September 22, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

555

mum output capacity, thus utilising completely all the
current that could be produced therein; whereas it was
impossible to conceive the power requirements of an
individual coke oven and colliery installation coinciding,
even approximately, over 24 hours with the amount of
gas or waste heat available. There were now 11 waste
heat stations in operation in the north-east coast area,
and the waste heat available was sufficient for the gener-
ation of an amount of power very considerably in excess
of that required by the colliery owners. As a matter of
fact, during the year 1915, those two stations alone
turned out 40,000,000 units, of which only 10,000,000,
or 25 per cent., were required for the working of the
collieries, the remaining 30,000,000 being delivered into
the mains of the power supply company. The total
coal saving due to utilisation of waste heat on the north-
east coast now amounted to some 150,000 tons per
annum.

Suggested Tax on Coal.

Mr. W. B. Woodhouse, of the Yorkshire Electric
Power Company, suggested, as a means of providing
funds for the work of the Fuel Committee, a tax on all
coal used. Taking 270 million tons as the output per
annum, only 30 millions were carbonised, leaving 240
million tons uncarbonised or sent out of the country
without extracting their residuals. A penny a ton would
produce a 'million a year, and if an extra penny per ton
were imposed each year until Is. per ton was reached,
that would be a very valuable assistance towards the
object they all had in mind. The dearer an article
became the greater the necessity for utilising it econo-
mically, and such a tax might eventually bring about the
position that all coal would be used at the coal field.
The development of carbonisation, in his opinion, must
go hand in hand with power distribution by means of
electricity. In the Yorkshire area there were 400
collieries, producing over 30 million tons a year, and
co-operation between these and the Power Company
would bring about three things : (1) an increase in the
amount of coal carbonised; (2) the utilisation of low-
grade fuels, and (3) a reduction in the cost of power,not
only to the collieries themselves, but to all the power
users in the district. An interesting development this
year was the co-operation of the Yorkshire Power Com-
pany, with works employing the low-temperature process
of carbonisation, which was intended to supply the power
company with a large quantity of fuel gas, and also to
produce a smokeless fuel for domestic purposes. He
looked forward very hopefully to low-temperature car-
bonisation processes, despite the somewhat disappoint-
ing history of the past, and the scheme he had
mentioned, working on the lines designed, gave every
prospect of success. The works were situated on the
coal field, and, given a market for a smokeless fuel—and
there could be no doubt there was a very large market
for a suitable smokeless fuel—and for the oils, the
process ought to be successful. Development with other
power companies throughout the country had not gone
on so rapidly as on the north-east coast, for a variety of
reasons. One was that in the areas of the power com-
panies there were in existence numerous municipal
undertakings, and the companies were not permitted to
supply in those towns without the consent of the muni-
cipality. There was, however, a new spirit abroad, and
if co-operation could be brought about, there was no
doubt that not only would power be produced very much
more cheaply and fuel used more economically, but
smoke would be almost entirely eliminated.

Smokeless Fuel.

Mr. R. Maclaurin said that the chemist was being
blamed for putting forward the by-product aspect of
the question of coal carbonisation, and expecting the
engineer to deal with this before it was shown to be
economical, but he did not think the chemist was
entirely to blame, since the latter had already shown
the engineer the conditions under which these by-pro-
ducts could be obtained, and in his (the speaker’s)
opinion, it was an engineering problem just as largely as
a chemical problem. If the chemist showed the condi-
tions, then it was for the engineer to co-operate ■with
the chemist and work out those conditions. Prof. Louis
had spoken lightly of the 2 per cent, of nitrogen in coal.
As a matter of fact, it was nearly 1*4 per cent., and it
could not be talked about lightly, because if that were
turned into ammonia it meant roughly about 16s. per
ton of coal for the ammonia if 2 per cent, were taken,
and 12s. per ton if 1*4 per cent, were taken. That was
a very large return, but so far it had not been done,
and it was very probable that we might never take the
whole of the nitrogen out of coal. It was, however,
possible to get 90 to 1001b. of ammonia out at Id. per
lb., a fair figure, which would bring in a return of about
8s., which was not to be scoffed at. Turning to the oil
contained in the coal, he could also draw a good picture
of the possibility of large economies. Ordinary coal
contained at least 15 to 25 gals, of oil which could be
recovered. A cannel coal and the poorer coals would
contain 30 to 40 gals., and these were realisable figures.
He had been asked by a colliery if he could handle a
Scotch cannel coal containing 30 to 40 per cent, of ash,
-and from the analyses he assumed that he could get
35 gals, of oil. In actual practice, that colliery had been
using 100 tons of this poor coal per week for firing their
boilers, because this fuel was not marketable before the
war. The draught of the boilers was nothing like good
enough to bum coal with such a large percentage of oil,
and, in consequence, the greater part of it went up the
chimney. He found, however, that by putting this coal
through a specially constructed producer, he did not use
more than 80 tons per week, compared with the 100 tons
previously, and, moreover, he recovered about 40 gals,
of oil and 401b. of ammonia, whilst two boilers fired
with gas from the coal did the work of three previously.
He had been experimenting at Glasgow for the last year
or so, with several objects in view; but at present he
would only say that he had succeeded in making a good

