IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHLORINE, HYDROCHLORIC ACID, AND NITRIC ACID, AND OBTAINING SEVERAL PRODUCTS THERE- PROM
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
STANILAS MELDON DE SUSSEX, of Millwall, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of February, in the
tenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the said François
Stanilas Meldon De Sussex, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said François
Stanislas Meldon De Sussex, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Francois Stanilas Meldon De Sussex, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHLORINE,
HYDROCHLORIC ACID, AND NITRIC ACID, AND OBTAINING SEVERAL PRODUCTS THERE-
PROM;"
;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso requiring that

page_text: I, the said François Stanislas Meldon De Sussex, shall particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
François Stanislas Meldon De Sussex, do hereby declare that the nature of
my Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by this present Specification or
Instrument in writing, as follows (that is to say):-
My said Invention consists of certain improvements in the manufacturing
of bydrochloric acid cholorine and nitric acid, and obtaining several pro-
ducts therefrom. In manufacturing hydrochloric acid according to my
Invention I use such of the salts or substances called chlorides as may
be decomposed by heat, and from which hydrochloric acid may be thus
obtained in manner herein-after described. There are several chlorides
which may be thus employed, such as chloride of magnesium, chloride of
aluminum, chloride of strontium, chloride of iron, and some others, but I prefer
to use the chloride of magnesium or the chloride of aluminum, which I have
found can be used more economically and advantageously for the purposes of
my Invention than any other of the chlorides. The chloride of magnesium
and the chloride of aluminum I have found to be equally good (or nearly so)
for the purpose of manufacturing either hydrochloric acid or chlorine, and
either the one or the other of them may be employed according to the cost at
which they can be obtained or produced in the particular place at which the
manufactory may be situated.
The first part of my Invention consists in improved modes or methods
of manufacturing certain chlorides which are intended to be used in the
manufacture of hydrochloric acid or chlorine, according to my Invention; and
as chlorides of magnesium and aluminum are those which will be chiefly used
for manufacturing hydrochloric acid and chlorine according to my Invention,
I will now describe my improved methods of making those chlorides,
observing however that chloride of strontium and some other chlorides may
also be made in the same manner, the proportions of the ingredients to be
used only being different. Chlorides of magnesium and aluminium may, it is
well known, be made by combining any quantity of those earths respectively
with as much of the ordinary liquid hydrochloric acid as they would

page_text: neutralize, but I have found that those chlorides may be more advanta-
geously obtained by either of the following modes or processes:-According
to one of those modes I employ a furnace, retort, or any other apparatus
usually employed for producing muriatic or hydrochloric acid, and I obtain the
hydrochloric acid in a gaseous state by subjecting common table salt or muriate
of soda to the action of sulphuric acid in the ordinary way. The furnace,
retort, or apparatus in which hydrochloric acid gas is evolved must be con-
nected with a chamber or receiver by a tube by means of which the hydro-
chloric acid gas may be conducted to the chamber or receiver. I furnish the
chamber or receiver with wooden or other proper shelves, so that the earth
intended to be used for neutralizing the acid gas being spread thinly over the
floor and shelves of the chamber, a large surface may be exposed to the
action of the acid. When I intend to make a chloride of magnesium I use
the ordinary magnesia of commerce, either in its carbonated or caustic state
preferring merely that which is the cheapest. When I intend to make
chloride of alluminium I obtain alumina by the calcination of the sulphate
of alumina of commerce, so as to deprive it of its sulphuric acid, but
any other mode of producing the alumina may be adopted. The earth
which is intended to be converted into a chloride should be spread evenly
over the floor and shelves of the chamber, so that the action of the hydro-
chloric acid gas may be uniform upon the whole quantity of the earth,
and the earth should be in a hydrated state or moistened so as to cause it to
absorb the hydrochloric acid gas more rapidly. When I make a chloride of
magnesium I use about sixty parts by weight of chloride of sodium or muriate
of soda to produce the quantity of hydrochloric acid necessary to be combined
with twenty parts by weight of caustic or calcined magnesia, or forty-two
parts by weight of the ordinary carbonate of magnesia; and when I make a
chloride of aluminium I use about sixty parts by weight of muriate of soda to
produce the quantity of hydrochloric acid required for combining with eighteen
parts by weight of dry alumina, such as would be produced by calcining the
sulphate of alumina, as before mentioned; but if the alumina employed
contains more water than that which has been calcined, as just mentioned,
proper allowance must be made, and the weight of the alumina employed
duly increased accordingly. The quantity of sulphuric acid necessary for decom-
posing the muriate of soda, so as to obtain the whole of the hydrochloric acid
which can be produced from it, and the mode of managing or conducting
that process, are well known to muriatic or hydrochloric acid manufacturers,
and therefore need not here be described. The process of making the
chloride must be continued until the whole of the hydrochloric acid has
been driven into the chamber or receiver, after which the earth, which

