A NEW MODE OF MANUFACTURING GUN- POWDER SUITABLE FOR WAR, MINING, AND GENERAL PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Dronke, of Oldhall Street, in Liverpool, in
the County of Lancaster, Merchant, and Agent to the Huelva Mining
Company, for the Invention of "A NEW MODE OF MANUFACTURING GUN-
POWDER SUITABLE FOR WAR, MINING, AND GENERAL PURPOSES."-A commu-
nication from abroad by Edward Schultze, of Potsdam, in the Kingdom
of Prussia, a Captain in the Prussian Royal Artillery.
Sealed the 27th May 1864, and dated the 11th April 1864.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Ernest Dronke at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 11th April 1864, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNEST
DRONKE, of Oldhall Street, in Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mer-
chant, and Agent to the Huelva-Mining Company, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention of "A NEW MODE OF
MANUFACTURING GUNPOWDER SUITABLE FOR WAR, MINING, AND GENERAL PURPOSES,'
communicated to me from abroad by Edward Schultze, of Potsdam, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, a Captain in the Prussian Royal Artillery,) and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
declaration that it is a communication.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ernest Dronke, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes

page_text: and ascertains the nature of the Invention, and the manner in which the same
is to be performed, that is to say :-
The fundamental material of this new gunpowder or explosive compound is
wood, or perhaps more properly speaking woody fibre, which, after the due
mechanical and chemical treatment herein-after described, is converted into
this explosive compound or gunpowder.
In the first step of this manufacture I take any species of wood, such as
poplar, lindon, ash, oak, etc., in the form of logs or boards, and divide them
up by sawing or otherwise into thin sheets or veneers. The harder kinds of
wood make a more explosive powder, and are therefore the best for the
manufacture of that kind used for mining purposes.
The manufacture of the powder as a whole may be very appropriately
divided into two processes sufficiently distinct in themselves for distinctive
description, and may be described under two general heads..
I. MECHANICAL PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL.
As before remarked, the wood to be used is to be reduced, by sawing or
otherwise, to thin sheets or veneers of about the one-sixteenth part of an inch
in thickness when the powder to be made is for ordinary small arms. As the
thickness of these plates or veneers determines the size of the grain of the a
powder, this thickness may be lessened or increased to suit the grains to the
purposes to which the powder is to be applied.
These plates or veneers are then passed under or through a punching
machine, such for instance, as is used in the manufacture of cards. The
'diameter of the punches should be about the same as the thickness of the plates a
or veneers, as this gives a regularity of structure to the granular mass of the
powder. I do not deem it necessary to describe the machinery necessary for
the purpose, as it constitutes no part of my Invention, and any good mechanic
can readily construct one sufficient for the accomplishment of this simple
operation. The cylinders of the wood thus formed constitute the parts to be 8
used in the further processes for the manufacture of the best kind of powder.
The reticulated plates or veneers of wood left by the punching operation
can now be utilized by cutting them up into small fragments. The plan I
have adopted and found to answer very well is to pass the reticulated plates
or veneers through rollers furnished with cutters around the periphery, and a
at about one-eighth of an inch from each other. When passed through such
rollers the plates or veneers will be cut into strips of the width of course of the
space between the cutters, that is, this would be the case if one set of rollers
only were used, but I find the better plan to be to pass a cutting roller over

