IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING CERTAIN COMPOUNDS OF NITROGEN AND OF SULPHUR
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Richardson and
Martin Diederich Rucker, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 19th May 1865.
We, THOMAS RICHARDSON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, Chemist, and MARTIN DIEDERICH RUCKER, of Leadenhall Street, in
the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING CERTAIN COMPOUNDS OF NITROGEN
AND OF SULPHUR," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in obtaining certain compounds of nitrogen
and of sulphur, by submitting the exhausted oxide of iron from the purifying
process in the manufacture of coal, gas, or so called gas refuse, to lixiviation
with water, or with a solution of any or all of the sulphates of potash, soda,
and magnesia, until all or nearly all soluble matters are dissolved. When the
gas refuse has been lixiviated with water alone, a solution of any or all of
the above sulphates is added to the liquor.

page_text: The liquor containing the soluble matters of the gas refuse, such as salts of
ammonia and other compounds of nitrogen, and any or all of the above sul-
phates, is then boiled up to strength and set aside to crystallize. The
compound salt or salts so obtained are applicable as manure and for other
purposes where ammoniacal compounds are required.
The insoluble portion of the gas refuse is allowed to drain, and the sulphur
it contains can be burnt off in the usual way, so as to obtain compounds of
sulphur for the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
or
CATION In pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Richardson and Martin Diederich Rucker, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
RICHARDSON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tync, Chemist, and
MARTIN DIEDERICH RUCKER, of Leadenhall Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 28th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Thomas Richardson and Martin Diederich Rucker, Her special
license that we, the said Thomas Richardson and Martin Diederich Rucker,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas Richardson and Martin Diederich Rucker, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING CERTAIN COMPOUNDS OF
NITROGEN AND OF SULPHUR," upon the condition (amongst others) that. we,
the said Thomas Richardson and Martin Diederich Rucker, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our 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 we, the said Thomas Richardson and Martin
Diederich Rucker, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
In the manufacture of coal gas the purification is accomplished in several
localities by means of oxide of iron. When the oxide of iron ceases to act
beneficially it is thrown aside, and is known under the name of gas refuse.
This gas refuse contains ammonia and other nitrogenous compounds, together
with sulphur, and the object of our Invention is to obtain and apply the same
to useful purposes in the arts.
We first separate the soluble ammoniacal and other nitrogenous compounds
by lixiviating the gas refuse with water or with a solution of sulphate of
potash, soda, or magnesia, or with mixtures of the same. This operation is
performed by exposing the gas refuse in wooden, stone, or metal tanks, to the
solvent action of the water, or of the solution of all or of any of the above-named
salts. When we employ water, we ascertain by analysis the quantity of
nitrogen present, as ammonia or otherwise, in the solution, and then add an
equivalent quantity of any of the before-mentioned sulphates, also in solution
in water. When we use these salts in solution for extracting the ammonia
and other nitrogenous compounds from the gas refuse, we first ascertain the
quantity present, and then dissolve the equivalent proportions of any or all
these salts, in the quantity of water necessary for lixiviating the parcel of gas
refuse under treatment. The gas refuse varies much in quality in respect of
the per-centage of ammonia and other nitrogenous compounds present,
which necessitates the use of different quantities of water or of the aqueous
solutions of the before-mentioned salts in order to extract all the soluble
nitrogenous substances. It is, therefore, necessary to make a preliminary
experiment, on a small scale, to ascertain how much water is required for the
above purpose. When the quantity of water has been determined, the total
alkaline or magnesian sulphate is dissolved in this water, and this solution is
employed as already explained. When the lixiviation is complete and the
solution contains the equivalent quantity of alkaline or magnesiansulp hate,
the liquor is evaporated in a metal pan by steam heat, or by a fire underneath,
and the salt which falls is removed to a drainer alongside, and the concentrated
liquor is then run into coolers to allow the salts present to crystallize,
or the evaporation is continued so long as any material salts out, and fresh
liquor is added to the mothers left in the pan, or the mothers are dried up by
means of sawdust, charcoal powder, peat, rice, or seed husks, or any similar
substance. The salting or crystallizing out begins when the liquors reach a
density of about 1'400 specific gravity. The alkaline or magnesian sulphates
form double salts with the ammonia and other nitrogenous compounds, which

page_text: same
are so far stable that the evaporation can be conducted in an open pan with-
out any serious loss, while the ammonia and other compounds of nitrogen are
obtained in a form well suited for agricultural purposes. These salts, either
in the crystalline form or dried up by sawdust, when treated with lime in the
manner as gas liquor, yield ammonia, which can be converted into
sulphate or muriate of ammonia by passing the gas into either sulphuric or
muriatic acid in the usual way. The residue of the gas refuse left after
lixiviation is then removed from the tank and allowed to drain until it is
tolerably free from moisture; this residue, when dried, is mixed with sulphur
to the extent of from 10 to 20 per cent., according to the facility with which
it burns when heated, and this mixture may be burnt in any ordinary sulphur
kiln for the production of sulphurous acid in and for the manufacture of
sulphuric acid; or the refuse may be placed on a flat surface near the level of
the burning pyrites in any furnace or kiln, such as are used in chemical
works, when the sulphur it contains will ignite and burn off. The sulphurous
acid obtained is also used for the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
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, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel
or original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the obtaining of certain compounds of nitrogen and of sulphur by the
processes herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of the compounds of nitrogen obtained in
the manner herein-before described as manure, and for purposes where
ammoniacal compounds are required.
Third, the application and use of the sulphurous acid obtained in the
manner herein-before described to the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richardson, on behalf of myself
and the said Martin Diederich Rucker, have to this our Specification set
my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
THOMAS RICHARDSON. (L.S.)