MANUFACTURING ALKALIES, AND OBTAINING SIMULTANEOUSLY OTHER CHEMICAL PRODUCTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Antoine Possoz, Chemist, of Rue Neuve,
St. Augustin, No. 9, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of
Sealed the 27th May 1859, and dated the 29th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Antoine Possoz
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th November 1858.
I, LOUIS ANTOINE Possoz, Chemist, of Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, No. 9,
Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "MANUFACTURING ALKALIES, AND OBTAINING SIMULTANEOUSLY OTHER
CHEMICAL PRODUCTS," to be as follows:-
I cause soda or potash either in the chloride or sulphate state, or any other
raw salt or combination thereof, to be heated or brought to the state of caustic
alkalies by suitable organic materials, azoted or not, as may be found desirable,
and I obtain therefrom ammoniac, acetates, oxalates, oxalic acid, and car-
bonates of potash and soda. I do not submit the said carbonates to the usual
operations, but employ them to produce cyanures, or other chemical substances
or combinations thereof, or I refine them, and sell them as ordinary carbonates
in trade.
I would here observe, that in proportion as the alkali is submitted to
repeated operations it encreases in commercial value, and causes some useful
[Price Sd.]

page_text: reaction, so that the ammoniac, acetates, oxalates, oxalic acid, &c., are pro-
duced almost without cost, on account of the encreased value which the alkali
acquires in producing the said substances, that is to say, instead of the raw
salt of little value I produce it in a manufactured state without additional cost,
which enables me to sell the said chemical substances much cheaper than has
hitherto been done.
When salts of potash are- scarce, I use potash in its natural state in con-
junction with manganates of potash, to prevent the potash in excess carbonising,
by this means the same caustic potash may be used several times; or, if I
wish to operate with soda (as the sea salt or sulphate of soda will never fail),
after having brought it to a caustic state, I cause the alkali so obtained to
act alone upon the organic material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Antoine Possoz in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th May 1859.
TO ALE TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
ANTOINE POSSoz, Chemist," of Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, No. 9, Paris, in the
Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Louis Antoine Possoz, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Antoine Possoz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Louis Antoine Possoz, 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
"MANUFACTURING ALKALIES. AND OBTAINING SIMULTANEOUSLY OTHER CHEMICAL
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Antoine
Possoz, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Antoine Possoz, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to bé particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say);-
My Invention consists principally of improvements in certain processes in
which soda or potash is employed in the state of chlorides, sulphates, silicates,
crude salts, or other alkaline combinations. The said salts being brought
into the state of caustic potash or soda by any of the well-known means, the
alkali is heated, in the conditions hereafter explained, with organic substances,
azoted or not, and if azoted I obtain from them ammonia, but in any case
I obtain oxalates, acetates, carbonates of potash or soda, which has not been
hitherto accomplished. In this manufacture I do not use again the acetates
and carbonates first used by submitting them each time to a new process of
caustication to render them useful again, but I take each time the caustic
alkali which I want from the low priced salts above named, and I obtain by
my process acetates and carbonates, either by purifying them ready for sale..
in a commercial form, or using them to produce cyanures or other chemical
products.
I may here observe, that by operating, as already stated, in proportion as
the alkali is submitted to new modes of operation, it receives an encreased
commercial value by undergoing some useful reactions, so much so that
ammonia, acetates, oxalates, or oxalic acid are produced almost with-
out expense, on account of the encreased value which the alkali receives in
producing them, which particular point is one of the principal features of my
Invention, namely, producing the said articles at a less cost than has hitherto
been accomplished.
I am aware that oxalic acid has been produced by using mixtures of potash
and soda, but I use one or the other of these alkalies separately, and I find
that; contrary to the preceding practice, soda alone is capable of producing
very economically oxalic acid by operating according to my Invention.
I
For the better understanding my process, I will give two examples.
take chlorides, sulphates, silicates of potash or soda, salines of plants, or any
other alkaline combination, and bring the said salts to a state of caustic lye
by any of the well-known means.
First example. If 1 intend to use repeatedly the same caustic alkali, and
avoid the production of fórmates, acetates, ulmates, carbonates, &c., &c., for
one hundred parts of genuine caustic potash made in lixivium, and con-
centrated until its boiling point is about 380 degrees Fahrenheit, I add whilst
keeping it hot, between 320° and 400°, one hundred parts of bran or any

