IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORGANIC AND OTHER SUBSTANCES CONTAINING PHOSPHATE OF LIME
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Richardson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORGANIC AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
CONTAINING PHOSPHATE OF LIME."
Sealed the 12th September 1860, and dated the 16th March 1860.

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Richardson, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Richardson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Richardson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORGANIC AND OTHER SUBSTANCES CONTAINING
PHOSPHATE OF LIME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Richardson, 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 Thomas Richardson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in treating substances containing phosphate of lime
with sulphurous acid in order to produce a soluble phosphate of lime.
This Invention further consists in treating bones with sulphurous acid to
obtain the animal matter free, or nearly free from earthy matters.
This Invention also consists in mixing porous materials with guano previous
to decomposing it by means of acids, either per se or mixed with porous
materials.
I carry out my Invention in the following way:-I mix Peruvian or any
other kind of guano with one-third of its weight of sawdust or any other porous
material thoroughly moistened with water, and I throw the mixture on
perforated shelves in a wooden or stone box, similar to those in use in the
manufacture of bleaching powder, or in the purification of coal gas; I then
pass a current of cold sulphurous acid gas over and through the mixture until
I find that all or nearly all the phosphate of lime will dissolve in water. The
mixture is then to be withdrawn and replaced by fresh charges. This mixture
will be found to possess increased value as a manure, and may be used in the
same way as the original guano.
I also prepare a soluble phosphate of lime from bones, bone ashes, apatite,

page_text: or coprolites, in the following manner :-For this purpose I employ a series of
towers or condensers, similar to those in use for condensing muriatic acid, but
instead of leaving the whole-space of the condenser open from top to bottom.
1 divide it about every 4 or 5 feet by means of a stone diaphragm perforated
with holes. I, of course, make openings in the side of the condensers, corre-
sponding with the level of these partitions or shelves for filling and removing
the materials. These condensers are also connected alternately at top and
bottom to permit the stream of cold sulphurous acid gas (which I obtain from
any of the well-known sources) to pass through, and which, if any escapes
condensation, may at last be conveyed and mixed with the hot gases passing to
an ordinary sulphuric acid chamber. The different partitions of the condensers
being filled with the material to be operated on, I run on a small stream of
water while the current of sulphurous acid gas is being drawn through by the
action of the draft of the chimney with which the towers are to be placed
in connection. The sulphurous acid is absorbed and combines with one
equivalent of the lime in the phosphate, which sulphite of lime along with the
diphosphate of lime thus formed, dissolve in the liquid sulphurous acid, and
runs off at the bottom of the condenser. If the solution does not stand as
high as 15° Twaddell, it may be pumped up by suitable machinery to the top
of the condenser and substituted for the water which is employed for con-
densing the acid gases. The solution having acquired a strength of about 15°
Twaddell; I heat it in furnaces, pans, or cisterns, by steam or otherwise, until
I precipitate all the phosphoric acid as diphosphate of lime, which I employ
in that state as a manure; or, having ascertained by analysis how much lime
is in combination with the phosphoric acid, I add as much sulphuric acid as
will combine with from one half to the whole of the lime; the greater part of
the lime is precipitated as sulphate, which I either remove by subsidence or I
take liquid and precipitate and evaporate off the water till the mass acquires a
pasty consistence, when I dry up the contents of the pan or furnace, by means
of sawdust or any other porous organic material. The resulting mixture I
employ as a phosphatic manure.
When acting on bones, and the liquid which comes from the condenser falls
in strength, indicating that the whole or nearly all of the earthy matter has
been extracted from the bones, I open the side doors already mentioned, and
remove the animal matter. I now dry the animal matter, which may be
afterwards used for the production of glue or size. The weak liquors as they
run from the condensing towers are conveyed to a cistern filled with phos-
phatic material through which they are allowed to flow to enable the free
sulphurous acid to act upon the phosphate of lime in the bones previous to

page_text: being pumped up for use in the towers. When I fill the condensers with
bones, it is advisable to crush them, so as to expose them more effectively to
the action of the sulphurous acid, and for the same reason it is preferable to
soften them also by immersion in tepid water for some time before placing
them in the towers.
In operating on bones, it is essential to prevent either the gas all the liquid
becoming hot enough to soften or dissolve the animal matter.
In treating guanos with sulphuric acid, especially those, which, like Peruvian,
contain a large per-centage of ammonia, the heat generated by the sudden
chemical action has a tendency to throw off a large quantity of the ammonia,
while the earthy matters run into knots covered with a coating of gypsum,
which prevents the full action of the sulphuric acid on the phosphates. I find
both these objections to the use of sulphuric acid are obviated, either by
mixing the guano with about one-fifth of its weight of sawdust or other porous
organic materials before adding the acid or by dividing the porous material
between the acid and guano, and then adding the mixtures of acid and sawdust
to the guano and sawdust, and thoroughly incorporating them.
The following proportions I prefer to use when treating Peruvian guano :-
20 cwt. Peruvian guano mixed with
THOMAS RICHARDSON. (L.S.)