page_text: has now become a chloride of magnesium or of aluminium (as the case
may be) may be withdrawn from the chamber.
Another of the before-mentioned modes of obtaining chloride of magnesium
or alluminium is as follows:-If I intend to make a chloride of magnesium, I
mix an equivalent of magnesia (that is to say), if caustic, about twenty parts by
weight; but if carbonated, about forty-two parts by weight, with about sixty-four
parts by weight of chloride of manganese dissolved in water, when a double
decomposition will ensue, and a chloride of magnesium and an oxide of man-
ganese will be produced, the chloride of magnesium remaining in solution and
the oxide of manganese being precipitated. If I intend to make a chloride of
aluminium, I mix alumina with chloride of manganese in solution in the same
way as just described for making chloride of magnesia, the equivalents or
proportions being about eighteen parts by weight of dry alumina to sixty-four
parts by weight of the dry chloride of manganese. The result will be the
production of chloride of aluminium in solution and oxide of manganese
precipitated. The solution of either of these chlorides being thus obtained is to
be separated from the precipitated oxide of manganese, and the chloride
obtained in a solid state by evaporation in the ordinary way. The same
results may be produced by mixing magnesia or alumina with chloride of
manganese in a dry state, in the proportions before mentioned, and then
heating the materials so mixed in a reverberatory furnace, or by any other
convenient means, until the decomposition has been effected, the result being a
chloride of the earth and an oxide of manganese, and the chloride of the earth
may be separated from the oxide of manganese by washing, and the solid
chloride of the earth obtained by evaporation as before mentioned.
The other of the modes of making chloride of magnesium and aluminium is
as follows:- If I desire to produc echloride of magnesium, I mix one equivalent
of the chloride of lead (such as produced in manner herein-after described,
or in any other manner), with two equivalents of magnesia, (that is to say)
about one hundred and forty parts by weight of dry chloride of lead with forty
parts by weight of caustic magnesia, or with eighty-four parts by weight of the
ordinary carbonate of magnesia. I then add sufficient water to the mixture
to dissolve the chloride of magnesium when formed, and pass into it chlorine
or any oxidising agent. The effect of this will be that the chloride of lead will
be decomposed, and a solution of chloride of magnesium and an insoluble
oxide of lead will be formed. The process must be continued until the whole
of the chloride of lead has been decomposed, after which the solution of chloride
of magnesium may be separated from the oxide of lead, and the solid chloride
of magnesium obtained by evaporation in the ordinary manner. The chloride
of aluminium may be made in the same-way, the proportions of the materials

page_text: used being about one hundred and forty parts by weight of chloride of lead to
eighteen parts by weight of dry alumina. The chloride of magnesium may
also be obtained by adding chloride of magnesia to the mixture of chloride of
lead with magnesia, instead of chlorine as before mentioned, but in that case
the proportions of the materials to be used would be different. Thus the
mixture of the chloride of lead with magnesia should be in the proportions of
one hundred and forty parts by weight of the former to twenty parts by
weight of the latter, if caustic, and forty-two parts if carbonated; and to the
mixture should be added a quantity of chloride of magnesia, containing at
least thirty-six parts by weight of chlorine. Although, as before mentioned,
the chlorides of magnesium and aluminium are equally useful in the manu-
facturing bydrochloric acid and chlorine, yet, as magnesia more readily enters
into combination with acids than alumina does, the chloride of magnesium
can be made with more facility than the chloride of aluminium, and therefore
I believe that it will generally be found more advantageous to make chloride
of magnesium for the purposes of my Invention. Strontia is, I believe, more
expensive than either magnesia or alumina, but if it could be obtained at as
cheap a rate it might be manufactured into chloride of strontium by any of
the three methods herein-before described, and such chloride of strontium
might be applied in the manufacture of hydrochloric acid or chlorine as
advantageously as chloride of magnesium or chloride of aluminium, or nearly
so. In manufacturing the chloride of strontium by any of the before-described
methods, it will be necessary to use fifty-two parts by weight, or thereabouts,
of dry strontia in the place of twenty parts of magnesia, or eighteen parts of
alumina. Chloride of barium may also be manufactured by any of the three
before-described methods with as much facility as chloride of magnesium or
chloride of aluminium, by substituting seventy-eight parts by weight, or there-
abouts, of dry baryta instead of twenty parts of magnesia, or eighteen parts of
alumina; but chloride of barium does not yield its acid so readily as either
chloride of magnesium, chloride of aluminium, or chloride of strontium, and
therefore chloride of barium cannot be used so beneficially as those other
chlorides in manufacturing hydrochloric acid or chlorine according to my
Invention.
The second part of my Invention consists of a method or methods of
manufacturing or producing hydrochloric acid either from chlorides made by
the methods herein-before described, or from any other description of chloride
which can be decomposed by heat, and from which hydrochloric acid can be
thereby obtained in manner herein-after described. The chlorides of mag-
nesium and aluminium are; however; as I have before stated, the best adapted

