IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC- TURE OF SAL-AMMONIAC FROM SMALL AND REFUSE COALS, AND FROM THE GAS GENERATED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE
Year: 1860

page_text: Durham, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF SAL-AMMONIAC FROM SMALL AND REFUSE COALS, AND FROM THE GAS
GENERATED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE."
Sealed the 27th July 1860, and dated the 31st January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ferdinand Jossa at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1860.
I, FERDINAND JOSSA, of Sunderland, in the County of Durham, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF SAL-AMMONIAC FROM SMALL AND REFUSE COALS AND FROM THE
GAS GENERATED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COкE," to be as follows:-
It is well known that amongst the products which escape with the gas in
the manufacture of coke and in the other uses of coal there is a considerable
quantity of ammonia, and the same quantity or rather more of this valuable
matter is contained in what is termed refuse coal.
lost in the air in the manufacture of coke and
various purposes.
This ammonia is at present
in the refuse coal used for
Ammonia can only be extracted from the coal by the affinity that it has for
acids, such as sulphuric, phosphoric, nitric, & other acids, with which it forms
[Price Sd.]

page_text: salts at a higher temperature. The apparatus I employ for this purpose should
be so constructed that gas has an extensive communication and a frequent
combination with the liquid.
For this purpose I adopt two methods, sometimes one and sometimes the
other, for the production of ammonia. I effect a communication of the vapours
from the coal with the liquid in two ways; 1st, in the form of gas or vapour;
2ndly, in the form of rain, by putting the liquid in motion by a vessel having
holes like a sieve, from which it passes into a second vessel placed underneath
the first, which operation is continued until it is sufficiently neutralized. The
same effect will be produced by causing steam to pass through the gas into
the vessel. I employ besides these other arrangements, according to the
locality, the place, and situation of the manufactory.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ferdinand Jossa in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FERDINAND
Jossa, of Sunderland, in the County of Durham, Chemist, 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, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Ferdinand Jossa, Her special licence that I, the said Ferdi-
nand Jossa, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Ferdinand Jossa, 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SAL-AMMONIAC FROM SMALL AND REFUSE COALS AND
FROM THE GAS GENERATED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Ferdinand Jossa, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 In-
vention, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ferdinand Jossa, 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 (that is to say);-
It is well known that amongst the products liberated & escaping with the
smoke and gas generated by the combustion of coal there is a large quantity of
ammonia. This valuable material is at present lost owing to the absence of
simple and efficient means for its extraction from the products of such combus--
tion. From its well known affinity for combination in the form of salts with
many acids, such as sulphuric, nitric, phosphoric acids, and others, I have
found that it is simply necessary to arrange and construct flues or chimnies, so
that facility for this combination will be presented, in order to obtain this valu-
able salt. For this purpose, one or more methods may be employed, according
to my Invention. The smoke and gases may be made to pass over pans con-
taining suitable acid in solution, or the acid may be precipitated down a
chimney in the form of rain, or trickle down between closely piled materials,
which are exposed to the ascending column of smoke; and the acid precipi-
tated therefrom becomes thoroughly exposed to the gases, and is collected in a
vessel or receiver at the bottom, whence it can be again conveyed to the top,
and so keep in circulation till the desired degree of saturation is effected. As
sulphuric acid is the cheapest and most manageable, I prefer its use in a diluted
form, and by considering the quantities of the various ingredients, I am enabled
to form some estimate of the probable returns which may be expected to
Coals contain from a half per cent. to four per cent. of ammonia, and
taking the minimum rate of a half per cent. as the quantity which may be
always relied on to be obtained. The results of 100 coke ovens burning 5 tons
of coals each in 96 hours, or 8 tons each per week, will give a yield of 4 tons
of ammonia, which combining with about its weight of acid, produces 8 tons of
sulphate of ammonia, of a market value of about 181. per ton, the demand for
which is immense. I have only reckoned one half per cent., but the produce
may be 1, 2, 3, & even 4 per cent., and supposing the price of ammonia to
be considered only at 101. per ton, the profit must be very great.
accrue.
To further illustrate the application of my Invention. I will add a short
explanation of the process and of the products of the distillation of coal.
Experiment has shown that changes which occur when animal or vegetable
matters are subjected to the action of heat vary in proportion to the range of
temperature to which they are exposed. In circumstances where the material
operated upon is in contact with a plentiful supply of heated air not deprived
of its free oxygen by any act of combustion, the whole or much the greater

