IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN THE APPA- RATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN THE APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by Henri
Olivier Prosper Lissagaray, of Pantin, in the Republic of France,
Chemist
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd April 1875.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
Henri Olivier Prosper Lissagaray, of Pantin, in the Republic of France,
Chemist, to be as follows:-
inturn of soluble and nutrescible

page_text: шашиг from new products obtained uy ՆԱ special treatment
nitrogenous substances, such, for example, as leather, wool, and horn,
which in their natural condition are insoluble and imputrescible, and
also to apparatus to be employed in operating upon the before-mentioned
substances.
In carrying out this Invention the leather, wool, horn, or other
substance is subjected to the operation of torrefaction in close vessels in
such a manner as to produce a commencement of dry distillation, and
after the lapse of a period which varies from, say ½ hour to 40 minutes,
and after successive emissions of gaseous products having different
chemical composition, and also differing in a physical point of view in
their appearance and in their colour, the before-mentioned substances
soften again at a temperature of from say 180 degrees to 190 degrees
centigrade, and yield a homogeneous gummy mass, which by prolonging
the action of heat and avoiding contact with the air becomes liquified,
and commences to boil at a temperature of between 215 degrees and
220 degrees centigrade. Aftor cooling the product thus obtained becomes
soluble, friable, and may be readily pulverized.
One of the notable advantages of this process (which is particularly
applicable to the treatment of leather) consists in the manure prepared
with the waste of tanned leather (for example) being rendered readily
assimilable. The effect of the tannin which renders leather wholly
imputrescible is altogether counteracted by the special treatment which
forms part of this Invention.
The pulverized product, after torrefaction, is slightly soluble in
distilled water, and the odor of the putrefaction becomes very per-
ceptible at the end of a few days, when sulphate of lime is added to the
solution, but more particularly when an excess of phosphate of lime is
again added to it.
In an alkaline solution the solubility augments rapidly; it is at its
maximum with a weak lye of potash or soda and with dilute ammonia
it increases also notably with lime water.
If one part of quicklime be taken and intimately mixed with say
about 99 parts of powder of leather torrefied by this process the
mixture treated with water gives a solution which on ebullition evolves

page_text: traces of ammonia. This solution left either exposed to the open air or
placed in a closed flask becomes covered at the end of several months
with mould; but the putrefaction does not get beyond this first stage.
If, at the end of about two months, this solution be boiled several
times, it is observed that the evolution of ammonia is continuous and
regular.
The solution of the powders torrified by this process, with or without
the addition of alkaline substances, is partially precipitated by bi-
chloride of mercury and permanganate of potash, and wholly pre-
cipitated by the addition of ferrocyanide of potash and a few drops of
acetic acid. Or the precipitation may be obtained by adding to this
liquid first soda or potash and then sulpho-hydric acid, and decomposing
the sulpho-hydrate thus formed by a mineral or organic acid.
The improved process consists, as before mentioned, in continuing the
torrefaction in such a manner that it becomes a commencement of dry
distillation. This operation causes the escape or liberation of gaseous
products whereby the putrefaction of the residuum is facilitated.
The ammonia produced by the distillation is collected in the sulphuric
acid to form sulphate of ammonia, which is incorporated afresh in the
pulverized residuum of the torrefaction. The residuum, after the
escape of the gaseous products, constitutes a viscous liquid susceptiblo
of being brought to a state of ebullition, and which may be caused to
circulate at will in pipes by the pressure of steam.
The apparatus which in carrying out this Invention it is preferred to
employ for the torrefaction or the partial distillation of the raw material
by the assistance of superheated steam is constructed in the following
manner-The apparatus consists of a chamber supported on suitable
masonry and surrounded by a hot-air fluc, which chamber is filled with
superheated steam, and at the bottom of which the liquified substances
are allowed to collect. A vessel perforated with holes, and destined to
contain the substances to be melted or converted is suspended inside the
chamber before mentioned. The substances contained in the vessel
escape as they melt by the holes above mentioned, and are collected at
the bottom of the chamber and rise in a pendent pipe by the pressure of
the steam, whence the liquid may be drawn off as desired by means of
suitable pipes and cocks. The gasos evolved in the vessel during tho

