Improvements in the Treatment of Manure and other Organic Matters and in the Production therefrom of Ammonia and Residual Products free from Ammonia.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1886.
Complete Left, 29th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 10th June, 1887.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Manure and other Organic Matters
and in the Production therefrom of Ammonia and Residual
Products free from Ammonia.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK NAST of St. Louis in the United States of America but
at present residing at 225 Regent Street in the County of Middlesex Gentleman
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object an improved process for the production of Ammonia
and residual products free from Ammonia by the treatment of manure and other
organic matters and consists in improvements upon the known process for the
extraction of Ammonia by the treatment at high temperatures in closed vessels of
organic matter containing nitrogen.
In order to obtain or produce ammonia from manure or other organic matter it
suffices to bring it in contact with an alkaline base such as lime, potash, soda or
the like or any compound containing these bases and to heat to a temperature of about
from 158° to 176° Fahrenheit.
If this operation be performed in a boiler or other closed vessel and the released
vapour of Ammonia be made to pass through water acidulated with sulphuric acid the
acidulated bath retains the ammonia which is transformed into sulphate of Ammonia.
If in operating by this process it be desired to recover the fixed nitrogen in the form
of Ammonia or at least a part of it, it is necessary to repeat the operation several
times renewing the lime which has become spent after each operation and by heating
to a temperature of from about 284° to 302° Fahrenheit and it is even then most
difficult to effect the extraction of the fixed nitrogen as Ammonia.
I have recently ascertained that I can obtain in the form of Ammonia practically
all the fixed nitrogen contained in manure or other organic matters by adding thereto
(in the proportion of about two per cent of weight) of common salt or Chloride of
Sodium or other equivalent Chloride to the lime or other base and performing the
operation in a boiler or analogous closed vessel at a temperature the same as those
hereinbefore mentioned. In experimenting I treated stable manure in a closed boiler
with five per cent of lime and two per cent of Chloride of Sodium working at a

page_text: pressure of about five atmospheres corresponding to a temperature of about
302° Fahrenheit and I extracted in one operation all the fixed nitrogen in the form
of Ammonia which being passed through a bath or solution of Sulphuric acid formed
Sulphate of Ammonia. It is of course understood that by employing other acids
other salts of Ammonia are obtained such as by employing nitric acid Ammonium
Nitrate is obtained.
It is therefore by the addition of Chloride of Sodium or of a similar Chloride or
other equivalent agent in the operation of heating as described which allows the
extraction of practically all the nitrogen in the form of Ammonia from manure or
other organic matters and leaves residual products of great value for a variety of
purposes as being practically free from Ammonia.
Dated this 4th day of December 1886
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W:C.,
Agent for William Frederick Nast.

page_text: Improvements in the Treatment of Manure and other Organic Matters
and in the Production therefrom of Ammonia and Residual
Products free from Ammonia.
I WILLIAM FREDERICK NAST of St. Louis in the United States of America,
but at present residing at 225 Regent Street in the County of Middlesex Gentleman
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention relates to the extraction of ammonia and residual products from
manure and other organic matters. In order to obtain or produce Ammonia from
manure or other organic matter it is sufficient as is well known to bring it in contacț
with an alkaline base such as Lime potash and soda or the like or any compound
containing those bases and to heat at a temperature of about from 158° to 194°
Fahrenheit.
If the operation be performed in a closed vessel or boiler and the released vapour
of ammonia he made to pass through water acidulated with sulphuric acid
the ammonia will combine with the acid in the acidulated bath and form sulphate of
ammonia.
If in operating by this process it is desired to recover the fixed nitrogen in the
form of Ammonia or at least a part of the same it is necessary to repeat the operation
several times to renew from time to time the lime which has become spent after
each operation and to heat the material treated to a temperature varying from about
284° to 302° Fahrenheit and it is even then most difficult to effect the extraction of
the fixed nitrogen as ammonia.
Now I have discovered that when this operation above described is conducted in
the presence of a body susceptible of facilitating this decomposition as for example
chloride of sodium or other chloride that the decomposition aforesaid will take place
with great rapidity and chlorides of ammonia and of lime are formed.
Thus I am able to obtain in the form of ammonia practically all the fixed nitrogen
contained in manure or other organic matter by adding thereto common salt or
chloride of sodium or other equivalent chloride. I find that from about two to five
per cent by weight of chloride and 5 to 10 per cent by weight of Lime may
he used with the materials treated and give good results The operation of heating
is conducted in a boiler or other closed vessel of similar character at temperatures
from about 284° F to 302° F.
In practice when stable manure is heated in a closed boiler with from 5 to 10
per cent of lime which may be used in the form of milk of lime or in the ordinary
crude state and with from two to five per cent of chloride of sodium at a working
pressure of about five atmospheres corresponding to a temperature of about 302°
Fahrenheit all or practically all the fixed nitrogen is extracted in the operation and

page_text: ammonia may be recovered in the form of a sulphate by means of a bath of sulphuric
acid.
It is obvious from the foregoing that by employing other acids other salts of
ammonia may be produced. Thus for example by employing nitric acid nitrate of
ammonia is produced By means of the addition of chloride of sodium or other
similar chloride or in fact of any other equivalent agent which produces the same
effect in the presence of heat I am able to extract practically all of the nitrogen from
the manure or other materials treated and to leave a residual product practically
free from ammonia which is of great value for the manufacture of various
articles where fibrous materials in the form of pulp may be advantageously used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that what I claim is.
First. The herein before described process of extracting ammonia and obtaining
residual products from manure or other organic matters by adding to the matters to
be treated an alkaline base and treating the same with chloride of sodium or the
equivalent in a closed vessel at a high temperature the volatile products being passed
through a bath or solution of acid whereby a salt of ammonia is formed and a
residual product is left substantially free from ammonia.
Second. The manufacture of ammoniacal and residual products from manure or
the materials containing ammonia by subjecting them to high heat in the presence
of an alkaline base such as lime and of a chloride substantially as herein
described.