The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 40

Sunday Morning Biff LL $LB ElJt L7tf JL VM Making the A The Wonderful Story of How Nitrogen Is Now Extracted From the Atmosphere, Reduced to Liquid Form and Combined With Other Ingredients to Make Wornout Land Fertile flASHVJLLE MAN AT THE HEAD OF A GREAT PLANT Principal Offices Are in Nashville, and Much Nashville Money Is Invested in American Cyanamid Company Whose Factory Is Located at Niagara Falls. wm. ivwui, rr vitu-rriuc Tlie accompanying photographs show a portion of the enlarged plant of the American Cyanamtd Company of Niagara Palls, Ontario, Canada. The buildings, some of which arc nav in process of cover too large area for all to show In one photograph. At this plant is manufactured 'cynmtmid," a fertilizer material, the nitrogen of which Is derived from the atmosphere.

This largo. Increasing and successful Industry is in sense a Nashville enterprise, as a large proportion of the funds for the erection of tho initial plant was subscribed by Nashville residents; a Nashville man Is still at Its head, and Its executive offices are located In Nashville. The only reason the factory Itself is not In Nashville Is that sufficiently cheap and abundant electric power Is not available here as is the case at Niagara Falls. It may truly ho said that the people of Nashville are the "pioneers" of the United States In the. establishment of what has since proven to be a great and Mvorld-wldc industry, namely, the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen upon a commercial scale.

This Industry Is now engaging the attention of the scientist!) of all countries and it is universally conceded that to this industry all those who till the soli will eventually, and at no very distant date, have to look for the earth's supply of nitrogen to replace that constantly being taken from the earth by the growing crops. I'HOfilllSSS OF AMKIUCAN VAX AMID CO.1IIM.YV. The Initial plant of the American Cyanamid Company, at Niagara Falls. Ontario, started commercial operations In January, 1910. Prom tho showing mado by this more or less experimental plant, additional cupltal was secured, from the proceeds of which extensions, doubling the capacity of the original factory, have been already completed and placed In operation, and further extensions which will quadruple the capacity of the.

original factory are now in process of construction, to he completed during the spring of 1914. Negotiations are now under way for the erection of factories in other parts of the territory controlled by the American Cyanamid Company, and which include tho. United States, Its territories and possessions, and the Dominion of Canada. NATfltli OF Tin-: INDUSTRY. The manufacture, sale and uso of cyamimld is on a world-wide commercial basis.

In addition to the plant at Niagara Palls, there are from one to three plants In successful operation In each of the following countries, the capacities of npnrly all of which have been largely Increased, and even larger extensions contemplated, which in most eases are now under construction: Germany, Prance, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Norway, Japan Additional factories are now projected for Egypt. British India and Tee-land; In fact, wherever sufficiently cheap hydro-electric power Is available, USBS OF CYANAMID. Tn ndditlon to its ise as a fertilizer, which Is tho only uso which has been made of it up to this time in the United States, cyanamid Is capable of being ndllv converted into ammonia, nitric acid, cyanides and a long lino of nitrogenous derivatives! for which there is an ever-Increasing demand In the explosives. 'lyelnir, ore extracting and other Industries. The present production of cynnamld, approximating 32,000 tons per annum, Ih sold to fertilizer manufacturers and mixers throughout tho United States, who uso it os a source of nitrogen ammonia) In manufacturing high-grade "complete" fertilizers.

The material Is now used In over throe hundred factories and the ever Increasing demand for cyanamid warrants the belief that next year's production nf approximately (14,000 tons will find a ready markot. the ali Top Panorama view the great plant of the American Cyanamid Co. at Niagara Falls Below, at left Frank S. Washburn, Nashville engineer and capitalist, who has been a pioneer in the wonderful, industry of manufacturing nitrogen from fertilizer purposes. To the right Another view of the plant at Niagara Falls.

The following Interesting and Instructive facts were contained In a splendid address recently delivered before the National Conservation Congress at 'Washington. D. by Mr. Prank S. Washburn, tho Kashvlllo capitalist and pioneer in the great nltrogen-from-the-alr industry: development nnd advanco of the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen depend, at least' as-far as applies to the process of liinnvji commercial practicability? Dr.