page_text: •
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-|
nistrators, or 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, uso, excrcise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MANURE, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
munication to me from abroad by Henri Olivier Prosper Lissagaray,
of Pantin, in the Republic of France, Chemist, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors
or administrators, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
"
a com-
· NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thercon, that is to
say:-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of soluble and
putrescible manure from new products obtained by the special treatment
of nitrogenous substances, such, for example, as leather, wool, and horn,
which in their natural condition are insoluble and imputrescible, and
also to apparatus to be employed in operating upon the before-mentioned
substances.
The process which forms the subject of the said Invention is parti-
cularly applicable, from a chemical point of view, to horn, wool, and

page_text: leather, but from a commercial point of view it is especially adapted for
the treatment of leather for the purpose before mentioned.
In carrying out the said Invention the leather, wool, horn, or like
substance is subjected to torrefaction in close vessels, the operation being
prolonged so as to produce incipient dry distillation. It has been found
that these substances, videlicet, leather, horn, wool, and the like, all
of which tend to a common type designated epidermose or keratine, and
chemically are simply unimportant modifications of the latter when treated
as before mentioned, yield in a regular and constant manner a product
which, according to the said Invention, is utilized for the manufacturo
of manure, and the characteristics of which are herein-after described.
After the lapse of a period, which varies from say quarter of an hour to
forty minutes, and after successive emissions of gaseous products having
different chemical compositions and also differing in a physical point of,
view in their appearance and in their colour, the before-mentioned
substances soften (say at a temperature of from 180° to 190° centigrade)
and yield a homogeneous gummy mass. By prolonging the action of
heat and avoiding contact with the air the gummy mass becomes
liquefied, and at a temperature of say between 215° and 220° centigrado
the liquid commences to boil, after which it is allowed to cool. The
product thus obtained becomes in part soluble and friable, and may be
readily pulverized.
It has been previously stated that the process is especially adapted to
the treatment of leather for obtaining a product to be utilized in the
manufacture of manure; for this purpose the waste of tanned hides is :
particularly suitable, an important advantage of the process consisting in
the ready assimilability of the manure prepared with the product
resulting from the treatment to which the leather is subjected. The
effect of the tanning which renders leather wholly imputrescible is
altogether dsstroyed by the special treatment which forms part of this
Invention.
The process of torrefaction employed in accordance with this Invention
"iffers completely from those processes which have previously been
applied to wool and animal matters in general, and the object of which
has been to reduce to a minimum the chemical decompositions which
the influence of heat is capable of effecting in wool (for example) so as

page_text: to obviate the partial liberation of the nitrogen and also to render the
wool friable, and augment as much as possible its divisibility by
mechanical means.
The improved process, on the contrary, consists, as before mentioned,
in continuing or prolonging the torrefaction to such a degree as that
incipient dry distillation shall be produced. This operation causes the
escape or liberation of gaseous products to an amount equivalent to say
about one-sixth of the weight of the matter to be torrified. The escape and
liberation of certain of these gases (such, for example, as sulphuretted
and phosphuretted gases) facilitates the putrefaction of the residuum,
whilst their presence in wool, as in the ordinary process, retards such
putrefaction.
The ammonia produced by the distillation is absorbed by means of
sulphuric acid so as to form sulphate of ammonia, which may be
incorporated with the pulverised residuum resulting from the operation
of torrefaction. This mixture has the following advantages :—
First. It restores to the residuum under the most dissimilablo form
the nitrogen which it has lost during the operation.
Second. Under the influence of organic matters, which reduces the
residuum by absorbing the oxygen contained therein, the sulphate of
ammonia becomes an energetic agent for effecting the decomposition of
such organic matters.
After the escape or liberation of the gaseous products to the extent of
say about one-sixth of the weight of the matter submitted to the operation,
the residuum constitutes a viscous semi-fluid mass susceptible of being
brought to a state of ebullition, and which may be caused to circulate
at will in pipes by the pressure of steam. The viscous and fluid nature
of this product distinguishes it from all other similar products previously
known, and also admits of its being treated upon a commercial scale in
special apparatus, as herein-after described, and from which it can be
obtained by being run or drawn off after the operation.
It is obvious that although in carrying out this Invention the torrefac-
tion or distillation is by preference not continued when the matter has
lost say about one-fifth or one-sixth of its weight, yet the operation may
be carried to a higher or stopped at a lower degree, according to the

