362

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

February 25, 1916.

conditions of transport have'militated against the free
despatch and (return of rolling stock.

To solve these difficulties has been a formidable under-
taking. In the first place, every effort has been made
to reduce the quantity of rolling stock placed
permanently at the disposal of the military service;
where possible, passenger vehicles have been substituted
for goods wagons in certain classes of traffic; and fresh
orders for rolling stock have been placed. These
measures have resulted in a considerable improvement.
The transport of coal by rail to the Baris district, which
amounted in December 1914 to 233,014 tons, had been
raised in August 1915 to 342,543 tons.

At the same time, much has been done to render the
barge transport more efficient. In December, 220,431
tons of coal were brought by water to the Paris district,
and by August this total had been increased by over
124,000 tons.

(5) A further measure was taken by the executive in
October, when the Government decided to supervise
the conditions under which the State railways operate-
The coal purchased, in collaboration with the British
Admiralty, to provide a national reserve, should, it was
felt, be utilised to neutralise on the market tendencies
towards an excessive rise in price. These imports,
which amount to 300,000 tons per month, that is to say,
a sixth of the total imports, have been exceptionally
valuable in assuring the needs of the most urgent public
services and war industries. Unfortunately, they have
not been able to influence the markets, as they have
themselves been subjected to the same influences of
aggravated pit head price and freight as the imports for
private consumers.

(To be continued.)

THE UTILISATION OF FUEL.

The paper which Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, F.R.S.,
read to the members of the Newcastle section of the
Society of Chemical Industry on the 16th inst., con-
tained a number of suggestions for securing a better
system of dealing with our admittedly limited stocks of
coal; and his proposals for conserving supplies were
somewhat revolutionary. In some respects it is hardly
to be expected that they will commend themselves to
the judgment of our readers, but, nevertheless, they are
well worth consideration, as a very earnest attempt may
be made to put them into practice.

The meeting was held at the North of England Insti-
tute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, with Dr.
Charles Carpenter, chief engineer to the South Metro-
politan Gas Company, and president of the Society of
Chemical Industry, in the chair. There was a large
attendance, augmented by members of the Mining
Institute and the North-East Coast Institution of Engi-
neers and Shipbuilders, both these bodies having been
invited.

Prof. Armstrong’s paper was entitled “ The Problems
of Coal, with Reference to the Complete and Provident
Utilisation of the Supplies and of Fuels Generally : A
Preliminary Discussion and Scheme.” He stated that
everyone was aware that we wasted coal profusely, and
that it was fast going up in price. We now burnt
approximately 200 million tons per annum, but if we
could double the efficiency of our methods of using fuel,
we should be able to keep much money in our purse.
The idea was spreading that we must take effective steps
to check that thoughtless squandering of natural
resources which had been a dominant characteristic of
civilisation of late years—not of fuels alone, but of raw
materials generally. The primary political issue in
connection with coal, to be considered in the future,
would be that of the ownership of our national fuel
supplies. We should be prepared to deal with that
grave problem in an absolutely philosophic and scientific
manner, Uuthout tinge of political feeling. The ques-
tion of the exportation of coal should receive more
immediate attention.

One of the great questions to be brought to an issue
in the near future would be the extent to which raw
materials like coal should be allowed to leave a country
which was admittedly a home of industrialism. To
treat coal as mere stone—as dirt of but moderate value,
chiefly useful for return freight and, therefore, indirectly
as a means of cheapening freights on imports of other
produce—was a policy to be considered in all its bearings.
Present methods of coal getting were far from perfect,
and much was left underground that would never be
recovered. Should not the delivery of all coal at the
surface, not merely of that which was. easily won, be
made obligatory? At least, it would seem desirable in
such an industry to pool intelligence and work all mines
efficiently. Under a system of uncontrolled private
ownership that was not likely to happen. Methods of
cleaning coal satisfactorily should be developed. Appar-
ently, there was much to be done in that direction,
especially in the case of the poorer coals. The utilisa-
tion of minerals associated with coal would need
consideration. In view of the growing demand for
sulphur, it might be desirable, in certain cases, even to
separate pyrites by levigation in water, with the aid of
oily substances, such as were used at the Broken Hill
mines and elsewhere in dealing with zinc and other ores.
The question of the ventilation of mines played an all-
important part, both as affecting the health of miners,
the depth to which workings could be carried, and the

prevention of explosions. The measures taken hitherto
had been little short of perfunctory, and a far more
representative body of workers should be engaged, with-
out delay, to prosecute enquiry. The question of the
constant control, by chemical means especially, of the
state of ventilation in mines called for immediate atten-
tion. He was informed that enough was known to make
such control really effective, if properly conducted by
persons who understood the work.