page_text: he plates or veneers in one direction, and another across them in a line at
a right angle to the former. I thus cut the whole plate or veneer at once as
it were into the four-angled form. The material thus produced can be advan-
ageously used for the preparation of such powder as is used in 'fortifications
and the Navy, but is not so well adapted to land service, as the irregularities
in the form of the grain render them liable to injury from abrasion.
If we adopt the first plan suggested for cutting these reticulated plates or
eneers into strips, that is by passing them through rollers with cutters, we
till adopt the plan mentioned, or some other, for cutting them transversely,
hat the whole may be reduced to the condition of a coarse irregular grained
he plates or veneers in one direction, and another across them in a line at
right angle to the former. I thus cut the whole plate or veneer at once as
t were into the four-angled form. The material thus produced can be advan-
ageously used for the preparation of such powder as is used in 'fortifications
nd the Navy, but is not so. well adapted to land service, as the irregularities
n the form of the grain render them liable to injury from abrasion.
If we adopt the first plan suggested for cutting these reticulated plates or
eneers into strips, that is by passing them through rollers with cutters, we
till adopt the plan mentioned, or some other, for cutting them transversely,
hat the whole may be reduced to the condition of a coarse irregular grained
owder.
II. CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF THE GRANULATED WOODY MATERIAL.
The chemical treatment of the grains produced by the foregoing operations
o convert them into the explosive powder may be advantageously described
under the following heads :-
1st, the removal of acids and other easily soluble substances.
2nd, the removal of the proteine, albumin, etc.
3rd, the removal of the coloring matters.
4th, submission of the grains to the action of nitric acid.
5th, saturation of the grains with salts containing oxygen and nitrogen.
1st. The. removal of acids and other easy soluble substances.-Into a
settle, which I prefer to be of copper, and of a suitable size, is to be put as
nuch water holding three. pounds of carbonate of soda in solution as will
reely float one hundred pounds of the grains prepared as described under
head 1. This amount of the grains being introduced, and stirred up with the .
lkaline solution, the whole are boiled. together for three or four hours: At the
nd of this time the liquid becoming discolored is removed, and a fresh supply
dded, and the boiling continued for three or four hours: more. The grains
re then removed, and exposed for twenty-four hours to a current of fresh and
cold running water.
2nd. Removal of the proteine, albumin, etc.-The grains from the operation
1st having been dried are placed in boxes' of sheet iron or other proper
naterial having a cullender or sieve-like bottom, and steam' passed' through.
hem for about fifteen minutes, the proteine and albumin is thus separated,
and passes off with the water of condensation from the steam. After this the
grains are again placed in cold fresh and running water for about twenty-
four hours,and then dried.
3rd The removal of the coloring matter.-This might perhaps with equal

page_text: propriety bé called the blanching process. To accomplish the purpose the
purpose the grains may be treated with a solution of chloride of lime, or with
chlorine gas. If chloride of lime be used, about 15 lbs. of the salt is dissolved
in about 260 pints of water in an air-tight vessel. The dried grains
from operation 2 are placed in another vessel, and so much of solution of
the chloride poured into it as will entirely cover the grains. After about two
hours, keeping the grains constantly stirred during the time, the process will
be finished. The grains are then removed from the solution, and washed
with cold fresh running water, which is to be brought up to the boiling point,
and then removed, and again placed in cold fresh running water for about
twenty-four hours, after which they are to be dried at a moderately high
temperature.
When chlorine gas is used, the grains from operation 2* are placed in a
proper vessel, and the gas passed freely through them until the discoloration
is accomplished; they are then subjected to the washing described above, when
the chloride solution is used, and then dried.
4th. Submission of the grains to the action of nitric acid.-As a prelimi-
nary step in this operation, forty parts by weight of concentrated nitric acid,
of a specific gravity of 1-48-1-50, are mixed with one hundred parts by
weight concentrated sulphuric acid of specific gravity of 1.84, the mixture of
the acids to be constantly stirred or agitated for about two hours, when it is
to be set aside in some cool place for use. Then in an iron or other suitable
vessel, around which cold water should be kept constantly circulating, or by
some other appropriate arrangement, the vessel should be constantly subjected
to a refrigerating process. One hundred parts by weight of these mixed acids
. are placed, and six parts by weight of the grains gradually added, stirring the
whole constantly for two or three hours, at the end of which time the opera-
tion will be completed. The grains are then separated from the adhering
acid by draining than into a centrifugal machine, or by any other process
capable of accomplishing the same purpose. The centrifugal apparatus I
prefer, as it is well known that moisture can by the action of this machine
be promptly and successfully removed. As this machine is well known, and
used in sugar refineries, laundries, etc., a description of it is not deemed
necessary. The grains removed from the centrifugal machine are again
placed in cool fresh running water for two or three days, then again boiled up
in a weak solution of carbonate of soda, and again exposed for twenty-four
hours to cool fresh running water, and then dried. This brings the grains to
a state in which they may be stored away for the final operation, or they may
be proceed with at once as follows:-