page_text: for performing this part of my Invention; and as chloride of magnesium is, I
believe, on the whole, the most useful of these chlorides, I will describe this
part of my Invention as performed with chloride of magnesium, it being
understood that the description is equally applicable if any of these other
chlorides be used.
In order to manufacture or produce hydrochloric acid according to this
part of my Invention, I take about two or three hundredweight of chloride
of magnesium, and having put it into a retort or furnace of any convenient
description, and made of any proper material, such as fire-clay, I heat
the retort or furnace until the chloride of magnesia attains a red heat, at
which temperature I keep it until the whole of the hydrochloric acid gas
has been obtained. The retort or furnace must be so constructed that
the acid gas which is evolved by the heated chloride of magnesium may be
conducted to any convenient chamber or vessel, and there condensed or other-
wise disposed of as may be required. The hydrochloric acid gas which is thus
obtained will be dry, or nearly so, and, if it be condensed in water, liquid
hydrochloric acid of great strength may be procured. I have it in this way
made liquid acid of the strength or specific gravity of 1,200. The retort or
furnace in which this process is performed should be furnished with a small
orifice by which air may be allowed to enter, so as to facilitate the disengage-
ment of the hydrochloric acid gas, and if the gas is not required to be very
dry the process may be much facilitated by causing a small jet of steam to
enter the retort or furnace. When the process has been completed (which it
usually will be in about three hours) the base of the salt alone will remain in
the retort or furnace, and that base may afterwards be employed in again
making a chloride according to the first part of my Invention, as herein-before
described. Although, as I have stated, the chlorides of magnesium and alu-
minium are, generally speaking, the best adapted for performing this part of
my Invention, yet it may happen that some of the other chlorides before
mentioned may be obtained as refuse from some other processes, and such
other chlorides may in such cases be advantageously used in performing this
part of my Invention. But several of the metallic chlorides cannot be em-
ployed if the hydrochloric acid is required to be very pure, because the heat
to which those chlorides must be subjected would be sufficient to volatilize a
small portion of the metal, and so render the acid impure. Thus, the chloride
of iron, if it could be obtained sufficiently cheap, may be used for obtaining
hydrochloric acid in the manner herein-before described, but the acid when
obtained would most probably contain a small portion of iron. If chloride of
lead be used for obtaining hydrochloric acid, it must be mixed with an equal