Samuel Eyde, the. pioneer of theArc process, honored by his fellow countrymen us the creator of the. New Industrial fcorway, says: "Our industry cannot exist. It-can procure cheap water power." Neither can the Cyiinnii industry exist without cheap water power, although It Is not 'In this respect as the Arc process. WATER 1MW Kit IN TIIH SOUTH.

i noth the Arc and the Cyanamid processes require riot only- a great amount of electrical energy, but what makes the demrind especially difficult to meet is that the processes are continuous each minute of the day for every day of tho year, thus requiring a continuous application of energy. At the present time the largest use of fertilizers in the United States is in the Southern States for cotton, citrous fruits, truck crops and corn. The great available water powers of tho country within' the permissible distance over which fertilizers can bo transported to the farmer are in the South. The necessary water power is to bo found in the Southern States on the rivers whose head waters are in tho Appalachian Mountains, not In tho small streams nor near the head waters of tho rivers, but for the most part only at points on tho great rivers where there may be found combined tho two natural of a large minimum flow and an 'ndoqua'te fall In the bed of tho stream within a limited All these considerations point unerringly to the' practical necessity. If tho nitrogen Industry Is be established on a broad scale In tho United States with the maximum of advantage to the industry and the people, to placing nitrogen fertilizer factories at what Is called the "fall line" of the streams Issuing from the Southern Appalachians.

The fall Hn in a general way the line whero the streams pass from an older to a younger geologic formation. It marks the old shoro line of the nnclent inland sea of Paleozoic time and can bo traced today north and south through Centrnl Tennessee, then In a great half moon curling symmetrically Central Alabama, near Sheffield and Florence on tho Tennessee Ulver. south lMrmlng-hnm and near Wetumpka on the Coosa to the Georgia state near the city of Columbus, thence northeasterly atfrons tho Carollnas through Macon. Mllledgevllle, Augusta, Columbia, Camden. Welden on tho ltoanoko.

Richmond on tho James Washington on the Potomac. Note also in this connection that the fall line follows closely the center of gravity of population. Industry and actlvltyas well' as for the most part practically bysQcting the cultivable area of the Southern Stales. It Is particularly pertinent to note that where the fall "line crosses all of the great rivers of tho South there la Introduced Invariably a section of shoals, rapids or fallH which constitute' so-rlous obstruction to navigation or limit It entirely and thereby establsh the "head of navigation." There is possibly another opportunity in this connection presented In tho South which In the Interest of the farmer may prove more valuable than any other. Jt lies 'In the fact that practically tho only commercially avaliblo phosphate deposits of tho world occur In tho Southern States, and for the most part close to-' 'the fall line.

-Wo rire warranted in the belief that there will bo: perfected, and probably heforp long, so greatly on improved method of transforming phosphate rock Into an agricultural fertilizer as to constitute a revolution in the character and quality of commercial fertilizers With the present outlook this development Is practicable only when tarried but In conjunction with tho fixation, of atmospheric nitrogen, producing together with potash (whlch'niay become a product of Southern origin oh well) t'io so-called com- -Uli. rnfttltnf. FOOD SUPPLY. The food supply is tho chief concern of mankind. The problem of maintaining a cheap and plentiful supply has been greatly accentuated during the past few years, and despite the attention of statesmen and the public generally, no solution Is yet at hand.

The civilized world Is growing at a rate which doubles its numbers In sixty-five year'- Improvements In sanitary science and in the care and feeding children, the relative-Infrequcncy of decimating diseases and 4o Improved control of deadly epidemics are contributing causes to this unprecedented growth. Hand In hand with tho Increase in. numbers there Is an increased per capita POPULATION FOOD SXJPPIY UNITED STATUS. For ten years following the population of the United States grew from 76,000.000 to 02,000,000. an Increase of 21 per cent.

During the same period crop production Increased 10 per cent. In practically tho same period our exports of wheat and flour Increased from 31 per cent of their production to only 13 per cent. For the samo period theimportatlon of foodstuffs more than doubled. Beef cattle produced In this' country have fallen off 32 per cent in six years, while the population has grown at the rate of 21 per cent INCREASED COST OF LIVING. These figures are strikingly reflected in the Increased cost of foodstuffs, which" from ISflfl to 10X2 amounted to 80 per cent in the United State's, while the gonornl advancement In the cost of living during; this period was 59 per cent In the United States.

40 per cent In England and 40 to 45 per cent In Continental Europe. We have the same story from India, Australia and' the settled portions of Africa. The hardships experienced by the wage-earning classes have been very.great throughout the world, In view of the fact. that the percentage their total expenditures spent for foodstuffs increases as income decreases. All that has been said relative to food applies, with some modification, to -the clothing of mankind-- SOCIAL PROGRESS.