In burning coal in the ordinary way, either in raising
power or for domestic purposes, not only was an unsatis-
factory modicum of the heat energy utilised, but every-
thing else was sacrificed. Nearly 20 million tons of coal
were carbonised annually by the gas industry. The
volatile products had long been saved by the gas
industry, but it was only recently that any considerable
development of by-product recovery coking plant had
been effected. Now, however, fully two-thirds of the
coal used in making blastfurnace coke was produced in
recovery ovens of various types, and it was to be
expected that the beehive oven would soon pass into
oblivion—if not spontaneously, by public enactment. It
was essential to recognise that coal now counted not only
as a fuel, but in sundry other ways—in agriculture, on
account of ammonia; in gold mining, as not a little
cyanide was prepared from gas liquors; in the dye stuff
industry; as a source of sulphur; and as affording liquid
fuel for the internal combustion engine. At the
moment, most of the material used formerly in the dye
stuff industry was being diverted to the manufacture of
explosives; in addition, for the same purpose, coal gas
was being stripped of the vaporous constituents from
which it derived much of its value.

At most, about 20 per cent, of the coal we consumed
was so used that the volatile products were recovered.
In Germany 4 ammonia made in the factory by the direct
interaction of nitrogen and hydrogen, was fast coming
into competition with the natural product, and it might
well happen that the victory gained over Nature in the
case of madder-red and in digo-blue would be r epeated in
the case of ammonia. The same argument might be
applied to the sulphur in coal—at least 400,000 tons of
which were not only wasted but forced into the
atmosphere to pollute it.

The question he desired to raise was whether drastic
action should not be taken to put an end to much of the
waste involved in burning raw coal—ar ail events, in
the case of that burnt by domestic users. He urged the
society to advocate an enactment forbidding the use of
raw coal for domestic purposes, such enactment to come
into force not later than 10 years hence. He did not
believe that hard coke, such as was now produced, could
ever be a satisfactory domestic fuel. A softer form, of
the coalite type, seemed to be required. Such a con-
clusion, if accepted, would have most important conse-
quences. It would involve the complete reconstruction
of the gas industry, as that industry would have cast
upon it the additional function of providing a suitable
solid fuel, as well as a suitable gaseous fuel. The whole
question of power centres, possibly of heat-distributing
centres also, must be taken into consideration.

The advantage the electric light had over gas light for
domestic uses was unquestionable, and the former must
prevail in the end. Might it not be to the advantage of
the gas industry that that should be recognised at an
early date, and the mains set free for the supply of
heating and power gas? The rare materials used in
making the Auer mantles would not always be forth-
coming. Unless certain changes in gas were made at
an early date, users would be driven into the arms of
the purveyors of electric light. Gas must be both
cheapened in price and improved in quality. The price,
except in towns such as Widnes and Sheffield, was alto-
gether disproportionate to the value. That was because
the capital locked up in the industry was excessive.
The industry must be conducted to afford larger profits,
comparable to those in other branches of chemical
industry—for it was a chemical industry, though hitherto
it had been all but entirely in the hands of men who
knew not chemistry. A disastrous step was taken by
gas managers a few years ago when they secured the
repeal of the sulphur clauses. Since then, our homes
had been flooded with sulphurous fumes, and we had
suffered not a little in consequence—though most users
of gas were too ignorant to appreciate the effects, and
many gas engineers were probably not alive to the
nature of the policy they had accepted. Nothing, to his
mind, had been more satisfactory, in late years, than
the step taken by the technical staff of the South Metro-
politan Gas Company, in recognising the moral obli-
gation that was cast upon the industry when thus
granted free trade in sulphur. The patience and
ability displayed by an unassuming trinity at Green-
wich in developing a successful process of removing all
but traces of sulphur compounds from gas, was worthy
to rank with the best German work. The enquiry was
promoted by Dr. Carpenter, but he had assigned the
credit for the chemical and physical foundation of the
process to the chief chemist of the company (Mr.
Evans), who, with Mr. Franks, one of the younger
engineers, was also mainly instrumental in translating
the process to the large scale plants. The invention
and elaboration of such a process in a gas works marked
the opening of a new era — that of science — in the
industry. Science had been strangely neglected by gas
engineers and boards of gas directors throughout the
country in the past.

As to the production of a solid fuel suitable for
general use, and, also, a sufficiency of gaseous fuel, his
proposal involved a thorough experimental enquiry to
determine the conditions best suited to produce coke
that would give satisfaction in practice — in the first
place, to domestic users, though he contemplated the
extension of the practice to all bituminous coals. The
enquiry would be too costly, too problematic, and too
extensive to be carried out privately, nor should it be
carried out at the expense of the country at large.