page_text: part of the filings of iron or some other metal which will decompose water, and
the air must be excluded, or nearly so, from the retort or furnace, and the
mixed chloride of lead and filings must be moistened by a jet of steam, or by
drops of water falling upon it. When this process has been completed, part
of the lead remaining in the retort or furnace will be in the reguline state, and
part of it in the state of oxide.
The third part of my Invention consists of certain methods of manufacturing
or producing chlorine either from chlorides made according to the methods
herein-before described, or from any other description of chloride which can be
decomposed by heat, and from which, with the aid of an oxydizing agent,
chlorine can be manufactured or obtained in manner herein-after described.
But, as before mentioned, the chlorides of magnesium and aluminum are the
best adapted for performing this part of my Invention, and, for the reason
before mentioned, I will describe this part of my Invention also as performed
with chloride of magnesium.
One mode of manufacturing or producing chlorine according to this part
of my Invention is as follows:-I take a stone still, or any convenient
vessel or apparatus made of stone, earthenware, or lead, and dispose of it
in such manner that it may be heated by the direct action of fire, by steam,
or by any other means which will enable me to raise the temperature of
the contents of the still or vessel a little above the boiling point. The still or
vessel must have two apertures at the top, one for the insertion of a pipe
leading to a chamber or vessel to which the chlorine is to be conducted, and
the other aperture for the purpose of enabling the operator to pour or throw
any acid or other article into the still or vessel. This last-mentioned aperture
must be furnished with a syphon, funnel, or other contrivance for keeping the
orifice air-tight, or nearly so, and for introducing acid into the still or vessel, as
herein-after mentioned. Into this still or other vessel I throw forty-eight
parts by weight of dry chloride of magnesium, and forty-four parts by weight
of peroxide of manganese, (that is to say) as much of the oxide of manganese
of commerce as contains forty-four parts by weight of peroxide of manganese,
such chloride of magnesium and peroxide of manganese being first thoroughly
mixed together. To these materials I add about a gallon of water, and I
cause the mixture in the still or vessel to be stirred from time to time during
the operation, either by means of an ordinary agitator, which may be fixed to
the still or vessel in the usual way, or by a temporary agitator introduced
through the last-mentioned orifice in the top of the still or vessel. I then
apply heat to the still or vessel, and, by means of the syphon funnel before
mentioned or otherwise I add gradually and by small portions at a time a

page_text: sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid to combine with the manganese and with
the magnesia obtained from the chloride of magnesium, and such quantity of
sulphuric acid must be equivalent to about one hundred parts by weight, or
thereabouts, of concentrated sulphuric acid. Upon the sulphuric acid being
added to the contents of the still or vessel, the same will begin to evolve
chlorine, which, by means of the pipe before mentioned, will be conducted to
the chamber or vessel in which it is to be received. In such last-mentioned
chamber must be placed the alkali, earth, water, or substance with or by
which the chlorine is to be combined, absorbed, or condensed, and such
articles must be placed so as to expose as large a surface as practicable to the
chlorine when it comes into the chamber or vessel. When this process has
been completed it will be found that the contents of the still or vessel have
been converted into sulphate of magnesia and sulphate of manganese mixed
together. The mixed sulphates of magnesia and manganese are then to be
placed in another vessel, and sufficient water added to the mixture to dissolve
not only the sulphate of magnesia already formed as aforesaid, but also the
further quantity of sulphate of magnesia to be formed as nextly herein-after
mentioned. I then add to the mixture a sufficient quantity of magnesia to
decompose the sulphate of manganese, and the quantity required for that
purpose will be about twenty parts by weight of dry caustic magnesia, or
thirty-four parts by weight of carbonate of magnesia for every forty-four parts
by weight of the peroxide of manganese put into the still or vessel for the
purpose of making chlorine, as before mentioned. The magnesia thus added
to the mixture must be thoroughly mixed with it, so as to come in contact
with the sulphate of manganese, and the decomposition of that salt will be the
result, the sulphuric acid combined with the manganese quitting its base and
entering into combination with the magnesia so as to form sulphate of mag-
nesia, and the manganese becomes separated in the form of an insoluble
oxide. The decomposition of the sulphate of manganese will be accelerated
by agitating the mixture until the decomposition is completed, and the
decomposition will be still more accelerated if the mixture be heated to a
temperature equal to that of boiling water. The sulphate of magnesia in
solution is then to be separated from the oxide of manganese, and the oxide
washed so as to cleanse it of any sulphate of magnesia which may yet remain
mixed with it. The oxide of manganese may then be again converted into a
peroxide of manganese by a process which I formerly invented, the sole use
of which was granted to me by Her present Majesty by Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, bearing date on or about the Twenty-
ninth day of August, in the eighth of Her reign, and a Specification of which