Emancipation from that toll which is rewarded only by food and and tho hope of social progress lie's in reducing. tho cost of maiaKne coss i ties and thereby enab'llng society to secure in a constantly Increasing degree tho benefits of clean and orderly living, recreation, education and the things which are beautiful. The importance of anything that 1b, or promises to be. a material factor In tho cheaper production of 'food and clothing is clearly fundamental. 1 NITROGEN.

Thorafore, there is no part, or division, of the general subject of conservation (in which the whole civilized' world is expressing tho lmportanV'as soil fertility conservation, In xvhichahe.most'lmpprtantTsngi fictor is the use of cop fertilizers, the chief offjfcvhlch Is nitrogen. her of arc processes varying In their mechanical and electrical details, but all achieve about the same, energy efficiency. The Cyanamid process for the fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen proceeds by the way of combining nitrogen gas with calcium ear-bid to form Calcium Cyanamid. The characteristic steps of the process are simple, consisting -first of bringing calcium and carbon, in tho forms respectively of lime and coke, into chemical combination In the Intonse temperature of tho electric furnace, forming Calcium Carbld, grinding this product to a powder and treating It in secondary set of electric furnaces with nitrogen gas of a high degree of purity. The nitrogen Is best secured by the mechanical Itnulfaction of air and its coincident fractional distillation.

The product from the secondary furnaces is crushed and reduced to the form nf powder, hydra td to remove caustic lime and is ready in this state for direct application to the soil, either alone or In combination with other plant foods. Cyanamid has other uses as the raw material In the manuracturo of a long line of derivatives such as Ammonia. Nitric Acid. Ammonium Nitrate, and possibly more Important than all of these together, in the production of a cheap cyanide, which may have a profound ef feet on gold, silver and copper reduction. The product.

ton--for ton, bus a higher fet tilling value than Chilian Nitrate and per unit of Nitrogen, practically the same fertilizing value as Calcium Nitrate. Chilian Nitrate. Sulphate of Ammonia. Blood. Tankage and Cottonseed Meal.

PRESENT STATUS OP THE INDUSTRY. To what have those processes conic In practically four years of commercial operation? The principal development of the arc process has been In Norway by the company, whose chief Is Dr. Samuel Eyde, whero 200,000 continuous horsepower is now in uso and 200.000 will soon bo added thereto, and still another 150,000 has been reserved for future developments. This company has Invested. It has built two towns entirely peopled by those dependent upon tho one of a population of o.OOO, whero there were originally 500 people, the other of a population of 5,000 to G.000.

where there were originally but 50 people. Tho power now In use, togother with the additional amounts which will soon be developed arid that In reserve for this one company clone, amounting to 5.10,000 continuous horsepower, represents practically 10 per cent of the full amount of continuous twenty-four-hour water power energy commercially available In the seven Southern States of the United States. Tliero is in North Carolina an experimental factory of 4,000 horsepower capacity, employing tho Pauding arc process. It Is not yot brought to commercial operation. However, tho production, of fertilizers by the arc process Is relatively small compared with the production of by the Cyanamid' process.

Cyanamid Industry, representing a present investment of approximately $0.000,000, Is established In practically every country in Europe, there being threo factories In Germany, two in Norway, two In Swedon, one in France, one in Switzerland, two In Italy, one In Austria. There Is one In Canada and one In Japan not any In the United States. The total capacity represents an output of $15,000,000 per annum. The business Is just at the threshold its development and has only this moment passed trom tile experimental stage. The power required per unit of Nitrogen produced is one-third to one-fourth of that required by the arc process Notwithstanding this, there Is employed continuous, horsepower, and with exception tho works In every country aro making extensions.

The. English company alone is contemplating tho application of 1.000.000 continuous horso-powor to the productlo of Cyanamid and Its derlvatles. 600,000 of which has been secured. In Norway and (400,000 In Iceland. ItEttUIUKMENTS OH" THE INDUSTRY.

The fixation' of atmospheric nitrogen may be expected later to give the world its nitrogen supply. at one-half the price that.lt would otherwise. The conservation of soil fertility would be wholly Inadequate to the needs of the world except that It included tho use of nitrogenous fertilizers. COMMUTING OK POWKU INTO CROP PRODUCTION. Experiments at the Rothamstead Agricultural Experimental Station In England, conducted now.

over a period of sixty successive years, prove that an amount of nitrogen, equivalent to that produced in the Cyanamid process by one. continuous horsepower, will increase wheat production by 160 bushels per year. This means that the application of a horsepower' In the United States to the Cyanamid industry will some day increase the food supply the equivalent In value of The factory sales price of the quantity of nitrogen thus required would bo practically ono-half this or about $75. TbereXore, the question Is Important, Upon what does- the In Europe Is due to Intensive farming, better selection of seed, tho rotation of crops, and, lo as great an extent as all these factors togother, to tho use of commercial FIXATION ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN. The presidential address of Sir William Crookes in 1S98 before the British Association for the Advancement of Science seems to mark the first definite logical conception of tho fact, as he disclosed it.

