IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOSPHORUS, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREIN
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
ALBRIGHT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturing
Chymist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
July, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the
said Arthur Albright, my exors; admors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Arthur Albright, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Arthur Albright,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time during the continuance of
the said grant agree with, and no others, should and lawfully make, use, exercise,
and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
an Invention, communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad,
namely, Professor Anton Schroetter, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOSPHORUS, AND IN THE APPARATUS
TO BE USED THEREIN;" in which said Letters Patent there is a proviso obliging
me, the said Arthur Albright, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by.
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to
be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months from the date of the said grant, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto bad, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Arthur Albright, do hereby declare that I have herein-after particularly
described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, reference being had to the Drawings
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention consists in a mode of producing an improved manufacture of
phosphorus, which is amorphous or non-crystalline, and differing both in its
nature and properties from the ordinary phosphorus of commerce, and also
relates to the apparatus to be used therefor. Phosphorus of commerce is
well known to be chrystalline in formation, of a pale yellow color, approaching,
when pure, to a white, nearly transparent, luminous in the dark, and burning
in the open air at a temperature of about one hundred and forty-eight degrees.
of Fahrenheit; but the amorphous phosphorous is opaque, of a varying red
colour, is not luminous in the dark, does not take fire when exposed to an
ordinary atmosphere, nor even by friction or percussion, unless the temperature
produced thereby exceeds four hundred and sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit, the
ordinary temperature at which this amorphous phosphorus is inflammable,
being about four hundred and eighty-two degrees Fahrenheit, but when com-
bined with chlorate of potass or other appropriate materials it inflames, with
great energy, and may therefore be used in the manufacture of lucifer matches
and other instantaneous igniters. It is, moreover, free from those pernicious.
qualities which render the application of ordinary phosphorus to these last-
named purposes so dangerous to health. In a commercial point of view the
amorphous phosphorous possesses a great advantage over the crystalline, inas-
much as the former may be transported with perfect safety, while the carriage
of the ordinary phosphorus is attended with considerable trouble and risk and
consequent expence. By this conversion of condition the phosphorus is de-
prived of its poisonous quality, and of much of the peculiar and unpleasant
smell which arises from the common article, neither is it so liable in warm
temperatures to convert into phosphoric acid.
I will now refer to the Drawings, annexed, and afterwards, describe the
process which I employ for the manufacture of amorphous phosphorus, pre-
mising that the modus operandi is susceptible of several modifications.
The manufacture of the phosphorus of commerce is well known and under-
stood; and as I employ manufactured phosphorus, for conversion to an
improved state, there is no necessity for entering into any description of its
manufacture.
A, A, is a cast-iron vessel set in brickwork in the ordinary manner of a
furnace, having a fireplace beneath of the ordinary construction. From the

