Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
Ernest Solvay (c. 1900)
The portrait of participants to the first Solvay Conference in 1911. Ernest Solvay is the third seated from the left. Solvay was not present at the time the photo was taken, so his photo was cut and pasted onto this one for the official release
The Solvay process or ammonia–soda process is the major industrial process for the production of sodium carbonate (soda ash, Na2CO3). The ammonia–soda process was developed into its modern form by the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay during the 1860s. The ingredients for this are readily available and inexpensive: salt brine (from inland sources or from the sea) and limestone (from quarries). The worldwide production of soda ash in 2005 was estimated at 42 million tonnes, which is more than six kilograms (13 lb) per year for each person on Earth. Solvay-based chemical plants now produce roughly three-quarters of this supply, with the remaining being mined from natural deposits. This method superseded the Leblanc process.
Solvay Process Plant in Solvay, New York; the Erie Canal passed through this plant until about 1917. From the Solvay Process collection of the Solvay, New York, Public Library.