that the consumption of food In tho world was rapidly outrunning tho available lands upon which to grow It. His solution for the problem was tho more plentiful and general uso of fertilizers, chiefly nitropen. However, the only natural available source of nitrogen, tho deposits of sodium nitrate In the plains of Chile, were decreasing and the exhaustion of the richer and more cheaply worked deposits could bo but a matter of comparatively few years. The one other natural source Is tho gnseous envelope of tho earth, which wo call the atmosphere, SO per cent of which Is nitrogen. At the time Sir Crookes" epoch-making forecast this not available for the reason that nitrogen as a gas Is wholly Inert and useless and man had discovered no practicable means of converting It to soluble form acceptable to plant life.

He forecasted what was called "world starvation" unless means should bo discovered for fixing atmospheric nitrogen. FIXATION PROCESSKS. This plea found ready and sympathetic acceptance among tho scientific men of tho world and many of tho foremost chemists started on tho long road-to the, discovery. of commercially practicable means for converting tho atmosphere. The researches were secretly conducted, covered a period of eight to ton years of unceasing effort, wero accompanied by many disappointments and seemingly hopeless struggles and the expenditure of grcafc fortunes, supported In some cases by Individuals and In others by the greatest of European banking Institutions, These efforts havo grown into a great art.

and almost as If in a night tho world has been presented with a now industfy of incalculable value. THE INDUSTRY. The Industry has been in commercial operation for approximately tour years. Such processes ns havo proved up to the present time to be commercially feasible secure their results through electro-chemical means Involving the consumption of a vast amount of electrical energy. Today this Infant Industry just emerging from the experimental period is practiced throughout tho world, except In tho United States, and converts into food crops the energy of falling water the entire amount of water power generated and applied directly- by all the large manufacturing companies In the entire United States.

Tho water power already definitely reserved for extensions, together with that already in use, Is equivalent to twlco tho entire amount of water power now generated in the United States by manufacturing companies. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. It is not the direct purpose of this paper to bo technical, but rather that it should bo economic. However, a natural intorest In tho simpler technical and scientific features, of this new industry can only be satisfied by some description of the processes themselves. There aro two principal methods of proved commercial practicability for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.

The arc or calcium 'nitrate process proceeds by means of the electric arc which produces a tomperoturc so intense that 'the nitrogen and oxygen in the air brought Into the area of the arc Is caused to form nitrous fumes which as they- leave the electric furnace, and afterwards cooled, are passed over water trickling through granite towers' filled with broken quartz where. a. weak nitric acid results and through iron towers percolated by a solution, of soda where BOdium nitrate results. Ninety-seven per cent of the nitrous fumes are thus absorbed. The nitric acid Is passed on to granite vats filled with limestone where a watery solution of calcium nitrate results, to be Xater, evaporated to dryness.

The sodium nitrate solution Is evaporated and allowed to crystallize. Calcium nitrate has as high a fertilizing value as sodium nitrate, the natural product from Chile. Other valuable products are produced, such' as concentrated nitric acid and ammonium nitrate. Thoro aro a num- OBSTACLES. There are two serious obstacles to the establishment of nitrogen factories in the United States at the points, where economic considerations would otherwise place them.

The first of these Is 'the excessive cost per unit of continuous generated power whero "tho development Is by means of a massive dam stretched across a wide river and the available head upon the turbines is low and: no greater than the height of the dam. Such are the conditions on tho Coosa. Tennessee and other great Southern rivers. The second obstacle is tho attitude of a certain influential part of our people favoring governmental restrictions on the development of power on navigable streams, which In the past has Influenced our Federal Administration to giving those restrictions practical effect. These untoward conditions have prevented tho nltroeen industry Xrora entering the United States.

The. use of fertilizers In. Europe Is much greater than In' tho United Germany has one-ftftecnth of the area under cultivation thaty w.o have in yet her. tonnage In fertilizers per annum Ib as great as that of the United The European yields per acre of cultivated ground arefi6 to 100 'per cent greater than the yields secured by American farmers. The average urease In yield per acre of farm crops In Germany for the past twenty years has boon from 50 to 70.

per cent; in -the United States trom 10 per-cent to 80 per cent. The advance In average yields 0 A.