AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE FROM SEWAGE WATERS AND OTHER FLUIDS CONTAINING AMMONIA OR NITROGENOUS MATTERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lindsey Blyth, of Derby Street, Parliament
Street, in the City of Westminster, Analytical Consulting Chemist, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE FROM
SEWAGE WATERS AND OTHER FLUIDS CONTAINING AMMONIA OR NITROGENOUS
MATTERS
"
Sealed the 23rd July 1858, and dated the 15th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lindsey Blyth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the
15th February 1858.
I, GEORGE LINDSEY BLYTH, of Derby Street, Parliament Street, in the City
of Westminster, Analytical Consulting Chemist, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE FROM
SEWAGE WATERS AND OTHER FLUIDS CONTAINING AMMONIA OR. NITROGENOUS
MATTERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture of
manure from sewage waters and other fluids containing ammonia or nitro-
genous matters. For this purpose a solution of phosphate of magnesia in
combination with lime or other precipitating agent is applied to the sewage

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Lindsey Blyth in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 30th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LINDSEY BLYTH, of Derby Street, Parliament Street, in the City of West-
minster, Analytical Consulting Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give and grant unto me, the
said George Lindsey Blyth, Her special licence, that I, the said George
Lindsey Blyth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said George Lindsey Blyth, 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 "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE FROM SEWAGE WATERS AND OTHER
FLUIDS CONTAINING AMMONIA OR NITROGENOUS MATTERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Lindsey Blyth, 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 George Lindsey Blyth, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention.consists in the employment of a soluble or superphosphate
of magnesia, to be added to or mixed with the sewage or other fluids, and
then-precipitated with lime, or other precipitating agent, as herein-after
described. Sewage, contains nitrogenous matters, which in their recent state

page_text: are partly soluble and partly insoluble. These pass rapidly into a state of
decomposition, giving rise to ammoniacal and other offensive compounds.
When superphosphate of magnesia is added to the liquid, it neutralizes the
ammonia, forming an insoluble triple phosphate of magnesia and ammonia,
which is precipitated or thrown down out of the liquid. If sufficient ammonia
be present in the sewage to neutralize the whole of the superphosphate added,
it is all precipitated, and carries with it all the insoluble and nitrogenous
matters held in suspension in the sewage, but if the sewage have not under-
gone such decomposition, so as to give rise to the formation of ammonia, then
it will be necessary to add some other alkali, as, for example, lime, in sufficient
proportion to neutralize the whole of the excess of acid which kept the super-
phosphate in a soluble state. The phosphate is then precipitated or thrown
down out of the sewage or other liquid, and in its descent carries down with it
all the insoluble nitrogenous substances which were previously held in suspen-
sion in the liquid. The precipitate is a valuable manure, while the supernatant
liquor, being freed from ammonia and nitrogenous matters liable to undergo
putrefaction, becomes deodorized, and may be either applied to the irrigation
of land, or run off into the ordinary channels of drainage without fear of creating
any nuisance or offence.
The superphosphate of magnesia may be prepared by the mutual decom-
position of the superphosphate of lime and a salt of magnesia. The plan I.
adopt is, to prepare the superphosphate of lime from bones or bone ash,
apatite, phosphorite, coprolite, or any other substance containing phosphate of
lime, by the aid of sulphuric or muriatic acid, or other acid.
"
I find the following proportions answer exceedingly well:-To every ton of
phosphate of lime in powder I add half a ton of sulphuric acid of commerce,
previously mixed with three times its own weight of water, or three quarters
of a ton of bydrochloric acid of commerce, previously mixed with twice its
own weight of water. These are allowed to stand together for 2 or 3
days; being frequently stirred, and to this mixture is then added half a ton of
sulphate of magnesia, dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water, say, a little
more than its own weight. The whole is mixed well together, and a sufficient
quantity of powdered charcoal (about one ton) is added to bring it into a solid
and convenient form for transporting from one place to another.
I do not confine myself to these ingredients, or the proportions above
specified, although I find them to be the best I have been able to devise, as
in lieu of any of the above-named substances containing phosphate of lime I
can substitute other substances containing phosphoric acid, such as phosphate
of magnesia (in which case it only has to be converted into a super-

page_text: phosphate or soluble form
the use of some acid, and does not require
.any salt of magnesia to be added to it), a phosphate of alumina, iron,
copper, or any other substance containing phosphoric acid. These are in a
.similar manner to the before-mentioned substances to be brought to the soluble
form, and by double decomposition with a salt of magnesia converted into
.the superphosphate of magnesia. When it is to be used this solidified com-
pound must be dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water so that it .may be
-easily distributed or mixed with the sewage or other fluid, and be thoroughly
incorporated by means of an agitator in the proportion of 5 grains of the
phosphate to every 100 grains of solid matter in a gallon of the sewage.
In the case of sewage, the fluid or dissolved portion may alone be mixed or
'incorporated with the sewage, and the insoluble portion 'added to the 'pre-
scipitated matter to assist in its solidification, or the whole mixture may be
-thrown in so as to assist in the precipitation of the solid matters, for the insoluble
portion of this compound is valuable as manure, and will improve the quality
of the deposit. In the case of other fluids containing ammonia or nitroge-
+nous matter, as for example, gas or dye, or other waste liquors, the whole
compound, or the soluble portion only containing the superphosphate of
magnesia may be added, as in the case of sewage, and treated in 'the same
"manner. If the liquor operated on, whether sewage or other liquid, does-not
'contain sufficient free ammonia or other alkali, to neutralize and precipitate
the whole of the soluble or superphosphate of magnesia, I then add sufficient
lime either in the form of milk of lime, or of lime water to neutralize the
excess of acid. The quantity required must be determined in every instance
by a test, this may be readily done by taking a measured quantity of the liquid
.to be operated on (say, a gallon), after the superphosphate of magnesia has
*been added. Measured quantities of lime or any other alkali must be added
until the blue color of litmus paper is no longer reddened. The amount for
the whole quantity: to be operated on may then be easily calculated. When
the excess of acid which held the superphospliate of magnesia in solution is
*neutralized, the phosphate of magnesia is thrown down as a flocculent precipi-
State, and carries with it, after the manner of a clarifier, any insoluble impuri-
Ities suspended in the liquid. But, instead of lime, milk of lime, or lime water,
I can employ any other alkali or 'alkaline earth, such as soda or potash, or à
liquor containing soda or potash, or magnesia, or magnesian limestone or
alumina, to bring about the reaction I require, namely, the neutralization of
the excess of acid of the superphosphate after it has been mixed with any of
the aforesaid liquors, and its precipitation from the liquor in a solid form.
What I claim as my Invention is the employment of a soluble phosphate to

page_text: neutralize and fix any ammonia or nitrogenous matter in sewage or other
fluids; and also when using a soluble phosphate, I claim the employment of
lime or other alkali, or alkaline earth, to neutralize the excess of acid so as to
precipitate the whole of the phosphate from the liquid.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Lindsey Blyth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEO. PITT.
GEORGE LINDSEY BLYTH. (L.S.)