IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASTE OR REFUSE ANIMAL OR NITROGENOUS MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCING FERTILIZING SUBSTANCES OR ARTIFICIAL MANURES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Crookes, of Mornington Road, Regent's
Park, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, F.R.S., for the
⚫ Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASTE OR REFUSE
ANIMAL OR NITROGENOUS MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCING
FERTILIZING SUBSTANCES OR ARTIFICIAL MANURES."
Sealed the 3rd February 1874, and dated the 23rd August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Crookes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd August 1873.
I, WILLIAM CROOKES, of Mornington Road, Regent's Park, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, F.R.S., do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF
WASTE OR REFUSE ANIMAL OR NITROGENOUS MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
PRODUCING FERTILIZING SUBSTANCES OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES," to be as
follows:-

page_text: nitrogenous matters to which my Invention is applicable may be divided
into three classes, each requiring somewhat special treatment.
Class I. consists of dry and tolerably stable animal matters, such as.
woollen rags, wool waste, or dust shoddy and wool singeings, hair, and
any refuse or waste matters containing hair in sufficient quantities; 5
feathers of all kinds and the residues therefrom; horn, horn dust and
'shavings, claws, hoofs, and all horny matters and their wastė; whale-
bone shavings and other waste, silk waste, leather waste, such as
shavings, scraps, old leather, old boots and shoes, and the like.
Class II. consists of wet putrescible matter, such as fish, either fresh 1
or stale, or such as is unfit for food; fish offal, and the refuse of fish
markets, or from whale, seal, and other blubber; condemned meat,
refuse of slaughter houses, including offal viscera, guts, skin, and other
waste, and also the waste from glue and gelatine factories; raw hides
and the waste or cuttings from the same, either with or without the 1
hair; tanners' and curriers' residue, and raw bones.
Class III. consists of liquid or semi-liquid matters not so nitrogenous as
the substances in classes I. and II., and comprises sewage, urine, blood,
the drainage from slaughter houses, night soil, and excreta, the liquid
refuse from tanneries, fellmongers', drainage from middens, cow sheds,
or stables.
In carrying out my Invention I dissolve some of the matters comprised
in Class I., or mix them with an alkaline solution and others in an acid
solution (sulphuric acid), and mix the two solutions or liquids together
in order to neutralize them and produce a neutral salt, leaving the
nitrogenous matters. free, and in a state to be used for fertilizing
purposes. Some manures will heat and become alkaline, and give off
ammonia. In order to prevent this I add to the mass some of the acid
solution above referred to; I also sometimes mix it with carbolic acid
for the purpose of making sulphocarbolic acid and sulphocarbolate of
alumina for dissolving alumina and making sulphate of alumina.
When operating upon raw fish and other of the wet substances com-
prised in Class II, the substance is to be cut up in any convenient
manner and placed in a hydro-extractor, whereby the liquid or watery
particles. contained in substances may be got rid of. If the liquid
extracted-by this operation should be found to contain oily matters or.
-

page_text: other valuable substance, it may be preserved and subjected to subse-
quent treatment in order to utilize everything that is of commercial value.
Sulpho-carbolic acid or sulpho-carbolate of alumina or other acid or
alkaline solutions may be passed through the mass in the hydro-extractor,
and when the substance has been deprived of the greater part of its
moisture it may be spread out to dry in the air, or it may be dried by
artificial means, or it may be dried in bags by hydraulic pressure.
When sufficiently dry the substance may be pulverized and sifted to
remove the hard bony particles which may be mixed with the acid
solution above mentioned so as to produce a manure containing an
excess of phosphate. The pulverulent part which passes through the
sieve will contain an excess of nitrogen.
In treating the matters comprised in Class III. (sewage for instance),
the sewage may be first treated with lime, and then a mixture of basic
sulphate of alumina, manganated clay, and manganated charcoal added
thereto.
Instead of the latter substance a highly nitrogenous charcoal made by
beating some of the substances in Class I. may be used.
If in any of the operations it be desired to use a stronger disin-
fectant or deodorizer than those above mentioned, I prefer to use the
substance Patented by me, 18th October, 1871, No. 2763.
By adding the mass resulting from the above described
mixed
process
with an acid solution of the nitrogenous waste, nitrogen will be added
to the substance, and all tendency to fermentation will be prevented.
By filtering the effluent water intermittently through manganated
clay, manganated charcoal, or basic sulphate of alumina, the organic
matter will be removed therefrom.
The manganated substances are made by mixing the base with a
soluble salt of manganese (chloride or sulphate), and then adding an
alkali or the alkaline solution of the nitrogenous waste. These manga-
nated compounds when dry possess great drying and deodorizing
properties, and it is for these reasons they are used for mixing with
some of the compounds as above mentioned.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Crookes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd February 1874.
°
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CROOKES, of Mornington Road, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
.Gentleman, F.R.S., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Crookes, Her
special licence that I, the said William Crookes, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Crookes,
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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASTE OR REFUSE ANIMAL OR NITROGENOUS
MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCING FERTILIZING SUBSTANCES OR ARTIFICIAL
MANURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Crookes, my executors or administrators, 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 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 William Crookes, 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) :-
The object of this Invention is to convert waste or refuse nitrogenous
matters into artificial manures or fertilizing substances. The animal or
nitrogenous matters to which my Invention is applicable may be divided
into three classes, each requiring somewhat special treatment.

