Some method of measuring the quantity of glycerine used must be adopted. A gauge-tube graduated in inches is a very good plan, but it is essential that the graduations should be clearly visible to the operator upon the platform in front of the apparatus. A large tap made of earthenware (and covered with lead) is fixed in the side of the nitrating tank just above the bottom, to run off the charge after nitration. This should be so arranged that the charge may be at option run down the conduit to the next house or discharged into a drowning tank, which may sometimes be necessary in cases of decomposition. The drowning tank is generally some 3 or 4 yards long and several feet deep, lined with cement, and placed close outside the building.
The apparatus having received a charge of mixed acids, the water is started running through the pipes coiled inside the tank, and a slight pressure of compressed air is turned on,[A] to mix the acids up well before starting. The nitration should not be commenced until the two thermometers register a temperature of 18° C. The glycerine tap is then partially opened, and the glycerine slowly admitted, and the compressed air turned on full, until the contents of the apparatus are in a state of very brisk agitation. A pressure of about 40 lbs. is about the minimum (if 247 lbs. of glycerine and 16 cwt. of acids are in the tank). If the glycerine tube is fitted with an injector, it may be turned on almost at once. The nitration will take about thirty minutes to complete, but the compressed air and water should be kept on for an additional ten minutes after this, to give time for all the glycerine to nitrate. The temperature should be kept as low as possible (not above 18° C.).
[Footnote A: At the Halton Factory, Germany, cylinders of compressed carbon dioxide are connected with the air pipes so that in the event of a failure of the air supply the stirring can be continued with this gas if necessary.]
The chief points to attend to during the progress of the nitration are—
1. The temperature registered by the two thermometers.
2. The colour of the nitrous fumes given off (as seen through the little window in the dome of the apparatus).
3. The pressure of the compressed air as seen from a gauge fixed upon the air pipe just before it enters the apparatus.
4. The gauge showing the quantity of glycerine used. The temperature, as shown by either of the two thermometers, should not be at any time higher than 25° C.
If it rises much above this point, the glycerine should be at once shut off, and the pressure of air increased for some few minutes until the temperature falls, and no more red fumes are given off.
The nitration being finished, the large earthenware tap at the bottom of the tank is opened, and the charge allowed to flow away down the conduit to the next building, i.e., to the separator.