page_text: part of the carbon will be burned off as carbonic acid, and if any remain it
will be mixed with the earthy matters of the organic substance forming the
ashy coke. The hydrogen in the substance will escape as water at first, and if
much is present as carburetted hydrogen, and with the nitrogen (if the sub-
stance contain any), as ammonia & as carbonate of ammonia. But when the
exposure to heat is conducted in close vessels, such as distillation in retorts,
another series of changes occur; at the outset, when the heat is considerable,
aqueous vapor, organic vapor, organic acids, ammonia, and some combustible
fluids soluble in water are given off. As the temperature augments, carbonic
acid, carbonic oxide, water, and a number of oleagenous substances not soluble in
water are formed. When the temperature rises up to and exceeds a red heat,
the products are a great part or wholly gaseous. Destructive distillation may be
considered as combustion with a very limited supply of oxygen, merely so much
as is contained in the substance itself. The results of dry distillation of sub-
stances vary in so far as they contain, or are different in nitrogen, most of the
products are common to both conditions, but where nitrogen is an element,
there are many substances formed peculiar to it. When the substances con-
tain nitrogen or sulphur, as is the case with coal, &c., there are added to the
foregoing ammonia, aniline, lencol, pecoline, lutridine, &c., and in all cases an
ashy carbonaceous mass remains on the retort or still known as coke. Such
are the changes produced at a temperature below a red heat; at a temperature
above this point a series of gaseous products only are produced, and if there
does not appear in the ordinary manufacture of gas a large amount of the
above volatile liquids, it is because they are formed when the retort has from
any cause been cooled down below a red heat, when they immediately appear
and are distilled over. It is the temperature at which coal is carbonized in
close vessels which determines the nature of the products; if it be high, gaseous
fluids will be produced; if it be low, volatile (vapour liquids) alone will be
formed. This is now so well known, that the utmost care is exerted to keep
the retorts in a sherry red heat, 1,400° F. The results of dry distillation are
always very complex, the number of products being very great and difficult of
separation, and therefore the ammonia can only be extracted as herein above
mentioned, upon the principle based upon the affinity that it has for acids. I
may add, that for all practical purposes, a temperature of 650° to 700°, well
maintained, yields the largest results as to the quantity of fluids obtained
although lower temperatures have been found to answer equally well, where
superheated steam thrown upon the materials has been used as an adjunct to
the heat. Thus it will appear that it is during the earlier stages of combustion
of the coal in a coke oven, and whilst the heat is but low, that the ammonia

page_text: with which it is our purpose to deal must be evolved. By a single arrange-
ment of flues and dampers, I direct the smoke & gases for the first 12 hours
after lighting so as to pass into the chambers, chimney, or flue, where they
can combine with the acid, as herein-before described; at the end of this
period, when the whole of the ammonia has separated from the coal, the
oven is placed in direct communication with the ordinary chimney; the burn-
ing then proceeds as usual. No part of the process it will be seen can in any
way interfere with the efficient production of the coke, as not the slightest
check or obstacle is presented by the carrying out and process of collection
of only one of the valuable products resulting from the combustion of coal, as
described.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the exposure of an acid or acids
in solution to the smoke and gases arising from the combustion of small and
refuse coals, and in the manufacture of coke, for the purpose and as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ferdinand Jossa. have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
FERDINAND JOSSA. (L.S.)