March 13, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

569

MEW PL&MT, &c., IM BELGIAN COLLIERIES.*
By-product Coking.

The Charbonnage de Strepy et Thieu has recently
installed at Bracquegnies a battery of 100 by-product
coke ovens constructed by the Societe Franco-Beige de
Fours a Coke, with coke screening and storing plant,
ammonia-recovery plant by the Mont Cenis process, and
a Hennebutte tar distillery. The gas from the ovens is
passed through electrically-driven Rateau extractors
and a Bamag drum, to remove the final traces of tar.
The ammonia water is treated in a continuous column
still, provided with pre-heater and Uhlmann condenser.
The ammonia water and tar tanks are of ferro concrete
and situated below the ground level. On issuing from
the recovery plant the gas contains less than 1 gramme
of sulphate of ammonia per 100 cubic metres, and only
traces of carbon; and the ammonia left in the effluent
water is less than 0*01 gramme per litre. The crystalline
sulphate of ammonia is white, crystalline, and contains
25 per cent, of ammonia, with less than 1 per cent, of
free sulphuric acid and 2 per cent, of moisture. In the
Hennebutte tar plant the tar may be either converted
entirely into pitch, with a yield of 97 per cent., or else
into pitch, light, medium and heavy oils, and crude
naphthalene and anthracene, according to the condition
of the market for these products.

Locomotive Haulage.

At the St. Marie pit of the La Louviere and Sa>rs-
Longchamps Colliery, trials have been made with
Ruhrthaler and Deutz benzine locomotives on a haulage
road 1,900 m. in length. As compared with horse
haulage, the running costs work out at 0’0374 fr; per
ton kilometre, against 0’065 fr. (fuel in the one case and
fodder in the other), wages being respectively 0’028 and
0*104 franc, the total difference in favour of locomotive
haulage being 0T036 fr. per ton kilometre. Benzine
locomotives of the Deutz pattern (12-horse power) are
also used at the St. Quentin pit of the Centre de Jumet
Colliery, in a haulage road 1,000 m. long. In point of
running costs, it is found that the locomotive is exactly
on a par with horse traction, without taking into
consideration the cost of altering the track, &c., which,
spread over a period of five years, adds 0’05 fr. to the
expense per ton kilometre. An experience of three
months with a benzine locomotive at the Xhorre pit of
the Kessales Colliery has shown a running cost of
0T563 fr. per ton kilometre, including upkeep and
depreciation of the locomotive.

Internal Borehole at the Courcelles Bord Colliery.

For the purpose of proving the lower seams a bore-
hole was driven from the 265 m. level of the No. 8 pit.
A vertical drift, 12 m. high, was cut in the roof to form
a derrick, and the hole was drilled with a rotary rig by
the Foraky Company, Brussels, granulated steel being
used as the abrading agent. An electromotor of
28-horse power was employed for drilling, and a 15-horse
power motor for the flushing pump. The total depth
bored in four months was 244 m.

Electric Shaft Signalling Device.

One of the winding shafts at the Perier pit, Nord de
Charleroi Colliery, has been equipped with a Siemens
and Halske shaft signalling device, which can be
operated from all five levels, and is provided with a
recording device which facilitates the fixing of respon-
sibility in case of accidents. Fig. 1 gives a diagram-

Upper Le veJ

0® O° LP

Engine



matic representation of the appliances in the engine
room, at bank and at each pit eye respectively. In
ordinary working the signals are transmitted from the
various levels to the pit bank and thence to the engine
room ; but a commutator U enables the signals to he sent
direct to the engine-room in case of need, and when, as
on Sundays, for example, the signalman at bank is off
duty. In the apparatus at each level the insertion of
a key C' serves to block the apparatus at all the other
levels and to set the seven electric bells S T in opera-

* Annales des Mines de Belgique.