page_text: Class I. consists of dry and toleraby stable animal matters, such as
woollen rags, wool waste or dust, shoddy and wool singeings; hair, and
any refuse or waste matters containing hair in sufficient quantities;
feathers of all kinds and the residues therefrom; horn, horn dust and
shavings, claws, hoofs, and all horny matters and their waste; whalebone
shavings and other waste; silk waste, leather waste, such as shavings,
scraps, old leather, old boots and shoes, and the like.
Class II. consists of wet putrescible matters, such as fish, either fresh
or stale, or such as is unfit for food; fish offal, and the refuse of fish
markets, or from whale, seal, and other blubber; condemned meat,
refuse of slaughter houses, including offal viscera, guts, skin, and other
waste, and also the waste from glue and gelatine factories; raw hides,
and the waste cuttings from the same, either with or without the hair
1;
tanners', and curriers' residue, and raw bones.
Class III. consists of liquid or semi-liquid matters not so nitrogenous
as the substances in Classes I. and II., and comprises sewage, urine,
blood, the drainage from slaughter houses, night soil, and excreta; the
liquid refuse from tanneries, fellmonger's, drainage from middens, cow
sheds, or stables.
In carrying out my Invention I take any of the matters comprised in
Class I., and dissolve part of them in or mix them with an alkaline
solution in a close vessel, and the rest in an acid solution (sulphuric
acid); and mix the two solutions or liquids together in order to neutralize
them and produce a nearly or partially neutral salt, leaving the
nitrogenous matters partly in solution and partly in precipitate, and in a
state to be used for fertilizing purposes. Although all the substances in
this class may be dissolved in either an acid or an. alkaline solution I
find it preferable and advantageous in practice, to dissolve certain
substances in alkali and certain others in acid. For instance, I prefer to
dissolve dense and hard substances, such as horn and whalebone in
alkali, while softer and less dense substances, such as wool, hair, and
feathers may be dissolved in sulphuric acid.
•
:
When I have only a single substance to deal with I dissolve or
mix part of it in acid.and part in alkali, in such proportions as are
required to produce a neutral salt when the two solutions are added
together.

page_text: If cheapness of manufacture be desirable the cheap alkali soda may
be used, and after mixing it with the sulphuric solution the resulting
neutral salt will be sulphate of soda, which is of little agricultural valuc.
It might however be better to employ the more expensive alkali, potash,
either in the caustic form, or in the form of carbonate mixed with
.slaked lime. The resulting neutral salt will then be sulphate of potash,
a body of great agricultural value.
As a source of potash, the large quantity naturally present in the
juice and flesh of fish may perhaps be turned to account. Some or all
of this potash may be retained in the resulting "fish guano." One
'hundred parts of caustic potash will dissolve one hundred and forty-four
parts of horn shavings, or one hundred and ten parts of clean leather.
A quantity of carbonate of potash equivalent to one hundred parts of
caustic potash, treated with one hundred and twenty-two parts of slaked
lime dissolve one hundred and twenty-six parts of horn shavings. In
these cases about half the potash remained unneutralized, as shewn by
titration with standard acid.
A volume of the alkaline leather solution, which contained by
calculation 42.85 of potash, and by experiment 18.06 of free caustic
potash required for neutralization, as ascertained by litmus paper, a
volume of the acid solution of wool, containing by calculation 18·06, and
by experiment 17.03 of acid at 1-841 (mem., 18.06 of free potash require
19.5 of acid at 1·841).
Again a solution of horn in potash, containing by calculation 36.2
grains of potash, and by experiment 18.6 grains of free caustic potash
required for neutralization; a volume of acid solution of wool, containing
21-42 grains acid at 1.841 by calculation, and 20·2 of free acid by
experiment (mem., 18.6 of potash require about 19.7 of acid of sp. gr.
1.841).
II. The alkaline solution of nitrogenous matter may also be utilized
by boiling it down in closed vessels, either with or without the addition
of lime, or drying it by other means, and then subjecting it to dry
distillation. By this means the nitrogen is evolved in the form of.
ammonia, which may be fixed by passing it over or into the acid
solution of nitrogenous waste.
Materials which decompose slowly may be impregnated with the
sulphuric acid solution of the nitrogenous matters, and the product may
E

