The Moulin-Blanc Nitrocellulose Plant in France: Process and Improvements in the 1880s and early 1890s. (2007)
Bergman, Yoel (Author)
Icon: Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology
Volume: 13
Pages: 19-34
The examination of the Moulin-Blanc plant during the 1880's and early 1890's is part of a more general study, now in its final phase, named "Development and production of smokeless military propellants in France, 1884—1918". During 1884—1885, a newly developed smokeless military powder (or propellant) named poudre B, was field-tested and approved. Smokeless powders burn cleaner and possess higher energies than black powder that until the late 19th century was the only propellant for military use. Being one of the earliest and more dependable of its kind, poudre B soon replaced the older black powder as the standard propellant for charges in many different calibers. The formative years for poudre B lasted until 1918 while its use as the major military powder lasted until World War II. Major changes in the technological aspects (composition, production and State administration) during the formative period and the development milestones were reviewed in the general study and compared with other countries. These served to assess manufacturing and powder capabilities, allowing for a more profound understanding on the reasons for the long duration of poudre B. Moulin-Blanc produced nitrocellulose the key raw material in poudre B's composition. Reviewing process and changes there can help to understand the production capability of poudre B. The site was built in 1877 as an annex to the nearby Pont-de-Buis black powder plant, both in Brittany, northwestern France. It produced nitrocellulose in the form of pastes for military explosives charges. Beginning 1886, the State required large amounts of the newly-developed poudre B. As a consequence, Pont-de-Buis, commenced poudre B production in 1887 and Moulin-Blanc became a plant, supplying the very large quantities of nitrocellulose now needed for poudre B. The nitrocellulose process in Moulin-Blanc, originally developed in England, underwent local modifications as early as 1882. Typical improvements goals concerned quality and costs. These were achieved through methods as reduction in process duration, improving raw materials and change from batch to continuous operations. Efforts were continued after the large scale up of the 1880's and early 1890's and some were even carried out during World War I. Such improvement goals and methods are found in the modern chemical industry and their use in Moulin-Blanc point to the existence of a knowledgeable professional cadre.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Bergman, Yoel;
(May 2015)
Union and Confederate Views on Guncotton
(/isis/citation/CBB787655726/)
Article
Tor Erik Kristensen;
(2023)
Discovery and Structural Elucidation of RDX and HMX, the World's Most Powerful Industrial Explosives
(/isis/citation/CBB601690961/)
Article
Bergman, Yoel;
(October 2017)
Fair Chance and not a Blunt Refusal: New Understandings on Nobel, France, and Ballistite in 1889
(/isis/citation/CBB524549929/)
Article
David Williams;
(2014)
A St-Étienne Made Pattern 1853 Rifle Musket
(/isis/citation/CBB313166981/)
Article
Peter Smithurst;
(2019)
France, Russia and Early Interchangeability in Firearms
(/isis/citation/CBB162610171/)
Article
Pierre Laszlo;
(2020)
Triply formulated nitrocellulose: Celluloid, viscose and cellophane
(/isis/citation/CBB329248469/)
Article
Wisniak, Jaime;
(2000)
The History of Saltpeter Production with a Bit of Pyrotechnics and Lavoisier
(/isis/citation/CBB001252516/)
Article
Kelly, Jack;
(Summer 2006)
Big Bang
(/isis/citation/CBB916093389/)
Article
Bergman, Yoel;
(June 2014)
Nobel’s Russian Connection: Producing and Marketing Ballistite, 1889–1890
(/isis/citation/CBB475945297/)
Article
Lissa Roberts;
(2015)
Producing (in) Europe and Asia, 1750–1850
(/isis/citation/CBB589692953/)
Article
Ben Ford;
(2012)
The Cruttenden Carriage Works: The Development and Decline of Carriage Production in New Haven, Connecticut
(/isis/citation/CBB175759738/)
Book
Bown, Stephen R.;
(2006)
A Most Damnable Invention: Dynamite, Nitrates, and the Making of the Modern World
(/isis/citation/CBB001033365/)
Book
Anja Timmermann;
(2014)
Indigo. Die Analyse eine ökonomischen Wissensbestandes im 18. Jahrhundert
(/isis/citation/CBB633173780/)
Thesis
Sarah Grandin;
(2021)
To Scale: Manufacturing Grandeur in the Age of Louis XIV
(/isis/citation/CBB615588841/)
Article
Maren-Sophie Fünderich;
(2023)
Perfektion in Technik und Form: Unternehmensstrategien in der Möbelfertigung zwischen 1750 und 1914 (Perfection in technology and form. Corporate strategies in furniture manufacturing between 1750 and 1914)
(/isis/citation/CBB306291682/)
Article
Matson, Cathy;
(2013)
Mathew Carey's Learning Experience: Commerce, Manufacturing, and the Panic of 1819
(/isis/citation/CBB001550518/)
Book
Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke;
Jeffrey Gale Williamson;
(2017)
The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery since 1871
(/isis/citation/CBB867573339/)
Article
Shannon Perry;
(2022)
“Perfect Dry Plates for Canada”: Gelatine Dry-Plate Manufacturing in Canada in the Late Nineteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB974932260/)
Article
Loidi, Juan Navarro;
(2017)
El expurgo de la Biblioteca del Real Colegio de Caballeros Cadetes de Artillería de Segovia: nuevos datos
(/isis/citation/CBB946717351/)
Book
Benjamin R. Cohen;
(2019)
Pure Adulteration: Cheating on Nature in the Age of Manufactured Food
(/isis/citation/CBB174903984/)
Be the first to comment!