MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY FOR OBTAINING AMMONIA AND OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS DURING THE COMBUSTION OF COAL AND FUEL, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1862

page_text: IMPROVE
In the County of Northampton, Esquire, for the Invention
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY FOR OBTAINING AMMONIA AND
OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS DURING THE COMBUSTION OF COAL AND FUEL, AND IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Henry Cradock
Monckton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition. on the 31st January 1862.
I. EDWARD HENRY CRADOCK MONCKTON, of Fineshade, in the County of
Northampton, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY FOR OBTAINING AMMONIA AND
OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS DURING THE COMBUSTION OF COAL AND FUEL, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain ammonia and other useful products
directly from the atmosphere and other sources by a continuous electrical
process from the commencement, by which means smoke is prevented and fuel
economized..
My process is, firstly, to apply the electric current, however generated, and
[P7]

page_text: with or without the use of induction or tension coils to natural and artificial
graphite and plumbago, and also to the coal and fuel in ordinary furnaces of
all descriptions, such as blast furnaces for smelting, or mere furnaces for heating
engine and other boilers, or of any other sort, or in those made specially with
a view to the carrying out the above processes, and to subject the matters so
acted on and decomposed by such electric agency to continuous electric action,
generated as above or otherwise, till combination is effected in some new
form,
In order to understand the principle that forms the basis of operation, it is
necessary that I in some degree consider the principal constituents of the
ingredients to be acted on: thus, in air I have chiefly oxygen, hydrogen, and
nitrogen in coal, chiefly carbon, with some sulphur and other matters; in
water, hydrogen and oxygen. The simplest and most primitive method of
operation is to apply the electric current, by means of wires and iron rods or
chains, to the coal or other fuel in the furnace, the result is, that the heat
of the fire is soon greatly intensified and rendered incandescent. A steam
pipe with a stop-cock attached to it is then introduced into a tube of larger
calibre, the size of each pipe being adjusted relatively to each other according
to the relative quantities of steam and air that are required as regards the
size of the furnace and quantity of fuel used, and also as regards the product
required. A small steam boiler and superheater also is placed in connection
with the furnace, should there not be one already. Steam is then admitted
into the smaller pipe, and, causing a vacuum, air instantly rushes in and forms
a blast this plays over and among the electrified coke, and a decomposition
and recombination of elements takes place; thus the nitrogen from the air
will combine with the hydrogen of the steam and form ammonia; the oxygen
eliminated will oxidize the coal; the nascent carbon will combine with the
ammonia, and form a carbonate. Any sulphur, according to its proportion in
the coal, will become sulphuric acid, and uniting with part of the ammonia,
form a sulphate, and the products not combined will pass off after the useful
products thus formed are either received in suitable vessels or made to enter
into further chemical combinations at pleasure, the electric fluid being con-
tinuously made to act on them as they pass through various channels by means
of metallic points inserted into opposite sides of these channels, from one to
the other of which the electric spark is made to flow over a considerable
space, extending in some instances to several inches, by means of powerful
induction coils, so that, the passage is quite free for the gas or liquid to
pass along the whole channel, this throughout its section is occupied by the
electric fluid playing across into it, which will act on the entire body passing