page_text: 5th. Saturation of the grains with a salt or salts containing oxygen and
nitrogen. The salts used in this operation are nitrate of potasse (saltpetre)
and nitrate of barytes, the two may be used together, or the former (nitrate
of potasse) alone. When both salts are used, a solution of them is made by
dissolving 22-5 parts of the nitrate of potasse and 7:5 parts of the nitrate of
barytes in 220 parts of water at 112° Fahrenht, and stirring up in
it 100 parts of the grains prepared as above described for ten or fifteen
minutes. When only the one salt (nitrate of potasse) is used, dissolve
26 parts thereof in the above amount (220 parts) of water 67.5° Fahren
heit, and treat 100 parts of the grains in the same manner as when both
salts are used. The grains having thus been subjected to the action, the salt
or salts containing nitrogen and oxygen in their composition. are removed to
a room or chamber having the temperature in its air kept at from 90 to
112° Fahrenheit; where it should remain from twelve to eighteen hours to be
thoroughly dried. After this it is dusted by means of a drum or screen.
The process is then completed, and the powder ready for use.
The numbers given in the preceding description have been found to give
the best results, and to yield a powder of the finest qualities, but it is not to be
understood that my Invention requires a rigid adherence to them in carrying
it out; on the contrary, many changes may be made without departing from
its spirit, or affecting the principle upon which it is founded.
If it be desired to avoid the dangers of transportation to which all such
explosive compounds are exposed, the final process, as above described under
5, Section II., may be delayed, and the materials themselves, that is, the
grains as prepared according to the 1, 2, 3, and 4, Section II., and the salts
or their solutions (nitrate of potasse and nitrate of barytes), may be trans-
ported to the place at which the powder is required, and the final process
completed there. As neither the grains nor the salts separately are explo-
sive, we avoid all causes of danger and apprehension from the most difficult
transportation over the most distant roads by this means. The dust produced
from the sifted powder by the several operations as described amounts some-
times to 10 or 12 per cent. of the whole mass. To utilize this powder or
dust it is mixed into a paste with water or gum water, and rolled or spread
out into sheets of about three-eighths of an inch in thickness, these sheets are
then put under a powerful hydraulic or other press, and reduced to the thick-
ness of the plates or veneers described in the first part of the Specification,
that is, about the one-sixteenth (1) of an inch. These sheets are then
punched in the same way as the plates or veneers, and the grains dried. The
powder produced by this operation, or the dust, is the best for rifled small arms.

page_text: The following may be stated as the leading advantages which this explo-
sive compound possesses over the ordinary gunpowder.
1st, it has for equal weights from three to four times the strength of gun-
powder.
2nd, it can be manufactured at less cost than gunpowder.
3rd, its explosive effect is more regular than gunpowder, in consequence of
the greater uniformity in the size and character of its grains.
4th, its volatile products being chiefly oxygen, the vapour of water, nitrogen,
and a small quantity of carbonic acid, are not offensive to the lungs, whilst those
from gunpowder are well known to be exceedingly so. The volatile products
from my powder are lighter than atmospheric air, and quickly disappear; in
ordinary gunpowder it is the reverse. In casements, iron-clad steamers, mines,
&c., this is an important difference.
5th, it soils the gun or cannon in the slightest possible degree, indeed
almost to an inappreciable extent, owing, no doubt, to the removal by the
treatment of the grains of almost or quite all metallic or earthy matters from
the wood, and the complete combustion of all the elements of the powder.
6th, it admits of being manufactured in such a way that it may be stored
or transported without any danger from explosion.
Having thus fully explained the nature, character, and mode of preparing
my
Invention, what I claim therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of
Great Britain, Ireland, and the Colonies, is, the mode of manufacturing gun-
powder or explosive compound from grains or particles of wood or woody
fibre by the chemical treatment herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Dronke, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the said Ernest Dronke in the
presence of
Jos. J. ALLEN,
20, Bedford Row,
Sol.
ERNEST DRONKE. (L.B.)