tion. When one of these keys is inserted a correspon-
ding luminous indication appears on the plate A at bank
and at L E in the engine room. Operating the signal-
ling sender C S then causes the gongs S C to sound at
each level and at bank, but not in the engine room ;
and at each stroke of the gong the pointer of a control
device K at bank moves forward through one division.
Simultaneously a record is made on a travelling strip of
paper in the device E in the engine room, the electric
bell signals being marked as a vertical row of perforated
dots, and those of the gongs by circular holes. These
records, however, are not visible to the engineer until
the bank signalman has operated the key C E, which at
the same time sets back the pointer on K to zero, thus
showing that he has transmitted the signal to the'
engine room. A special locking device then breaks
the engine signalling circuit, so that no further
signal can be sent by working the key C E. Signalling
to the engine room also sounds the electric bells S 0 at
each level, and the record of this signal, enlarged and
illuminated by reflected light, is rendered visible at the
window O, the shutter of which opens when the pointer
on K returns to zero. This optical signal remains
visible until a new signal is received from the shaft. A
special luminous signal is used in winding men, the
operation of a key C P at each level causing a red light
to appear in one section of the indicator A and in the
sixth section of the luminous indicator in the engine
room, as well as lighting a special lamp at each level;
at the same time an electric bell S P is sounded in the
engine room. The bank signalman can signal to any
level by means of the key C R, which operates the gongs,
but the pointer of the control device is not moved, nor
are these signals recorded. The electric bells may be
used as alarm signals by operating them at short
intervals by means of the keys C I. Several hours
before the recording strip of paper runs out a green
light appears at V on the apparatus in the engine
room.

Coalcutting with the Pick-quick Machine.

An electrically-operated Pick - quick coal-cutting
machine has been tried at the St. Xavier pit of the
Noel-Sart-Cu-lpart Colliery, Grilly, in a seam of very
hard coal and soft roof. The best hewers could not get
out more than 31 to 4 square metres a day, with a very
small proportion of round coal, and shooting down pro-
duced very dirty coal (owing to the schist parting).
With the machine, cutting in the schist parting, the
rate of progress was 10 metres per hour at the start,
increasing to 18 metres after several weeks. The debris
from the cutter was scraped out of the cut, together
with any residual schist in the thicker portions of the
parting, the upper bed of coal being supported by small
blocks some distance apart. The coal was then got
down by driving pointed steel bars, 2 ft. long, in at the
head of the seam. By this means the coal comes down
in slabs 15 to 25 metres long and 1 metre wide, vzhich
are broken into large blocks, and these in turn into
smaller blocks for placing in the tubs. The daily output
is 76 square metres of coal, equal to 40 tons, which would
require the labour of 19 hewers, whereas only 11 men
are needed with the machine, a saving of 60 fr. per
diem in wages; but as three extra boys have to be put
on to deal with the increased output, and the men are
paid slightly more than usual, and a deputy is placed in
charge of the cutter, 11’30 fr. have to be deducted,
leaving an advantage of 48’70 fr. per diem. On the
other hand, the proportion of round coal is higher,
being at least 50 per cent., so that the coal may be put
down as worth 1’25 fr. per ton more than when won by
hand—an advantage of 50 fr. per diem in favour of the
cutter. This brings the total saving up to 98’70 fr. a
day, or 28,623 fr. for a year of 290 working days.
Against this must be set: depreciation (10 per cent.),
upkeep, current, oil, &c., a sum estimated as 4,377 fr.,
leaving a net annual benefit of 24,245 fr., equivalent to
2 09 fr. per ton, on a daily output of 40 tons. In view
of the satisfactory results of the trial, a second cutter is
to be set to work in another portion of the same seam.

A Pick-quick cutter operated by compressed air has
been tried in the No. 1 pit of the Boubier Colliery,
Chatelet. It cuts a length of 50 m. per shift and requires
the services of four men, including two to set up props,
four other men and two boys being occupied in getting
the coal out in the next shift, or 10 in all for a produc-
tion of 35 to 40 tons. No comparison has been
established between the cost of cutting by machine and
by hand; and it is expected that the output per shift
will be doubled when operations have been organised so
that the working face is along the slope. Certain
inconveniences have been found to attend the use of
compressed air, such as defective working of the oil
injector, a tendency of the motor to jam, and the trouble
of handling the compressed-air pipe—all of which could
be obviated by using an electromotor,

Face Conveyors.