page_text: be spread out in the form of a
"
"scrubber in the path of the heated
gases and ammoniacal vapours from the stills.
The amount of alkali present in the alkaline solution of waste being
far in excess of 'what is wanted for the production of ammonia it can be
used to neutralize the acid nitrogenous liquid, and if necessary the
deficient alkali can be replaced by the addition of quicklime. By adopting
this plan the nitrogen from both the acid and alkaline solution can be
obtained as ammonia, and the neutral salt (sulphate of potash or of
soda) will remain in the retort with the carbon, combined with a little
nitrogen, &c., whence it can be extracted by water, or the mixture can
be added direct to the manure if it is required to be fortified by potaslı
and nitrogen.
Some manures will heat and become alkaline and give off ammonia.
In order to prevent this I add to the mass some of the acid solution.
above referred to. I also sometimes mix carbolic acid with the weak
acid solution, or with the mass, or with a strong acid solution for the
purpose of making sulpho-carbolic acid and sulpho-carbolate of alumina.
The acid solution may also be used for dissolving alumina and making
a nitrogenous sulphate of alumina.
When operating upon raw fish and other of the wet substances com-
prised in Class II. the substance is to be cut up in any convenient
manner and placed in a hydro-extractor, whereby the liquid or watery
particles contained in the substances may be separated therefrom and
subsequently treated in order to obtain or utilize the potash and nitrogen
and oil contained therein.
When the cut up fish (or similar substance) is either in or ready to be
put in the hydro-extractor it can first be wetted with the acid solution
of the nitrogenous matters, with which may be mixed any desired disin-
fectant deodorizer or antiseptic, such as salts of alumina, manganese,
carbolic acid, creosote, &c., and then when the fish or other substance is
well saturated with the acid solution the alkaline solution can be forced
through the mass in the same way, and by being driven through the
mass by the centrifugal force produced by the rapid rotation of the
hydro-extractor the acid solution in the mass may be neutralized by the
alkali.

page_text: The chemical neutralization and precipitation (of manganese for
instance to form manganated compounds) will then take place in the
pores of the mass. By alternately putting in acid solutions and alkaline
solutions the solid body (fish, &c.) used as a basis can be impregnated to
any desired extent, first, with one substance and then with another
substance (or with one substance only). The liquid which runs out of
the hydro-extractor will be or can be made if desired neutral or nearly
so, and will contain a certain quantity of valuable nitrogen, although a
large portion of the nitrogen originally in solution will have been
precipitated in the mass of the fish or other basis and retained.
The nitrogen in solution in the liquid running out of the hydro-
extractor can be utilized by many ways already alluded to. The liquid
may moreover be used for mixing with or diluting the acid and alkali
used in the first solvent operation. The resulting product will be richer
in nitrogen by the amount originally present in this diluting liquid. If
the liquid extracted by this operation should be found to contain only
matter or other valuable substance it may be preserved and subjected to
subsequent treatment in order to utilize anything that is of commercial
value.
Sulpho-carbolic acid or sulpho-carbolate of alumina or other acid or
alkaline solutions or any desired disinfectant, deodorizer, or antiseptic
may be passed through the mass in the hydro-extractor, and when the
substance has been deprived of the greater part of its moisture it may be
spread out to dry in the air, or it may be dried by artificial means, or it
may be dried in bags by hydraulic pressure. When sufficiently dry the
substance may be púlverized and sifted to remove the hard bony particles.
By this treatment of the fish material the mass is divided into three
classes, from which three classes of manure may be produced. The
liquid portion contains as the dominant manurial element potash, chiefly
required for leguminous plants; another portion as the dominant
manurial element phosphate, chiefly required for root crops; and a third,
which as the dominant manurial element nitrogren, chiefly required for
cercals.
In treating the matters comprised in Class III. (sewage for instance)
the sewage if not already sufficiently alkaline may have a small quantity
of lime added thereto, and then a solution of basic sulphate of alumina
either alone or in combination or mixed with manganated clay, and
]