Therefore, he suggested that the society, which was not
only a body of coal users, but the only body that could
understand all the problems involved in the use of fuels,
should memorialise the Government to place a tax upon
all coals raised, and that the funds so obtained should
be expended, under the competent direction of persons
appointed by the society, in developing suitable methods
so as to conserve as far as possible all valuable educts,
and, at the same time, produce solid and gaseous fuels
suited to public use. The enquiry should be extended
in every necessary direction, and should involve also
the discussion of policy relating to coal and its uses—in
other words, the study of fuel problems in general. The
services must be enlisted of all men in the country who
were really competent to take actual part in, and have
responsible charge of, and direct such an enquiry—and
they must be properly paid for their services. The
Government and others should not be misled into think-
ing that they were going to get something for nothing—
as was constantly being done in dealings with learned
societies. It was essential that action should be taken
at an early date in the protection of public interests, as
it was not unlikely that money would be asked for, ere
long, for soft coke undertakings. It was the duty of
that society to come forward in protection of the public
against the company promoter in that particular
instance. At present, there was certainly no money in
such a quest; probably a very large sum of money would .
be spent before satisfactory and remunerative methods
of effecting what was required would be devised.
Attempts hitherto had not been in competent hands.
Only too frequently in this country over-sanguine
inventors induced sanguine investors to entrust them
with funds to attempt enterprises which they were in
no way fitted to conduct, and such inventors became
the tools of designing company promoters, who were,
too often, the curse of legitimate industry. In self-
protection, scientific workers must, in future, intervene
to prevent the public from being misled by interested
expert opinion. It might be argued that such action
would tend to prevent flow of capital; but it was certain
to check evaporation of capital.

Prof. Armstrong then dealt with the attempts made
hitherto to produce soft coke, and to utilise the
by-products properly, and said these had not always
been in competent hands. It was most unfortunate, he
said, that proper advantage had never been, taken of the
opportunities afforded by the various vain attempts made
of late years to develop low-temperature coking as a
commercial enterprise. He was satisfied that the
attempts had never been made under proper conditions.
The one luminous contribution to the subject was that
made by Dr. Beilby to the British Association meeting
in Birmingham in 1913. As a result of the experiments
made at the works of the Cassel Cyanide Company in
Glasgow by Dr. Beilby, Mr. H. N. Beilby, and Mr. G.
Waller, the first-named stated :—“ We are satisfied
that the production of a mechanically perfect apparatus
into which small coal is automatically fed, passed
through the distilling zone, and finally through a cooling
chamber, only requires a little more patient develop-
ment. It is obvious that an apparatus, which could be
built in units of a capacity of 15 to 20 tons per day,
that would work automatically, and no part of which
need be exposed to a higher temperature than 450 to
500 degs., ought to provide an exceedingly economical
means for the distillation of coal. . . . The greater part
of the coke from this unit plant has been used in water-
gas producers, into which it could be passed while it was
still warm and dry. It has thus an initial advantage
over gas works coke, which usually contains 10 to 15
per cent, of water. The use of the low-temperature
coke for water-gas making proved quite satisfactory. Its
light nature made it necessary to reduce the pressure of
the air blast in the producer, but its freedom from
water, and its ready inflammability, fully compensated
for the loss of capacity due to this reduction. A good
deal of low-temperature coke has also been converted
into briquettes for domestic use. The experience of
numerous householders in Glasgow in the use of this
fuel has been most encouraging, and my colleagues are
quite satisfied that a steady outlet for a moderately large
output could at once be obtained.”

One enquiry of special importance was the complete
geological and chemical survey of our coals, to determine
as far as possible their composition and the distribution
and extent of the different varieties. It might be desir-
able to set aside some varieties, and to confine their use
to certain special purposes—Durham coal, for example,
as a coking coal. An enquiry into the use of fuels must
also be carried out. The waste, due to ignorance on the
part of users, was enormous. The provision of efficient
heating appliances, whether for gaseous, liquid or solid
fuel, should be made the subject of profound study. The
economical use of fuels in our industries should be dis-
cussed. Not only was it necessary to discuss the
various appliances—water softeners, heat economisers,
mechanical stoking machinery, boilers, etc.—but, also,
broader questions, e.g., the distribution of the load factor
in works, not omitting that of co-operative systems of
producing power. Full discussions of gas producers and
their efficiency, as well as of the methods of using liquid
fuel, were of immediate importance. In fact, no ques-
tion bearing on the production and provident use of fuels
must be left out of consideration.

It would probably be necessary to' establish a central
National Fuel Board, and secondary boards, to control
certain specified areas-. Coal would no longer be used
as such, but would be delivered at selected centres, and
there prepared to serve , as fuel, everything being
separated from it that could be put to higher use. The
gas produced in the coking process would be raised to
the necessary volume by dilution with producer gas, and
supplied separately. Gas works, as we now knew them,
should disappear, and their place be taken by fuel and
power works. Great engineering problems would arise
under such a scheme, including the distribution of gas,