page_text: along and through it. It is not necessary that the steam pipe should be
inserted into the air tube in every instance, for though these ought always to
bear a relative suitable proportion to each other in size, still where it is not
desirable to pass steam over the electrified coke, the steam pipe with a cock
on it may be inserted beyond the furnace or in the chimney, so as to cause a
draught of pure air only to flow into it, thus altering the constituent elements
of the compound to be formed. Where other useful products are desired, the
requisite ingredients are to be either inserted at once into the furnace in
suitable proportions, and acted on by the electrified incandescent coal, or
added subsequently, by any suitable arrangement, to the already electrified
products. It is obvious that there can be no smoke, for all that would form
it is totally consumed by this method, and also that the fuel, being rendered
incandescent by the electric current, and its heat greatly intensified, must be
much economized, and also that it is so consumed as to leave the smallest
possible quantity of ashes. The useful products thus obtained would in many
instances be far more valuable as sulphate, or carbonate of ammonia, for
example, than the fuel, so that the engine furnaces could be used not only
without having to pay for fuel at a great cost, but at a great profit to the
possessor. Where crude products, as ores, are smelted, as the electric
current would act simultaneously upon both ore and fuel, and disintegrate
them, it would be essential to consider the volatile and other ingredients
in them, and act accordingly; thus sulphuric acid could be largely and
rapidly formed from sulphurous ores, and in like manner other combina-
tions effected at a cheap rate with crude material. Where, on the other hand,
great nicety is requisite, it is advisable to construct a furnace on purpose,
and to use the finest carbons, as charcoal or coke prepared by the electric
process, or oil; by this means more definite results and greater purity would
be obtained. In other cases where any special decomposition is necessary, the
electric spark from induction coils would alone be used without resort to any
fuel, the air, vapour, gas, or fluid separately or in combination being made to
pass as before described, along a channel whose entire section should be
covered by a sheet of electricity from the sparks crossing it from numerous
points placed on opposite sides of it. This process is also applicable to the
reduction and fusion of ores and metals that are otherwise intractable by the
present means and the heat of ordinary furnaces, as, for example, the reduction
of aluminium direct from aluminous clays.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 31st July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HENRY CRADOCK MONCкTON, of Fineshade, in the County of Northampton,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, Her special license that I,
the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such other as J, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY
FOR OBTAINING AMMONIA AND OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS DURING THE COMBUSTION OF
COAL AND FUEL. AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I; the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain ammonia and other useful products
directly from the atmosphere and other sources by a continuous electrical
process from the commencement, by which means smoke is prevented and fuel
economized.
My process is, firstly, to form what I term an electric bath by applying the
electric current, however generated, and with or without the use of induction
or tension coils, or Leyden jars, or substitutes for Leyden jars, such as the

page_text: condensers of electricity attached to tension coils, to natural and artificial
graphite and plumbago, and also to the coal and fuel in ordinary furnaces of
all descriptions, such as, for example, blast furnaces for smelting, or furnaces
for heating engine boilers, &c., or in those made specially with a view to the
carrying out the above processes, these furnaces may by preference be
insulated, and to subject the materials requisite to be so acted on and
decomposed by such electric agency, and where necessary to continuous
electric action with or without other additions, till combination is effected in
some new form.
In order to understand the principle that forms the basis of operation it is
necessary that I in some degree consider the principal constituents of the
ingredients to be acted on; thus, in air I have chiefly oxygen and nitrogen;
in coal, chiefly carbon and oxygen and hydrogen, with some sulphur and other
matters; in water, hydrogen and oxygen. The simplest and most primitive
method of operation is to apply the electric current by means of wires and iron
rods or chains, or pieces of graphite or plumbago, to the coal or other fuel in the
furnace; the result is that the heat of the fire is soon greatly intensified and
rendered incandescent. A steam pipe with a stop-cock attached to it is then
introduced into a tube of larger calibre, the sizes of each pipe being adjusted
relatively to each other according to the relative quantities of steam and air
that are required as regards the size of the furnace, the quantity of fuel and
other ingredients used, and also as regards the product required. A small
steam boiler and superheater is also placed in connection with the furnace,
should there not be one in use already. Steam is then admitted into the
smaller pipe, and causing a vacuum, air instantly rushes in and forms a blast;
this plays over and among the electrified coke or fuel, and a decomposition
and recombination of elements takes place; thus any nitrogen from the de-
composed air combining with the hydrogen of the steam will form ammonia;
the oxygen eliminated will oxidise the coal; any nascent carbon combining with
the ammonia form a carbonate. Any sulphur in the coal uniting with the oxygen
will become sulphuric acid, and uniting with part of the ammonia form a.
sulphate, and any products not meeting with a suitable chemical equivalent and
not combining will pass off, while the combining and useful products sought for
thus formed are either at once to be received in suitable vessels, or made to
enter into further chemical combinations at pleasure, after such a manner as
is now ordinarily done; for example, any ammonia may be made to unite with
the sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic acids by its gas being brought into contact
with them in a concentrated or diluted form or the free nitrogen may be
united with caustic alkalis or their solutions, or any cyanogen formed be