page_text: manganated charcoal ground up with water to a creamy consistency
may be added thereto. Instead of the latter substance a nitrogenous
charcoal made by heating some of the substances in Class I. may be used..
The subsequent processes of sewage purification, such as settling in
tanks, drawing off the effluent water, and collecting and drying the mud,
are well known, and therefore need not be described. By adding the
mud resulting from the above described processes mixed with an acid
solution of the nitrogenous waste nitrogen will be added to the substance
and all tendency to fermentation will be prevented.
By filtering the effluent water intermittenly through manganated clay,
manganated charcoal, or basic sulphate of alumina, the greater portion
of the organic matter will be removed therefrom.
The manganated substances are made by mixing the bases with a
soluble salt of manganese (chloride or sulphate for instance), and then
adding an alkali or the alkaline solution of the nitrogenous waste. .The
precipitated oxide of manganese keeps on taking up oxygen from the air
in the presence of organic matter, and gives up some of its oxygen to the
organic carbon and hydrogen, thereby oxydising them, and generally
acts as a calalytic body after the manner of spongy platinum, wood, or
animal charcoal, &c. These manganated compounds when dry possess
great drying, oxydizing, and deodorizing properties, and, it is for these
reasons they are used for mixing with some of the compounds as above
mentioned.
The really active agent in the mixture used in any sewage purifi-
cation process is the soluble alumina. The alumina is practically
rendered .soluble by combining it chemically with sulphuric acid, and in
the form of alum and sulphate of alumina it has been repeatedly used
for sewage precipitation.
Now the active constituent of sulphate of alumina being the soluble
alumina it follows that if in a given bulk or weight of sulphate of
alumina the sulphuric acid could be diminished, and the alumina
increased, without thereby interfering with the other good qualities of
the salt, several advantages would be gained. Bulk and weight would
be lessened, cost (per unit of soluble alumina) would be diminished
(inasmuch as the expensive part of the salt is the sulphuric acid), and
the effluent water would be purer and would analyze better, owing to
there being a less quantity of sulphuric acid in it in the form of sulphate
of lime. &c.

page_text: All these advantages are secured by using one of the basic sulphates of
alumina.
If in any of the above operations it be desired to use a stronger
disinfectant or deodorizer than those above mentioned, I may use the
substance patented by me, Eighteenth October, One thousand eight hun- 5
dred and seventy-one, No. 2763.
Having now described my Invention of " Improvements in the Treat-
ment of Waste or Refuse Animal or Nitrogenous Matters for the Purpose
of Producing Fertilizing Substances or Artificial Manures," and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the 1
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. Treating nitrogenous substances by dissolving or mixing part of
such substances in an acid solution and part in an alkaline solution, and
then mixing the two solutions together in such proportion as to form
completely or partially a neutral salt containing the nitrogenous matter 1
dissolved or suspended in it in an easily assimilable form, as herein set
forth.
Second. Using acid solutions of nitrogenous substances either alone or
mixed with other matters for the purpose of fixing ammonia or for
acidifying manure, so as to prevent heating and loss of ammonia, as 2
herein set forth. I also claim the application of the acid solution of
nitrogenous substances for making sulpho-carbolic acid, and sulpho-
carbolates for making nitrogenous sulphate of alumina and other nitro-
genous sulphates.
Third. I claim treating fish, flesh, and other putrescible nitrogenous 2
bodies with antiseptics, disinfectants, or deodorizers, or alternately with
acid and alkaline solutions of nitrogenous matters by steeping or wetting
such putrescible nitrogenous bodies in or with the chemical solutions
which are driven through the mass by placing the substance to be acted
upon in a hydro-extractor, as and for the purpose hercin set forth. 3
Fourth. Treating fish, flesh, and other putrescible nitrogenous sub-
stances in the manner herein set forth, and dividing or separating the
resulting mass into three portions, one of which (the liquid) contains
potash as its dominant manurial constitucnt, the second (the bony
portion) contains the phosphates as the dominant manurial constituent, 3
and the third (the fleshy portion) the nitrogen as the dominant manurial

page_text: constituent, from which three kinds of products, three manures of different
qualities may be obtained, as herein set forth.
Fifth. Purifying sewage or the effluent water therefrom by the
application thereto (either alone or in combination) of a basic sulphate
of alumina or manganated compounds, such as manganated clay,
manganated charcoal, or manganated nitrogenous matters, as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof I, the said William Crookes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
WILLIAM CROOKES. (L.S.)