page_text: inside of the flange of this vessel a smaller vessel B, B, of the same material,
is suspended and made fast by means of the screw pins I, I, as shewn in
section in Figure 1, and by I, I, I, in plan, Figure 2. The space between
the two vessels contains a metallic bath composed of a mixture of tin and lead
in equal parts. G is a cast-iron cover to the inner vessel B, fitting the top
edge by means of a groove, and fastened to the outer vessel A by the screw
pins, H, Figure 1, and H, H, H, Figure 2. A screw F passes through a
three-armed iron holder L, L, Figure 1, and L, L, L, Figure 2, which is mado
fast to a third moveable iron vessel C, C, placed in a sand bath shewn by N, N.
In the interior of this iron vessel C, C, another vessel of glass or porcelain
D, D, is fitted, in which the phosphorus to be operated on is placed. J is a
curved pipe of iron or copper, passing freely through the cover G, but screwed
into the cover E, and having an exit at the extremity into a detached vessel
K, K. This contains mercury or water. If the first is employed, it is well
to cover it with water. This pipe J will act as a safety valve, as the metal or
water in the vessel K, K, will prevent the return of the atmospheric air into
the inner vessel C, C. W is a spirit lamp, placed, if it is necessary, under the
pipe J for the purpose of keeping the same hot, so that clogging of the pipe by
the condensation of distilled phosphorus may not occur. X is a stopcock to
prevent the ingress into C, C, of the contents of K, K, or of the atmospheric
air, and should be closed before the apparatus in the furnace is allowed to cool
down, or the vessel K, K, is removed. I may here observe, that the cover G
is used chiefly as a means of preventing accidents, and is not essentially
necessary. Between the end of the screw F and the cover E a small but
strong concave disc or spring of steel should be inserted, and so adjusted as
to give a slight play to the cover E in case of violent action arising in tho
interior, or the stopping up of the pipe J. Neither of these accidents is
likely to occur if the operation is conducted with proper attention. The
whole apparatus, as represented, is set in brickwork, with suitable furnace
and flues for the purpose of heating it and maintaining the temperature
required for the process. The phosphorus to be converted into an amor-
phous state is to be previously melted, and cooled under water, and dried as
much as possible. The mode of operation is then as follows:-The cover of
the inner vessel is to be raised, the phosphorus deposited, and the covers E
and G replaced. A fire is then made under the outer vessel A, A, and the
temperature raised to such a degree as shall be sufficient to drive off the air,
and also the gases which may be generated in the interior vessel, which will
escape at the exit of the pipe J, which dips into the vessel K, K, covered with
quicksilver or water, as before described. The action of water in the vessel

page_text: K, K, when quicksilver is employed, is useful in order that any phosphorus
which may distill over and pass down the pipe J may be covered thereby.
The temperature is to be gradually raised until bubbles escape at the end of
the pipe J, which take fire as they enter the air. When these bubbles have
escaped freely for some time the temperature may be raised until it has
attained a point of 500° Fahrenheit. In order to judge of the temperature,
a thermometer is placed in the metallic bath before described. The tempe-
rature must be maintained for a certain time, the length of which depends so
much on accompanying circumstances that it can only be determined by expe-
rience at a point within a few degrees of the before-mentioned elevation,
perhaps rather higher than lower. So soon as the phosphorus converted
into an amorphous state the vessel may be allowed to cool down. The
phosphorus is then taken out, to effect which it may be necessary to break
the glass or porcelain vessel. It may be desirable to increase the pressure on
the vessel C, C, and D, D; and for this purpose the vessel K; K, should be
deepened, so as to contain more mercury, and by this means a pressure of an
atinosphere or even more may be gained. In this case it will be necessary
to remove the disc or spring so soon as the steam and fiery bubbles which arisė
in the first part of the process have ceased to appear at the end of the pipe
J. The phosphorus is then to be levigated under water, from which it may
be drained by being placed in a bag or on a filter. If the operation has been
successfully conducted, the amorphous phosphorus produced contains only
very slight traces of common phosphorus. The levigated phosphorus, while
moist, should, in order to purify it, be then spread thinly, for convenient
working, on separate shallow trays of sheet iron or lead; and these trays can
be so placed alongside each other as to receive the heat of steam, or of a
heated bath of water, or of chloride of calcium, or of sand, or of each conse-
cutively in this order; but whichever be employed, the temperature must be
raised gradually, and the phosphorus frequently stirred until the disappearance
in the dark of all luminous vapour shall show that the whole of the adhering
crystalline phosphorus has become oxidised. The operator should have
water at hand to quench any fire that might arise before the whole mass has
perfectly oxidised. When the process of purification is thus far completed
the phosphorus must be washed until the water in which it is so washed
shews no trace of acid when tested. In case the amorphous phosphorus pro-
duced contains too large a proportion of the unconverted phosphorus, then
bisulphuret of carbon or other solvents may be employed to wash out the
ordinary phosphorus.
From the foregoing it will be seen, that for the conversion of phosphorus

page_text: I employ but one agent, namely, heat; but I reserve to myself the right to
make use of other agents in combination with heat to facilitate or accelerate
the production of amorphous phosphorus; and I wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details set forth and shewn of the
apparatus herein-before described; but I claim as a new and useful Invention
the manufacture of an improved or amorphous phosphorus, and the apparatus
described to be used in such manufacture.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Albright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.