Eickhoff conveyors, operated by compressed air, have
been introduced in the No. 2 pit of the Boubier Colliery,
and have been found to reduce the cost of coal-getting
from 4’84 fr. to 3’20 fr. per ton, a difference of 1'64 fr.,
or, after allowing 0’40 fr. for depreciation, &c., a net
advantage of 1'24 fr. per ton. Similar conveyors are
also in use at the St. Catherine pit of the Roton Colliery,
Farciennes.’ The arrangement is illustrated diagram-
matically in fig. 2, in which A—B represents the main

A

Connecting Bods

Motor

ijr

30

o

B&H crank
Lc ver

o

Connecting Rods^^y-^-



B Hou/age. Road
Fig. 2.

conveyor in a road sloping at an angle of 15 degs. down
to the haulage road, whilst the four branch conveyors
are to be arranged in horizontal roads with a total
extent of 70 m., only one of these latter having, however,
been installed up to the present. The compressed-air
motor drives the conveyor in the horizontal road by
means of a lever and connecting rod, and the inclined
conveyor through a cable, two connecting-rods and a
bell crank for the return stroke. Instead of three men
for loading and hauling at each working place, at a total
cost of 11'25 fr., only a boy is required, at a cost of 3fr.,
and the output is increased by about 5 per cent., which
represents a profit of not less than 2 fr. per ton. So
far, it has not been possible to make any exact calcula-
tion of the relative cost, owing to the numerous factors
to be taken into consideration; but it is believed that an
extension of the system will result in a considerable
saving, despite the high first cost of the plant.

Coal-Washing Plant.

A Beer coal-washing plant, to treat 50 tons per hour has
been installed at the Tilleur pit of the Horloz colliery.
The coal from the pithead screens is raised by bucket
elevators to two upper classifying screens, which separate
it into four classes : 50/80 mm. (delivered to a picking
belt); 30/50 mm.; 20/30 mm. (both going to the washer),
and 0/20 mm., this last named being delivered to the
lower screens, which screen it to three grades: 10/20 mm.,
6/10 mm., and 0/6 mm. From the washer these two last
grades are conveyed to four draining towers, each holding
75 tons, whilst the dross is flushed into a tank, whence
it is raised by a bucket elevator into a separate tower.
The three grades 10/20 mm., 20/30 mm., and 30/50 mm.,
are flushed on to draining screens and delivered to their
respective towers by worm conveyors to prevent breakage,
the dross being delivered to the same tower as that
from the fines. The hand-picked 50/80 mm. grade is
delivered into a 12-ton hopper for loading into trucks,
and the dross is placed in a hopper underneath the belt.
The 10/20 mm. fines are not screened a second time, but
are swilled with clean water to wash away the fine sludge
particles and improve the appearance. The 20/30 mm.
and 30/50 mm. grades are screened a second time and
swilled with water on the screen, so that an inter-
mediate grade, 10/15 mm. or 10/25 mm., is obtained, as-
well as 0/10 mm. fines, this last-named being conveyed
to the corresponding fines tower.

The washing waters from the grades 10-50 mm. are
run into the 0/10 mm. fines tank, and the sediment
deposited there is mixed with these fines, the water
being run off to the settling tanks and returned to the
sump of the centrifugal pump supplying the washing
plant and the flushing water. The settling-tank sludge
is pumped up to be mixed with the 0/10 mm. fines, or if
too dirty for this purpose, is returned to the tanks and
dried. The waste of water amounts to about 1,800-1,900
gallons per 10 hours day. A 75-horse power electro-
motor drives the washing plant, the main water pump
being driven by a 50-horse power motor and the sludge-
water pump by a 6-8-horse power motor.

The new screening and washing plant at the St. Louis
pit of the Charbonnages des Produits a Flenu was con-
structed by Coppee, of Brussels, to deal with 1,600 tons
of coal per eight hours’ shift. The coal is brought to
the plant by Heckel ropeway conveyors, and unloaded by
rotary. tipplers on to two screens, the first of which