The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-26
NITROGEN AND
ITS PROPERTIES

To the Editor Of The ge-Herald:
Prior to the publication of The Age
Herald editorial, Birmingham and the
Nitrate Plant" I must confess l had
given very little thought or study to nj
trogen, one of the great necessities for
civilized living, and neither knew nor
cared much whether we had an available
supply in the United States or had to de-
pend upon foreign countries for what we
needed. 1t is true that in my school days
was an enthusiastic student of chmis-
try, but when my limited school days were
over l "scrapped" my chemistry and
turned to other lines for a profession or
means for earning a livelihood.
For the past week, however, during my
leisure moments I have read with avidi-
ty everything | could obtain with refer
ence to nitrogen and it's uses, and find
that we have no adequate supply of this
article, and while the raw material for
its manufacture surrounds us every
side, and SO years supply is to be found
on every square mile, there is not sin
gle factory for it's production within the
United States.
l learn that we live in an atmosphere
that is three-fourths nitrogen. That our
food contains it, and it is to be found in
all animal and vegetable tissues in great
or or less amounts.
/ find that combined with both phos-
phoric acid and potash 1t becomes our
complete fertilizer increasing the yield
|of every product of the field, while in
the form of nitric acid it produces in COM
bination with cotton fibre a series of
high power explosives.
| find that after years of the most
painstaking investigation, the only
sources of any large supply of nitrogen
have been found to be: % in ores; (2) in
coal or peat, and 90 in the air.
1 learn that there is but one place on
the face of the earth that any great
amount of nitrogen in ore is found to ex-
list. Down in South America In the north
ern part of that narrow, rainless strip of
land in Chile that lies between the Andes
and the Pacific are found the nitrate
plains, the great natural sources of fixed
nitrogen, which occurs in the form of nj
trate of soda or saltpetre.
These plains are the principal source OF
revenue to the Chilean government, which
fixes the price of nitrate and levies a 60
per cent export duty. The deposits in
Chile are limited in extent and various
estimates place their probable life at
from 20 to 40 years. So it is readily seen
that this source is decidedly temporary
in nature and is exposed to all the haz-
ards of a long sea voyage.
The second source of nitrogen is in the
manufacture of coke from coal or peat.
When coal is heated, certain of its COM
pounds pass off as gases. When these
gases are cooled and washed with water,
the result is nitrogen in the form of am
monia. This solution may be concen-
trated and the ammonia gas driven off,
purified and oXidized to form a weak nj
trio acid.
But this ammonia is required in large
amounts by the great refrigerating plants
| of the meat packers, the cold storage
! companies. and thousands of ice making
plants all over the country.
| The third source of supply is the at
mosphere.
| Three general methods have been de-
vised for the ''fixing' or rendering avail
abel for use, of the nitrogen of the air.
| though but two of them have been en-
ployed to any considerable extent.
| l shall not attempt to discuss or explain
| the first two methods, because they are
not adapted to this country.
| The third process o. method the one
which will be adopted if the nitrate plant
| is located at Muscle Shoals. was acciden
| tally discovered by Prof Adolph Frank Of
| Charlottenburg, Germany while investi-
eating a plan for the manufacture OF
cyanides of sodium and potassium. The
has made it valuable is due, not to Ger
i man, but to an American, Frank S.
| Washburn of Nashville.
! I learn that the principle of the process
| is simple enough. We are all familiar
with calcium carbide and the brilliant
| acetylene gas which it produces when
| placed in wafer. We are also familiar
with or have heard of liquid air, produced
! by COMPRISING ordinary air until it
1 nj ia a
cult to liquify is the nitrogen, and this
element is the first to return to a gas
when liquid air is slightly warmed.
| The method. then, is simply to bring
! calcium carbide to white heat in an
| electric furnace. Liquid air is then
slightly warmed and the pure nitrogen
| gas that is driven off is pumped into
dump shaped ovens. containing the white
hot carbide. This hot material absorbs
| the nitrogen and the product, cooled,
ground and processed with special ma
chinery is called cyanamid
! This BLUSH black odorless powdered
material contains upward of 20 per cent
of nitrogen in the form of ammonia. This
ammonia may be oxidzed to form nitric
acid. or with equal facility combined by
means of superheated steam. with phos :
/ phoric acid from phosphate rock. to form
| that well known fertilizer, ammonium
of phosphate.
! This process is commercially feasible
! with electric power at SIS to $50 per an.
! nual horse power
! I learn that power for nitrogen manu-
4 facture must be primary power In other
| words, it must be constantly available
every hour in the day. and every day in
the year. Keolsuk has less than 100000
] horse power of this kind of power avail
able, and it is in active demand at about
4 $35 per horse power per year, and the
| total power. including secondary power.
available only part of the time. will be
about 100000 horse power.
4 At Muscle Shoals, so | am informed,
there would be some $4,000 horse power
available continuously at about 50 per
| '.orse power per year, and the site is can
able of development, in connection with
/ three small streaps near by, totalins
sSO.01e horse power.
/ To place the plant at Muscle Shoals
would be to develop comparatively
neglected section, rich in a great variety
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