IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLASTING POWDER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BLASTING POWDER."-A communication from abroad by Frederic Wynants.
and Prosper Esselens, of Ixelles, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Sealed the 22nd August 1862, and dated the 15th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th April 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BLASTING POWDER," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide an explosive material better suited
to the uses of the miner than the blasting powder commonly employed. To
this end it is now proposed to substitute for the ingredient saltpetre ordinarily
employed in the composition of powder, the nitrate of baryta. This substi-
tution may extend to the entire or only the partial exclusion of saltpetre. In
the latter case there will be a proportionate diminution in the quantity of

page_text: nitrate of baryta employed; or in place of using nitrate of baryta to modify
the action of the explosive mixture, it is proposed to apply the nitrate of
strontian or the nitrate of lead, which may be employed in combination with
or instead of saltpetre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, 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
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 BLASTING POWDER," being a communication from
abroad by Frederick Wynants and Prosper Esselens, of Ixelles, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The explosive mixtures employed for blasting purposes have hitherto been
but slight modifications of gunpowder, which, besides being a substance
dangerous to handle, and very quick in its, action, creates when exploded dense

page_text: smoke in the galleries of the mines, thereby rendering it impossible to work
in them until they are thoroughly ventilated. These defects have all been
known ever since the application of powder to the working of mines, and it
has been observed that blasting powder composed in the same manner as
gunpowder, of saltpetre, sulphur, and carbon, burns too rapidly, and that the
gases produced by their sudden expansion act against the sides of the blasting
orifice in the manner of an instantaneous shock rather than as a progressively
increasing pressure until the rocks are fractured. It is only lately that means
have been sought for remedying these evils, and that it has been understood
that in order to act properly in mining operations, the powder must during
combustion present phenomena foreign to explosive mixtures best fit for
throwing projectiles. The object sought more especially to be effected! has
been to render the production of the gases more regular and less rapid, in
order that the expansive force of those gases might produce effects analogous
to those formerly obtained by means of wooden wedges, which were caused to
expand by the absorption of water. In order to effect this object, and to
render the combustion slower, all that has been generally done has been
to vary the proportions or the nature of the combustible bodies; thus, charcoal
has been replaced by sugar, starch, or sawdust, but some of these substances
are found to be more costly than the ingredients of common gunpowder,
whilst others do not admit of such intimate admixture, and homogeneity being
obtained which renders their combustion less regular, and consequently their
effects more variable. Moreover, whatever changes may have been effected
in the choice and proportions of the components according to these new
receipts, the essential element of the powder has always been saltpetre (nitrate
of potash). It is true that an attempt has been made to substitute nitrate of
soda for this salt on the score of economy, but the powder thus obtained
absorbs humidity so rapidly that its use is often attended with great difficulty
when exposed for some time to the air. Saltpetre, which is an anhydrous and
non-hygroscopic salt, and of a relatively moderate cost, is the only body which
has hitherto appeared susceptible of being employed advantageously for giving
permanently to blasting powder as well as gunpowder their special properties.
The nitrates of other bases are generally deliquescent, and most of the salts,
such as the chlorates, chromates, &c. susceptible of furnishing the oxygen
requisite for rapid combustion, are either too expensive or too slow in action.
There is, however, a nitrate which is anhydrous and non-hygroscopic, which
may be substituted for saltpetre; this is the nitrate of baryta. This salt,
although its properties were not unknown to experimental chemists, has not