page_text: taken up and combined by similar means where it is found advisable; the
materials to be further acted upon are to be subjected to a continuous and
incessant action of electricity on them, as they are made to pass through
suitable channels by means of points of carbon, metal, or other suitable
material inserted into opposite sides of these channels, from one to the other
of which points the electric spark is made to flow, and where necessary over a
considerable space, extending in some instances to several inches, by means of
powerful induction coils, with or without condensers or Leyden jars, so that
though the passage is quite free for the gas or liquid to pass along the
whole channel, this throughout its section is occupied by the electric fluid
playing across into it, which will act on the entire body passing along and
through it.
Where gases are to be united with fluids, any suitable mechanical arrange-
ment can be adopted; thus, for example, the gas may be made to pass along
a wide but very shallow channel lined with glass, slate, guita percha, or other
suitable material over the surface of the liquid in question; the latter can also
be kept in a state of agitation, if necessary, and be made to flow down an
incline in a thin broad stream, the gas passing over its surface in an opposite
direction; the liquid can also be constantly changed by being pumped up at
one end while allowing it to flow off at the other of the incline, and thus
circulate till it is fully saturated. The gases may also be impinged on and
into the liquid by being made to pass through a bath, from the roof of which
divisions descend and dip into the liquid, so as to compel the gases in their
passage to a chimney to pass under each division and through the liquid; or
the gases or vapours may be made to pass through small holes in the bottom of
a vessel placed over its surface, and an exhaust can also be made in the chimney
or elsewhere by any known methods, and thereby cause a current of gas, &c.,
to flow rapidly along. Gases may also be generated and separated by any
suitable means, and be brought into contact with the decomposed products of
the electrical bath, and the character of the electricity employed be itself
varied by being conducted through chemicals properly insulated prior to its
introduction into the electric bath; where the results of the operations are
powdery, these can be caught in bags or by an arrangement of a similar
nature, whereby the gases uncombined can pass through and off, while the
substances formed are retained; thus, a bag placed in a chimney would hold
the soot, while the gases and air passed through it and away. It is not
necessary that the steam pipe should be inserted into the air tube in every
instance, for though these ought always to bear a relative suitable proportion
to each other in size, still where it is not desirable to pass steam over the

page_text: electrified coke or other material; the steam pipe with a cock on it may be
inserted beyond the furnace, or in the chimney, so as to cause a draught of
pure air only to flow into it, thus altering the constituent elements of the
compound to be formed; where other useful products are desired, the requisite
ingredients are to be either inserted at once into the furnace in suitable
proportions and acted on by the electrified incandescent coal, or added subse-
quently by any suitable arrangement to the already electrified products. It is
obvious that the fuel must be much economized, as there can be no smoke,
for all that would form it is fotally consumed by this method, and that it is
rendered more intense in action from being made incandescent by the electric
current, and also that it is so consumed as to leave the smallest possible
quantity of ashes. The useful products thus obtained would in many instances
be far more valuable, as sulphate or carbonate of ammonia, for example, than
the fuel, so that engine furnaces could be used not only without having to pay
for fuel at a great cost, but at a great profit to the possessor.
Where crude products, such as ores, are smelted, as the electric current
would act simultaneously upon both ore and fuel and disintegrate them, it
would be essential to consider the volatile and other ingredients in them and
act according, thus sulphuric acid could be largely and rapidly formed from
sulphurous ores, and in like manner other combinations effected at a cheap
rate with crude materials. Where, on the other hand, great nicety is required,
it is advisable to construct a furnace on purpose, and to use the finest carbon,
such as, for example, charcoal or coke prepared by the electric process, or oil,
by this means more definite results and greater purity would be obtained. In
other cases, where any special decomposition is necessary, the electric spark
from galvanic batteries and induction coils, with or without condensers or a
Leyden jar arrangement, would alone be used without resort to any fuel, the
chemical, whether air, vapour, gas, or fluid or a solid or a powder, separately
or in combination, being made to pass, as before described, along a channel,
whose entire section should be covered by a sheet of electricity from the sparks
crossing it from numerous points placed on opposite sides of it.
The process is also applicable to assisting in the reduction and fusion of ores
and metals that are otherwise intractable by the present means, by intensifying
the heat of blow pipes and ordinary furnaces, as, for example, the reduction of
aluminium direct from aluminous clays by the addition of suitable fluxes. All
the vessels, receptacles, and other apparatus may be lined with glass, porcelain,
slate, gutta percha, or other such materials, in order to prevent the attack of
acids upon them, which attacks metal surfaces would not resist.
I claim the methods of obtaining ammonia and other useful products by the

page_text: application of electricity, and the apparatus employed therein, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
L. J. WETHERELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Prince & Co.,
Agents for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
E. H. C. MONCKTON. (L.S.)
i