strong lye soap available, by the way.

 

potassium hydroxide

 

     Also called lye, potash lye, caustic potash, potassium hydrate

 

potassium nitrate

 

     Known as saltpetre (although some other nitrogen compounds share the name)

 

rubber

 

A field of guayule plants for rubber production.

 

     Besides several large tire dumps, "new" rubber for seals, tires, insulation, etc. is mostly derived from the guayule and lesquerella plants, desert shrubs found in Texas and northern Mexico. The "wild" plants contain 20% pure rubber; breeding programs can lead to a plant producing twice that. 650 hectares of the best guayule plants can yield a ton of rubber per day when mature, though it takes about 7 years for the plants to mature to maximum rubber content.

    The plants are harvested, and stripped of the leaves (the rubber content is in the roots and branches), then chopped and crushed in a ball mill into silage and placed in settling tanks. The "woody" content becomes waterlogged and sinks; the rubber floats. The rubber is scooped off, placed in trays for drying, and pressed into mold boxes for transport; each box holds 50 kg of rubber.

 

sand

 

     Don't use sand from dunes or ocean beaches if you are making cement; the result will be low-strength, low-durability concrete (especially if there's salt in the sand). The best is from rivers carrying gravel and rocks down from glaciers.

 

smallpox vaccine

 

     Produced from live cultures from sheep, horses, goats. Smallpox is not common.

 

sodium bicarbonate

 

     Bicarbonate of soda, baking soda; also the main component of baking powder

 

sodium borate

 

     Borax.

 

sodium carbonate

 

     Also known as soda ash, washing soda, soda crystal.  It's used in glassmaking, as a chemical ingredient, soap and paper making, and for making cuastic soda or baking soda. Rarely found at high purity.

     Production via chemical engineering requires salt brine, limestone, sulfuric acid and coal. Production from burning kelp or other specialized salt-resistant plants isn't common in North America of the 22nd Century -- but is practiced.

      Mineral deposits in some places -- most notably the Green River Valley in southwestern Wyoming -- can be used much more efficiently for soda ash production. The "trona" ore is crushed, heated and refined by water filtration.

 

sodium hydroxide

 

     Better known as lye, or caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). An inefficient and heavily-polluting but common production method involves leaching wood ash.

     More industrial production requires salt, limestone, sulfuric acid, and coal ... chlorine and some pollution is produced as a byproduct. Useful for making cellulose, and in food canning, as an oven cleaner, drain declogger, and for soap making.

 

sodium lactate

 

     Derived from lactic acid. Used as moisturizer, and as electrolyte in IV solution (e.g., Ringer's Lactate).

 

steroids

 

    For production from yams, chemicals needed include isopropanol, aluminum powder, methyl acetate, sulfuric acid, hexavalent chromium, caustic soda ... 

 

sulfa

 

     Note that 3% of the population have adverse reactions (usually allergies) to various sulfa antibiotics:  sulfapyridine, for use against pneumonia; sulfacetamide, for use against urinary tract infections; succinoylsulfathiazole against gastrointestinal tract infections; and sulfathiazole against infections of wounds.

     Basic, non-industrial production (i.e., by college chemistry majors, in their more advanced classes) takes place in five or six steps, starting with benzene. Some other production methods, developed during WW2, use fewer or different materials.

 

sulfanilamide requirements

Components:  benzene (from coke production); nitrous oxide; tin powder and concentrated hydrochloric acid; chlorosulfonic acid; sodium acetate; concentrated aqueous ammonia; chlorine; sulfur; sodium carbonate; ice; salt; purified water. Equipment: refrigeration machinery (for ice production), flasks, various stoppers, dropping funnels, distillation equipment, a custom-made reaction vessel and other glassware (see right for one example), rotary evaporator, magnetic stir bars (if possible), condensers, bunsen burners, small tubs for sand and ice baths, thermometers, electricity (for hydrolysis), a source of clean steam, pH testing strips or other means, a precision scale, filter paper and other filtration materials, and preferably a fume hood or oxygen breathing system. The glassware will have to be carefully cleaned after each use.

 

sulfuric acid

 

     Usually available at 32% purity (for batteries), higher purities (up to 80%) are available, but expensive.

     Sulfur is needed, of course -- in the 20th Century it was often a by-product of oil refining or coal mining. The industrial "contact" process before the Atomic War involved burning sulfur to make sulfur dioxide gas, then passing the gas over a hot (450 °C) bed of vanadium pentoxide (a catalyst) to make sulfur trioxide. This gas is then absorted into very concentrated sulfuric acid, creating "oleum" (a thick fuming liquid) which is in turn mixed carefully with water. Result, sulfuric acid!

     An older industrial method, the lead chamber process, doesn't require any catalysts, but is very energy-intensive and highly polluting, and can only reach about 35% concentration.

 

synthetic rubber

 

     The most common method (and not very common in any case) converts grain alcohol to butadiene (employing a catalyst), which is then mixed with styrene to produce styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR).

     Extraction of rubber from guayule and lesquerella is far more common.

 

vanadium oxide

 

      An important catalyst, especially in the petroleum industry, for easier production of sulfuric acid; and as a component in steel alloys.

     Alas, at the time of the Atomic War it was mostly mined in South Africa, Russia and China; it's also found in crude oil, coal (and coal ash), oil shale, and tar sands. Ash and residue from oil refining may contain between 6% and 24% vanadium pentoxide. In 22nd Century Canada, a kilogram of vanadium pentoxide costs 50 cents.

     Old items made of tool or armor steel might be melted down to recover vanadium content - however, they are never more than 1% vanadium by mass, and the separation process is sophisticated. Vanadium recovery operations (for old catalysts) were in place at Freeport, Texas; Cambridge, Ohio; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Butler, Pennsylvania -- there might be useful amounts of vanadium there.

     There were vanadium ore deposits in central Arkansas, but by 1989 they were mined out. By the 22nd Century the pits in Arkansas are long-ago flooded.

     The National Defense Stockpile held 721 tons of vanadium pentoxide in four different depots at the time of the Atomic War.

 

volcanic ash

 

     Not a cement in itself, but when mixed chemically with lime forms a strong pozzolana cementing material. The ash has to be ground to a fine powder, and sometimes a calcining (kiln) treatment at around 600–750 °C to optimize their pozzolanic properties.