page_text: hitherto been employed in the manufacture of powder by reason of its great
cost. It is the manufacture of an explosive mixture, in which nitrate of
baryta is a complete or partial substitute for nitrate of potash, which forms the
main subject of the present Invention.
The carbonate of baryta, and more especially the sulphate of that base, are
very abundant in nature, and nothing is easier than to convert them into the
nitrate. The carbonate of baryta treated with hydrochloric acid furnishes
directly chloride of barium. Sulphate of baryta calcined with charcoal gives
sulphuret of barium, which is converted into chloride by means of hydrochloric
acid; the hydrosulphuric acid disengaged during this treatment may be burned
for the production of sulphuric acid in leaden chambers. The addition of the
sulphuret of barium to the chloride of manganese, the residuum of the manu-
factures of chlorine and of chlorides, gives chloride of barium. The direct cal-
cination of a mixture of chloride of manganese, sulphate of baryta, and charcoal
furnishes also chloride of barium. By heating to redness a mixture of
chloride of calcium and sulphate of baryta, sulphate of lime and chloride of
barium are obtained, which may be separated by quick washing. The chloride
of barium having been obtained by any of the processes above mentioned may
be converted into nitrate of baryta by double decomposition by mixing in a
hot state a concentrated solution of it with a solution (also concentrated) of
natural nitrate of soda. The nitrate of baryta is precipitated and crystallizes in
a nearly pure state as the solution cools. It is sufficient to employ for the
formation of the solution of the two salts such a quantity of water that the
chloride of sodium which is formed at the same time as the nitrate of baryta
The remainder of the
shall not be precipitated or fall down with it.
operation is carried on in exactly the same manner as is practised for
the conversion of chloride of potassium into saltpetre by means of nitrate
of soda. The crystallized nitrate of baryta only requires several washings to
bring it to the desired state of purity.
The mother liquors on being concentrated by evaporation will furnish
common salt and nitrate of baryta on cooling. The last portions of mother
liquor are again thrown into the first crystallizing vessels, so that no loss is
occasioned during the operation.
Nitrate of baryta may also be produced by treating the sulphuret of barium
with nitrate of soda and crystallizing it at a sufficiently elevated temperature.
The manufacture of blasting powder by means of nitrate of baryta is not
attended with any difficulty, it is carried on precisely in the ordinary way of manu-
facturing gunpowder with nitrate of potash, the well known processes of mixing,

page_text: caking, and granulating being employed. If required, and if it be desired to
have cakes of greater resisting power and a more dense powder, the water for
caking the powder may be rendered slightly mucilaginous by the addition
thereto of a small quantity of dextrine or starch; or the nitrate of baryta may
be substituted for the saltpetre in the manufacture of the powder, according.
to the rapidity of action required in the powder.
.
Thus, the following proportions of materials will be found to produce very
good results, viz. :-
Nitrate of baryta
Charcoal -
Saltpetre
.
77 parts.
21 parts.
2 parts.
100
The saltpetre is dissolved in a quantity of water sufficient to damp all the
charcoal uniformily, and become entirely absorbed by it. The quantity of
saltpetre thus employed, although very small, perceptibly increases the com-
bustibility of the charcoal and the rapidity of action of the powder. After
the charcoal has been dried it is intimately mixed with the nitrate of baryta,
and then grained or corned in the ordinary manner. For greater simplicity of
manufacture, the small quantity of saltpetre employed may be introduced into
the powder by dissolving it in the water used for damping the mixture.
No sulphur is introduced into the above composition because it is sufficiently
inflammable and combustible, also because the presence of sulphurous gas
is always inconvenient in mining operations where the blasting powder is
employed, also because the baryta remaining after combustion, being partly in
a caustic state, the sulphur is not necessary, as in powder made with nitrate of
potash, when, in order to obtain a good effect from the nitrate, it is important
that the alkaline metal should remain in the state of sulphuret, and, lastly,
because in presence of sulphur sulphate of baryta would be formed during
combustion, which reduces the effective force of the gases. In place of nitrate
of baryta it is also proposed to modify the action of the explosive mixture by
the introduction of nitrate of strontian or the nitrate of lead, using the same
either as a complete or partial substitute for nitrate of potash.
From inquiries and experiments which the Inventors have made with
respect to the preparation and employment of blasting powder containing
nitrate of baryta as an ingredient, they have found it advisable in certain
cases to increase the inflammability of this kind of powder, and at the same
time cause it to retain all its other essential properties. It has been ascertained
that the best means of arriving at this result is to cover or envelope the grains

page_text: of barytic powder, For this purpose the corned powder, which is still some-
what damp, is introduced into a polishing cask or vessel with a small quantity
of dust of ordinary powder, this dust adheres to the damp grains and envelopes
them in a layer of easily inflammable matter, by means of which the fire is
caused to spread with the required rapidity.
Having now described the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in the
Manufacture of Blasting Powder," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondents, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
desire it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
First, the use of nitrate of baryta obtained in the manner before described,
or in any other suitable manner, as a substitute (either partial or total) of
nitrate of potash in the preparation of blasting powder, in the manner and for
the purpose above set forth.
Secondly, I claim the use for the manufacture of blasting powder of the
nitrates of strontian and lead as substitutes for saltpetre.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)