page_text: other organic matter mixed with. five hundred parts of manganate of potash,
which has been previously obtained by melting two hundred and fifty parts of
genuine caustic potassium with two hundred and fifty parts of peroxide of
manganese. After the mixture is made, I continue to heat and stir it until
(without raising the temperature above 500°) the mass becomes a thick paste,
easily detaching itself from the spatula.
Second example.--Instead of using repeatedly the same caustic alkali, I
prefer to operate each time with new alkali. Into two hundred and fifty or
three hundred parts of genuine caustic potash, or to four hundred or five.
hundred parts of genuine caustic soda in lixivium, concentrated to the boiling
point of about four hundred degrees for potash, and three hundred degrees for
soda; I add one hundred parts of organic matter, such as bran, hay, straw,
If I wish
guano, dry meat, blood, &c., &c., heating the whole mass gently.
to collect the ammonia, the operation is made in a distilling apparatus pro-
vided with an agitator, and the ammonical vapours are condensed with purc
or acidulous water. When the, disengagement of ammonia has nearly ceased,
the mass may be heated in an oven, with a current of heated air, or any
suitable, apparatus, taking great care to regulate the heat. I have observed
that with pure soda less heat is required than with potash, and the heat must
be well distributed into the whole mass. The best heat for soda is from
300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and for potash from 400° to 500°.
tinue to heat the whole mass, and stir it repeatedly until it becomes
or in some cases dry, according to the substances employed.
at that point by either of the two processes the mass must be dissolved in
warm water, in order to obtain saturated solutions; it is then left to cool and
crystallize;. I then concentrate the mother waters at 1560 specific gravity for
the potash, and 1320 for soda. The oxalates of potash or of soda being
crystallized and separated from the mother waters are decompounded either
into acidulous oxalates or oxalic acid by any of the well-known processes.
I con-
paste,
When arrived
For extracting oxalic acid from oxalates I particularly claim the means of
treating the oxalates of potash or soda, in solution in water by milk of lime.
There is produced, either by heat or in the cold, an oxalate of lime, which
precipitates, and the soda or potash are again to be found in a state of caustic
lye. The oxalate of lime, separated, by decanting and well washing, is
afterwards decompounded by sulphuric acid into oxalic acid and sulphate of
lime.
1
The alkaline mother.waters obtained by this second process are chiefly
composed of acetates, ulmates, carbonates, and caustic alkali. When potash
is the basis they are very suitable for manufacturing prussiate with animal

page_text: matters, and also with gazeous azote.
When soda is the basis, a certain
quantity of acetate of soda may be extracted by crystallization, and the remain-
ing or even the whole may be converted into carbonate of soda, dried or
crystallized by any known means.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise number of processes,
or the exact quantities of the substances herein set forth, as such may be
varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof; but I
claim,
Firstly, turning to account the causticity of alkalies during the process of
their manufacture, for the purpose of obtaining economically ammonia,
oxalates, oxalic acid, by the well-known action of alkalies upon organic
matters.
Secondly, the production of oxalates of potash -and soda, according to the
first process herein alluded to.
Thirdly, the production of oxalate of soda with pure soda not mixed with
potash.
Fourthly, obtaining commercial products of potash or soda with the mother
waters of oxalate, which could not be obtained from mixtures of soda and
potash.
And, fifthly, the whole or general manufacture, by which I produce, very
economically, alkalies, and obtain simultaneously the other chemical products,
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Antoine Possoz, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
LEOPOLD COURROUVE,
3, Rue de la Bourse,
Paris.
LOUIS ANTOINE PODEZ. (17.5.)