IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONATE OF SODA AND IN THE RECOVERY OF MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Young, of Kelly, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CARBONATE OF SODA AND IN THE RECOVERY OF MATERIALS
EMPLOYED THEREIN
"
Sealed the 12th January 1872, and dated the 28th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Young at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th September 1871.
I, JAMES YOUNG, of Kelly, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONATE OF SODA AND IN THE RECOVERY OF MATERIALS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in the manufacture of
carbonate of soda and in the recovery of ammonia and carbonic acid
from the materials employed therein, consists in putting common salt
into an air-tight vessel and to this a solution of ammonia is added, or
}
"

page_text: the ammonia may be distilled from a separate vessel and passed through
a pipe into the vessel containing the salt, which acts as the receiver.
Into the vessel containing the salt a stream of carbonic acid is sent
through a pipe, either simultaneously with the ammonia or after it,
which acting with the salt and ammonia produces bicarbonate of soda
and solution of muriate of ammonia. The solution of muriate of
ammonia is run through a pipe or filter into the ammonia still, to
produce ammonia for another operation. The bicarbonate of soda
may be washed with a solution of common salt or a solution of
bicarbonate of soda to remove adhering muriate of ammonia, and
then heated or boiled with water, or steam blown into it to drive
off carbonic acid and residual compounds of ammonia which are
used in the production of another quantity of bicarbonate of soda, and
the carbonate of soda remains in the vessel.
The vessels herein-before referred to are by preference made of iron
and air-tight in order to prevent loss of ammonia.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
YOUNG, of Kelly, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Young, Her special license
that I, the said James Young, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Young, my executors, administrators,
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 THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONATE

page_text: "
OF SODA AND IN THE RECOVERY OF MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Young, by an instru̟-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 im
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
0
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Young, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
My said Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of
carbonate of soda and in the recovery of ammonia and carbonic acid
from the materials employed therein. And in order that my said
Invention and the mode of putting it into practice may be fully under-
stood, I proceed to more particularly describe and ascertain the same.
My Invention consists in placing common salt and water in an air-
tight vessel, and to this a solution of ammonia is added, or the ammonia
may be distilled from a separate vessel and passed through a pipe into
the vessel containing the salt and water which acts as the receiver. Into
the vessel containing the salt a stream of carbonic acid is sent through a
pipe, either simultaneously with the ammonia or after it, which, acting
with the salt and ammonia produces bicarbonate of soda and solution of
muriate of ammonia. The solution of muriate of ammonia is run off
through a pipe or close filter into an ammonia still, so as to be used to
produce ammonia by the usual process for a repetition of the operation.
The bicarbonate of soda may be washed with water, a solution of
common salt or other salt of soda, to remove adhering or mixed muriate
of ammonia, and then heated or boiled with water, or steam may be
blown into it to drive off carbonic acid and residual compounds of
ammonia. These compounds of ammonia are used in the production of
another quantity of bicarbonate of soda, whilst the carbonate of soda
already formed remains in the vessel.
.
1
It is obvious that various arrangements of apparatus may be used in
effecting the objects of my Invention, but one arrangement which I have
employed and find to answer the purpose is illustrated on the Sheet of