page_text: last-mentioned Invention I caused to be enrolled in Chancery on or about the
Twenty-eighth day of February One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
The oxide of manganeso separated from the sulphate of manganese as before
described may, however, if desired, be dried by exposure to the air, by
which the whole or nearly the whole of it will be converted into a hydrated
deutoxide of manganese. The sulphate of magnesia in solution which has
been separated from the oxide of manganese, as before mentioned, is then
to be evaporated by dryness in the ordinary way, so as to obtain the dry
sulphate of magnesia. The sulphate of magnesia may then be decomposed
and separated into its elements by dry distillation, so as obtain sulphuric acid
and magnesia separate from each other, and fit to be again used in manner
herein-before described, or in any other manner. For this purpose I place the
sulphate of magnesia in a retort made of clay, and furnished with a pipe
leading to a chamber or vessel properly constructed for condensing sulphuric
acid in the ordinary way, and having water placed in it for causing the
condensation of the acid in the usual manner. The retort is then to be heated
until the sulphate of magnesia attains a full red heat, at which temperature it
must be kept until the process is completed. The effect of the heat will be to
drive off the sulphuric acid and separate it from the magnesia, and the pipe
before mentioned will convey the acid in a gaseous state to the chamber in
which it is to be condensed, and if the process is continued sufficiently long
(about three or four hours) the whole of the acid will be driven off, leaving
the magnesia alone remaining in the retort. The sulphuric acid obtained
in this way may be condensed in a very small portion of water, so as to obtain
it very strong, or in a very dense state. This process will be much facilitated
by directing a jet of steam upon the heated sulphate of magnesia, but the effect
of using a steam jet will be to make the liquid acid when condensed more
diluted. If chloride of aluminium should happen to have been used in making
chlorine by the process herein-before described, the contents of the still will of
course have been converted into sulphate of alumina and sulphate of manganese
mixed together. These mixed sulphates may be placed in a vessel, and
treated in the same way as herein-before described respecting the treatment of
the mixed sulphates of magnesia and manganese for the purpose of separating
sulphate of magnesia from the oxide of manganese. But in thus treating the
mixed sulphates of alumina and manganese, alumina instead of magnesia
must be added to the mixture to decompose the sulphate of manganese, and
the quantity of alumina required for that purpose will be about eighteen parts
by weight of dry alumina for every forty-four parts by weight of the quantity
of peroxide of manganese-originally put into the still or vessel for the
purpose

page_text: of making chlorine as before mentioned; and as alumina does not enter into
combinations so readily as magnesia, it is desirable to keep the mixture
continually agitated until the whole of the sulphate of manganese has been
decomposed. And the decomposition of the sulphate of manganese by alumina
may be effected more quickly if the sulphates of alumina and manganese
remaining in the still or vessel (after the process of producing chlorine has
been completed, be mixed with dry alumina in the proportions before
mentioned, and the mixture exposed in a furnace or any convenient apparatus
to a heat of about three hundred or four hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer. The mixture must be stirred from time to time until the
decomposition is completed, which will be in about an hour from the time that
it has first attained the heat I have mentioned. When the decomposition
of the sulphate of manganese has been thus effected, the mixture must be
treated with water so as to dissolve the sulphate of alumina, which must, as
before mentioned, be separated from the unsoluble oxide of manganese.
The oxide of manganese may then be treated or disposed of in like manner as
herein-before described, and the sulphate of alumina, having been obtained
from the solution by evaporation, may be decomposed by dry distillation, so as
to obtain the sulphuric-acid and alumina separately, in like manner as herein-
before described respecting the dry distillation of sulphate of magnesia, for
the purpose of decomposing that salt and obtaining its elements separately.
Another mode of manufacturing or producing chlorine according to the
third part of my Invention is as follows, (that is to say) instead of using the
peroxide of manganese together with a chloride of magnesium or other
chloride for manufacturing or producing chlorine, I substitute for the
peroxide of manganese the manganate or hy-per manganate of soda or
potassa, the mode of manufacturing which is described in the said Specifi-
cation, enrolled on or about the Twenty-eighth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and forty-five as aforesaid, the proportion of the manganate or
hy-per manganate of soda or potassa to be used instead of the peroxide of
manganese being about fourteen or fifteen parts by weight of the dry
manganate or hy-per manganate of soda or potassa in lieu of forty-four
parts by weight of peroxide of manganese. The quantity of sulphuric acid
necessary for performing the process will in this mode of producing chlorine
be less than in that before described, the quantity to be used in this mode
being seventy-five parts by weight in lieu of one hundred parts by weight
used in performing the process according to the mode before described, the
quantity of chloride of magnesium or other chloride used being the same.
The process or mode of obtaining the chlorine from a mixture of manganate