page_text: special requirements of any particular case. Tho product resulting from
this improved process possesses the following chemical characteristics and
properties, videlicet:-The torrified product, when pulverized, is slightly
soluble in distilled water. The solution so obtained is of a yellow straw
colour; by allowing it to stand in a flask it becomes after the lapse of t
about a month covered with white pellicules, and emits a slight odour
indicative of a slow decomposition. By the addition of sulphate of
lime to the solution the odour of the putrefaction after the lapse of a
few days becomes very perceptible but it is especially so when an
excess of phosphate of lime is subsequently added.
1
Second. In an alkaline solution the solubility is increased, more
especially when a weak lye of potash or of soda or dilute ammonia is
employed. Its solubility is considerably increased by the employment
of lime water.
Third. If one part of quicklime be taken and intimately mixed with 1
say about ninety-nine parts of powder of torrified leather, and tho mixture
be then 'treated with water, a solution which on ebullition evolves traces
of ammonia will be obtained. If the solution so obtained be allowed to
stand either exposed to the open air or enclosed in a flask it will become
covered after the lapse of several months with mould, but the putre- 2
faction does not extend beyond this first stage. If, after the lapse of
say about two months, this solution be boiled, evolution of ammonia
will result. It should be stated that the solubility of the mixture does
not increase with the quantity of lime added, which should not exceed
a proportion of about ten per cent., as an excess precipitates the organic 2
matter.
Fourth. The solution of the powders obtained from the substances,
such, for example, as leather, wool, and horn torrified by this process,
with or without the addition of alkaline substances, is partially pre-
cipitated by bi-chloride of mercury and permanganate of potash, and it a
appears to be wholly precipitated by the addition of ferrocyanide of
potassium and a few drops of acetic acid. The means, however, which
it is preferred to employ for obtaining the precipitation of the soluble
portion are the addition to the solution first of soda or potash and then
of sulpho-hydric acid, and then decomposing the sulpho-hydrate formed
either by a mineral acid or by means of an organic acid.

page_text: The apparatus which it is preferred to employ for the torrefaction or
partial distillation of raw material by the aid of superheated steam, and
which also forms a part of this Invention, is illustrated by the two
Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, to which I shall now
refer, the same letters indicating corresponding parts in both the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a sectional
elevation, and Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a chamber A supported on suitable masonry
and surrounded by a hot-air fine B, which chamber is filled with super-
heated steam from the superheating apparatus B¹ or other source by the.
steam supply pipe O, and has suspended therein a vessel D perforated
with holes, and intended to contain the substances to be melted or
converted. These substances, which are introduced into the vessel D
through the manholes a, b, provided at the top of the chamber A and
the vessel D respectively, become melted under the action of the heat to
which they are subjected, and the resulting liquid or semi-fluid escapes
by the holes above-mentioned, and collects at the bottom of the chamber
A, whence it ascends a pendant pipe E by the pressure of the steam,
and may be drawn off as desired by means of the pipe F and cock G.
The gases evolved in the vessel D during the fusion escape under the
influence of a vacuum produced by exhaust or vacuum chambers H, H,
through a pipe I. A steam supply pipe K opening into the pipe I is
also provided for the admission of steam to the vessel D for the purpose
of clearing the holes in the same in case of their becoming obstructed.
The vessel D is also provided with a stirrer, consisting of a vertical
spindle L having arms or beaters M at its lower extremity, and passing
through a stuffing box N on the pipe I so as to enable it to be mani-
pulated from the exterior. The pipe I is fitted with a cock O for
regulating the communication between the vessel D and the exhaust or
vacuum chambers H, H, and it should be provided with a thermometer
to indicate the temperature of the gases issuing from the apparatus.
The torrified powders may be employed as manure either alone or
mixed with other chemical substances.
When it is desired to apply the powders in conjunction with other
substances the following mixture of ingredients (which also forms part

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The production of substances and products capable of being
employed as manure by submitting the before-mentioned materials to a
torrefying process, the torrefaction being conducted in such a manner as
that the materials under treatment are caused to soften and liquefy,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second. The employment in the manufacture of manure of the
residuum or product resulting from the treatment of the before-
mentioned materials in the manner set forth, in combination with other
substances, as herein-before described.
Third. The employment for the production of manure of the com- {
positions herein-before described.
Fourth. The application and use of the perforated vessel for containing
the substances to be operated upon, in combination with an outer

page_text: chamber, into which superheated steam is introduced for heating the
substances contained in such vessel, and with means of drawing off the
gases evolved from the substances under treatment and discharging the
resulting products, the whole arranged and operating substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before described and as illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
chamber, into which superheated steam is introduced for heating the
substances contained in such vessel, and with means of drawing off the
gases evolved from the substances under treatment and discharging the
resulting products, the whole arranged and operating substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before described and as illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second
day of October, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
resulting products, the whole arranged and operating substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before described and as illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second
day of October, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.