The Design and Working of Ammonia Stills

Abstract

THREE hundred thousand tons of ammonium sulphate are produced annually in Great Britain by the direct distillation of the ammoniacal liquors arising from coal and shale products. Even from this consideration done, the publication of the first standard comprehensive book in English on the design and working of ammonium stills must be regarded as an event not only of scientific but also of economic importance. Many chemical manufacturers in the past for various reasons have endeavoured to keep their processes strictly secret, and improvements have come from internal experience on the plant rather than from general physico-chemical considerations or from a combined study of the theoretical and applied aspects of the problem or difficulty encountered. “Collaboration,” Dr. Charles Carpenter notes in the preface, “between those responsible for the design of large-scale chemical plant can only be a war-time measure.” Mr. Parrish will help to some extent to remove in one industry this individual outlook and veil of secrecy, for in his book he has collected together a great amount of novel information of a fundamental and authentic character on the subject of ammonia stills and accessory plant. This carefully-edited book, which includes 170 excellent illustrations and 70 technical tables, must benefit the industry generally and secure a common outlook for new developments on other than empirical lines. The Design and Working of Ammonia Stills. By P. Parrish. Pp. 300. (London: Ernest Benn, Ltd., 1924.) 40s. net.