page_text: or hy-per manganate of soda or potassa and chloride of magnesium, or any
such other chloride as aforesaid with sulphuric acid, is precisely the same as
that herein-before described for obtaining chlorine from a mixture of chloride
of magnesium and peroxide of manganese with sulphuric acid. The residuum
remaining in the still or vessel after the completion of this process will,
however, be sulphate of manganese, sulphate of soda or potassa, and a sulphate
formed with the magnesia or other base of the chloride which may have been
used. The oxide of manganese may in this case be obtained from the sulphate
of manganese in like manner as herein-before described, and the sulphate of
magnesia or other sulphate formed with the base of the chloride used may be
obtained in a dry state by evaporation, as before described, although it will be
mixed with a little sulphate of soda or potassa. The sulphate of magnesia or
other earthy sulphate thus obtained may also be subjected to dry distillation
for the purpose of separating the acid from the base of the salt, and obtaining
those elements in separate states, in manner before described; but the mag-
nesia or other earthy base being mixed with sulphate of soda or potassa
(which are not decomposed by heat, must be washed if it be desired to obtain
it in a pure state. I have found that manganate and by-per manganate of
baryta may be made in the same way as the manganate and hy-per manganate
of soda or potassa, the mode of making which is described in the said Speci-
fication as aforesaid, and manganate or hy-per manganate of baryta may be
used in lieu of manganate or hy-per manganate of soda or potassa for the
purpose of making or obtaining chloride according to the mode lastly herein-
before described, and the quantity to be used will be about the same. The
residum remaining in the still or vessel after performing the process with
manganate or hy-per manganate of baryta will be sulphate of manganese,
sulphate of baryta, and sulphate of magnesia, or other of the chlorides which
has been used. If it be desired to obtain the materials of this residuum, it
may be treated as follows, (that is to say) add a sufficient quantity of water
to dissolve the sulphate of manganese and the other sulphate from the sulphate
of baryta, which is nearly insoluble. The solution of the two sulphates is then
to be separated from the insoluble sulphate of baryta, and the sulphate of
manganese, and the sulphate of magnesia or other sulphate formed with the
base of the chloride, as before mentioned, may then be respectively decom-
posed and treated in manner herein-before described.
I will now describe another mode of manufacturing or producing chlorine
according to the third part of my Invention, which I effect without the aid of
sulphuric acid, and which I call manufacturing or producing chlorine in a dry
way. For the purpose of making chlorine in this way. I take chloride of

page_text: magnesium, or any such other chloride as aforesaid, and any oxydizing agent,
such as peroxide of manganese, manganate or hy-per manganate of soda,
potassa, or baryta, and cause them to be dried and deprived of any water of
chrystallization, or other moisture with which they may be combined. These
materials I either mix together and operate upon the mixture in one vessel,
or I operate upon the two materials in separate vessels or separate parts of
the same vessel, but simultaneously. If I mix the materials together, I place
them in a close cylinder or other convenient vessel, made of clay or any other
fit material, the cylinder or vessel being furnished with a pipe leading to a
chamber or vessel in which the chlorine is intended to be received. Heat is
then to be applied to the cylinder, and its contents brought to a full read
heat, at which temperature it must be kept until the whole of the chlorine
has been obtained. During this process the one material (the chloride)
gives out hydrochloric acid, mixed with a little chlorine, and the other
material gives out oxygen, and the hydrogen of the hydrochloric acid com-
bining with the oxygen, the result is the obtaining of gaseous chlorine,
which may be combined, condensed, or otherwise disposed of in the chamber
or vessel in which it is received in such manner as may be required. If I
desire not to mix the materials together, then I place them in separate
cylinders or vessels, such cylinders or vessels, however, communicating with
each other, and so arranged that the gaseous products arising from the
chloride which I employ shall pass through the other cylinder or vessel
containing the oxydizing material, and the cylinders or vessels are to be
furnished with a pipe communicating with the chamber or vessel in which the
chlorine is to be received for the purpose of conducting the chlorine to that
chamber or vessel, where it may be disposed of in manner before mentioned.
When the materials have been placed in cylinders or vessels in this way, I apply
heat to them until the materials are brought to a full red heat, as before
mentioned, and continue that heat until the whole quantity of chlorine has
been obtained. In operating in this way, if I use chloride of magnesium
and peroxide of manganese, I use forty-eight parts by weight of dry chloride
of magnesium, and about eighty-eight parts by weight of dry peroxide of
manganese. If I use chloride of aluminum in lieu of chloride of magnesium,
the proportional quantity would be about forty-six parts by weight; and if
other chlorides be used the proportional quantities of them must be varied in
an equivalent manner, as will be understood by every chemist. In case I use
an oxidizing material the manganate or hy-per manganate of soda, potassa, or
baryta, the proportional quantity which I would use will be about thirteen or
fourteen parts by weight of any of those materials in lieu of the eighty-eight

