The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-21
|CHILEANS USE NEW
NITRATE PROCESS
Method Said to Decrease Cost
of Production Fifty
Per Cent.
CUTS OFF MACHINERY
Secret Chemical Compound
Lessons Time and Labor,
Is Claim.

Is Claim.
Especially uritten for the Latin Amert-
can section Of THE SUM
The shortening of the time employed
for the extraction of nitrate of Sodium
from more than a month by the ordinary
process to some hours and the doing
away with the present costly machinery,
thus reducing half of the amount Of
capital. are the results announced by
the finding Of very simple and some-
what marvellous process by a Chilean
professional nan. DR.. Charme Of San
tiago.
DR.. Charme. who Is at present a
wealthy farmer and a Senator, after
having spent many years In the nitrate
pampas in the exercise of his profess
sion as a physician and as an active
member in the industry afterward.
clairs to have found a new reactive by
means OF which the precipitation OF the
nitrate Of sodium can be effected in
two minutes without the employment
Of any fuel and simply by the use Of
a substance one of whose components
Is inorganic. the other organic
DIR. Charme conducted his experiments
for more than ten years, and after the
finding OF his new process he kept II
Secret for another three months while
perfectlng its employment. In this work
he has had the advantage of his scien-
tihc training, having been for some
years a professor of biology and bac-
teriology in the State University.
A vital study for Chileans.
The announcement OF this invention
has naturally produced quite a sensa-
ton In commercial as we'll as in scien-
tific circles AS the staple industry
OF Chile nitrate production and the
Improvement of metals has been for a
long time the absorbing study for many
Chilean specialist both OF the theo-
retical and the practical type. To this
same end the Government has recently
created a course in nitrate in the ma
tional university. besides the body of
men who are in charge Of the industrial
problems attached to it (Consejo Sail
trero). The announcement of the discov
cry has met with some scepticism, on
the part OF the professional; but II is
really significant that men OF expert
ence, who have moreover. themselves
discovered several means for the i'm
provement of the present methods for
the extraction OF nitrate. such as Messrs.
tTlelO anu buZHldH, VINO tuJOy nlBn
reputation in this field are outspoken
in favor OF DR.. Charme's invention.
To Mr.. Prieto the new process lie
of "a marvellous efficacy and paves
the way to make good use of the poor
est nitrate" as II causes the precipita-
ton Of SO per cent. OF the fertilizer,
while the present method OF boiling does
not render more than s. per cent. from
the best nitrate.
How VIII II Work on Great Scale.
The main objection until now made
against the new process is about It's
practicability, or in other words how
will II turn out when applied to great
quantities OF common mineral in the
fields? The inventor has answered this
objection by asserting that he has al
ready conducted such experiments on
his farm and by accepting willingly sew
eral offers to apply his process in some
OF the great establishments In the pam
pas.
The experiments in the laboratory. TO
which the specialist and many public
men of Chile have concurred. are
said 10 have been entirely satisfactory.
Several times DR.. Charme has dissolved
In cold water nitrate of different quail
tiles. and two minutes after dropping the
reactive in the vessel the nitrate has
crystallized, leaving unchanged the
other salts contained in the liquid.
Analysed in the laboratory this nitrate
has proved free OF impurities, such as
chloride and other salts.
This result has somewhat puzzled the
experts of the old school, since the com
pound seems TO discriminate from other
salts than nitrate. They have called it
n nj all ican t,N
work by presence rather in a physical
than chemical way. The action of the
microbes contained in the organic prin-
cipe is complete mystery TO them
Economy I'm Time and Money.
Another thing OF Importance in this
method is that the reactive in question
can be recuperated by the simple means
OF an anRsthetic. which extracts II from
the liquid with no more than 10 per
cent. loss, This will allow, il is said, an
economy OF one Chilean peso In every
quintal OF nitrate geo pounds, the cost
OF the reactive being no more than about
10 cents in gold per auintal of nitrate.
And as the costly machinery i'm the in
dustry and the use OF fuel is reduced
TO naught total economy of 80 per
cent, after the nitrate is extracted from
There are involved besides the prob
lens OF capital invested and the welfare
OF the workers. The present method of
dissolNtng the nitrate at a high tempera-
ture and obtaining the crystals by pre-
cipitation has been for many years a
source OF accident and death for the
worktngmen. Moreover, the task OF
cleaning the enormous cauldrons by hand
after the running out of the
liquid, among gases and burning vapors,
Is one that taxes the best energies of
the ldborers.
A Good Prospect for the Industry.
With the use OF this new method there
VIII not be possible competitor for
Chilean nitrate for years to come. Not
only the cost and consequently the price
OF the fertilizer can then be lowered
but the output would be increased in
proportion 10 the minerals that will be
worth exploiting, so increasing from
800 years TO an unlimited period the
possibility OF counting on Chilean nj
trate.
The official expectation for the indus
try under the present status is a pro-
duction Of 100000 quintas for next
year. The consumption in the United
States for the year before the war broke
out was about 500. 900 tons. During the
war the American Government imported
an increased quantity OF nitrate both for
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