page_text: Drawings which I have hereunto appended, in which Figure 1 is an end
elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 an elevation of the end of
the apparatus opposite to that shewn by Figure 1.
The apparatus illustrated by these Figures consists of three cylindrical
air-tight iron vessels A, B, and C, each of which is carried by journals D,
fitted so as to revolve in bearings È fixed on the framing F. Beneath
each of the cylindrical vessels A, B, and C a fire-grate G is situated, and.|
at one end of each such vessel a bevil wheel H is attached. The wheels
H are in gear with bevil pinions I carried on short vertical shafts J,
each of which has at its lower end another bevil pinion K in gear with
similar bevil pinions L on the horizontal shaft M. The pinions L'are
provided with levers N movable on studs O, by which the pinions L are
thrown out of or into gear with the pinions K when required. By
means of the combination of mechanism now described it follows that
whenever rotary motion is communicated to the shaft M at the same
of the vessels A, B, or C which are in gear are caused to
time any
revolve.
In employing this apparatus for the purposes of my Invention, it is
advantageous at all times to have any two of the vessels A, B, or C in
communication with each other by means of the pipes which pass
through the hollow journals D of any one of the vessels to the hollow
journals of any other of the vessels." For the sake of simplicity in
description I assume that the vessels A and B are in .communication
by the pipes a and b provided with stop-cocks c, d, e, and f. In com-
mencing to manufacture the carbonate of soda the door g in the end of
the vessel A is removed and a quantity of salt and water or solution of
salt, in the proportions of one hundred parts of salt to three hundred
parts of water by weight, is charged thereinto through the doorway,
which is afterwards closed air-tight by the door g being replaced, care
being taken that the quantity of liquid is such that its surface is well
below the ends of the pipes h and i, which may be turned upwards
inside the vessel A, as shewn. The pipe h is in communication with an
ammonia still not shewn in the Drawings, and the ammonia, in the
proportion of thirty-five parts by weight to the hundred parts of salt
(calculating the ammonia as pure ammoniacal gas) is now admitted into
the vessel A through the pipe h connecting it with the ammonia still.
'I mention the foregoing proportions of water, salt, and ammonia, as
quantities which I find to succeed in practice, but I do not limit myself

page_text: to them as they may be varied to a considerable extent. A stream
of carbonic acid gas, preferably obtained by separating it from
bicarbonate of soda heated with water or steam, or from carbonate of
lime heated to redness in a retort with steam passed through it, is then
admitted through the pipe i which passes through the pipe h, its
termination projecting beyond the pipe h, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2.
When bicarbonate of soda begins to be precipitated the vessel A is kept
at a temperature of about 125° Fahrenheit.
During the operations herein-before described the vessel A is kept
revolving so as to constantly expose fresh surfaces of the salt and water
or solution of salt to the action of the ammonia and carbonic acid, and
the exposure of fresh surfaces may be still further increased by placing
perforated discs or plates of metal or other substance, or a series of arms
inside the vessel. The admission of the carbonic acid is continued until
absorption ceases, and it is to be understood that one or both of the
pipes a, b, connecting the vessel A with the vessel B are in open com-
munication between the two vessels A and B during the whole time that
ammonia and carbonic acid are admitted to the vessel A, so that any
portion of them which escapes absorption in the vessel A may pass over
to act upon a charge of salt water and ammonia in the vessel B.
'
It is desirable that the quantity of water in the vessel B should be less
than 300 parts to the 100 of salt, in the proportion that water is supplied
thereto from condensed steam which passes over from the vessel A
during the liberation of carbonic acid from the bicarbonate of soda; and
this remark also applies to any water which may be supplied as con-
densed steam from the ammonia still. After the absorption of ammonia
and carbonic acid is complete, the rotation of the vessel A is stopped;
and after allowing the bicarbonate of soda to settle, the solution of
muriate of ammonia is discharged through the cock k and a pipe
temporarily coupled thereto, directly or through a close filter back into
the ammonia still to produce ammonia for another operation. The
close filter when used is so arranged that its connection with the
vessel A. and the ammonia still may be shut off when required, and then
any bicarbonate of soda deposited therein may be treated by heating the
filtering apparatus to drive off carbonic acid and the ammonia to be
reutilized. After the solution of muriate of ammonia is run off the bicar-
bonate of soda remaining in the vessel may be washed either with water,
a solution of common salt, or other salt of soda, and allowed to settle,

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner of carrying out the
same in practice, I observe in conclusion that what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First. The boiling with water of the bicarbonate of soda mixed with
compounds of ammonia, or heating it by steam so as to reduce it to
carbonate of soda by driving off and recovering a portion of the carbonic
acid and the residual compounds of ammonia, in the manner herein-
before described.
Second. Conducting the manufacture of carbonate of soda in the
manner herein-before described, so that all the ammonia or compounds
of ammonia are always kept within air-tight apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Young, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.