page_text: I
parts of peroxide of manganese. In manufacturing or producing chlorine
without the aid of sulphuric acid, I also produce that material from chloride of
magnesium, or any such other chloride as aforesaid, without the aid of any
oxidizing material or agent except the atmospheric air. For this purpose
place the chloride of magnesium or such other chloride as aforesaid in such a
cylinder or other convenient vessel as herein-before described, which has fitted
to it a pipe for conducting the chlorine to the chamber or vessel where
it is intended to be received. The cylinder or vessel must also have a
small aperture for admitting a portion of air to gain access to the heated
material during the whole of the process, and the air which is admitted
must be previously dried or deprived of its moisture by any convenient means.
Before inserting the pipe leading to the chamber for receiving the chlorine I
bring the chloride to a full red heat and keep it at that temperature until I
find that chlorine begins to be evolved; I then insert the pipe and continue
the heat until the whole of the chlorine has been obtained. In operating in
this manner it will however be found more advantageous to mix a very small
quantity of peroxide of manganese with the chloride, so as to ensure the
whole of the gaseous products of the chloride being converted into chlorine.
The fourth part of my Invention consists of a method or methods of
making or producing the nitrates of soda and potassa from which nitric acid
is to be obtained. For this purpose I take of nitrate of lead one hundred
and sixty-six parts by weight and dissolve it in water; I also take sixty parts
by weight of chloride of sodium, and dissolve it also in water; I then mix the
two solutions, when a double decomposition takes place, a chloride of lead
being precipitated and a nitrate of soda in solution produced. In order to
avoid the presence of lead in the nitrate of soda, I add a small portion of lime,
magnesia, or any of the earths, either in their caustic or carbonated state, by
which any portion of the chloride of lead remaining in solution will be
precipitated. I then separate the solution of nitrate of soda from the
precipitated chloride of lead and evaporate the solution to dryness, or nearly
so, in order to obtain the dry nitrate of soda. Instead of using sixty parts by
weight of chloride of sodium, seventy-six parts by weight of chloride of
potassium may be used, the quantity of nitrate of lead and the process in
other parts being the same as herein-before described, and the result will be
the production of nitrate of potassa. From the nitrate of soda or potassa
produced in this way I obtain nitric acid, either by the ordinary and well-
known process used for that purpose, or in the manner (which I prefer)
described in the Specification of my Invention, the sole use of which was

page_text: granted to me by Her present Majesty by Letters Patent under the Great
Seal of the United Kingdom, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in
the tenth year of Her reign, the said Invention being therein entituled
"Improvements in the Manufacture of Soda and Potash;" and which said
last-mentioned Specification was duly enrolled in Chancery on or about
the Twenty-ninth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six. But in case I intend to decompose the nitrate of soda or potassa, so as
to obtain nitric acid in manner described in the said last-mentioned Invention,
I mix the nitrate of soda or potassa with the quantity of earth, by means of
which I intend to effect the decomposition in manner described in the said
last-mentioned Specification before it is thoroughly dried. The chloride of
lead produced by this process is applicable in performing certain other parts
of my Invention, as herein-before described.
Having now ascertained and described the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I
claim as of my Invention,―
Firstly, the several methods of manufacturing or producing chlorides of
magnesium, aluminum, and other bases, in manner and for the purposes
herein-before described, and the obtaining of oxide of lead and oxide of
manganese as products therefrom, in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the method or methods of manufacturing or producing hydro-
chloric or muriatic acid herein-before described, and obtaining as products
therefrom the bases of chlorides used in performing this part of my Invention,
in manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the methods of manufacturing or producing chlorine in manner a
herein-before described, and obtaining as products therefrom oxide of man-
ganese, sulphuric acid, and the bases of the chlorides used in performing
this part of my Invention, in manner herein-before described. And,
Fourthly, the method or methods of manufacturing or producing the nitrates
of soda and potassa, for the purpose of manufacturing or producing nitric
acid therefrom, in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francois Stanilas Meldon De Sussex, have
to this Specification of my Invention set my hand and seal, the Nine-
teenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forty-seven.
8

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Francois Stanilas Meldon De Sussex
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.