smokeless fuel from ordinary coal, and that the results
justified him in stating that he could return to the boiler
66 to 75 per cent, of the energy of the fuel. The oil
contained 10 to 15 per cent, of the energy of the fuel,
and there was an average loss of about 20 per cent,
inside the apparatus. Taking an average of 70 per cent,
of the energy of the fuel as being put back again, he had
to account for the remaining 30 per cent. For that loss,
however, he returned 15 to 20 gals, of oil with some
classes of coal, and 40 gals, with others, and also got 40
to 601b. of ammonia, and he believed this could be
brought up to 90 or 100 lb. Taking the ammonia at Id.,
that gave a return of 5s. for the 601b., and 20 gals, of
oil at 3d. per gal. gave another 5s. Thus, there was a
return of 10s. for the 30 per cent, loss, and looked at
from this point of view, the problem was well worth
attacking. The figures which he had given were actu-
ally being realised, and did not refer to a thing in the
future. The problem, however, that was not realised
was the 3d. per gal. for the oil; the other part of the
problem was quite simple. Ammonia was not likely to
drop below Id. for a long time, but whether 3d. per gal.
for the oil would be realised was not definitely settled.
The method he was using in the Glasgow Corporation
experiment was to distil the coal by internal heating.
The plant was 30 ft. high by 8 ft. diameter, and was
simply a producer, in which the gas from the producer
passed through the fuel and carried the oils with it, but
in the upper part of the apparatus the oils condensed
and were trapped. The result was that this oil was
entirely different from anything he had experienced
before. It was like a crude oil from an oil retort, but it
dried1 on wood very rapidly, like a varnish or a furni-
ture polish, and it also dried on glass, he did not know
why, as though it were a linseed oil. Although he had
spent as much time as he could on the matter, the pro-
blem got deeper and deeper the further he got into it.
He found from this crude oil he could get about 6 per
cent, of light oil distilling up to 170 degs. That would
be useful for petrol. There was no benzol, toluol, or any
aromatic hydrocarbons in the oil, however. He could
separate this oil into two distinct portions, the first being
suitable a.s a lubricating oil, for which he had been offered
8d. per gal. if he could raise the flash point. There was
also 6 to 10 per cent, of cresylic acid, for which there
should be a ready market, but the heavy portion was
useful as a varnish. It could be dissolved in benzol, and
in this way a good ground varnish or black varnish could
be made, but the difficulty at the moment was to obtain
the benzol. If he could,'then he believed he would get
from Is. to Is. 4d. per gal. for this oil, so that, if the
thing could be handled, there was obviously a big field
in these oils. From the chemist’s point of view, the
peculiarity of the tar which went down to the bottom
was that the whole of it was soluble in caustic soda,
from which he inferred it was a resinous material. If
this were so, it immediately raised the question as to
what was the constitution of the coal. Was this a resin
which was distilled directly from the coal, or was it a
product formed during distillation? The temperature of
distillation was so low that it was quite possible for resins
to be carried forward in the current of steam, and from
tbe chemical side it might be of interest to take several
existing resins and distil them at low temperatures, and
find out what the products were, and then it might be
possible to find out if the coal contained resins of a
similar character. The capital cost* of the plant used at
Glasgow would not be much more than a quarter of the
ordinary producer dealing with coal. The condensing
plant was very much smaller, owing to the gases being
handled on the way up. The capital cost of such a
plant, for dealing with one ton of coal per hour, would
be £1.500, and in comparison with the cost of steam
raising bv mechanical stokers, he found that, at the end
of the rear, the actual saving would amount to 25 per
cent, of the cost of the coal. In conclusion, Mr.
Maclaurin said that he had also found pyridine and some
of the higher bases.

Mr. W. A. Chamen (South Wales Electrical Power
Distribution Company) referred to the efforts now being
made bv the Incorporated Municipal Electrical Associa-
tion and the Association of Power Companies to
co-operate. A joint committee of five members and the
secretaries of the respective associations had been
formed, and progress had been made almost to the
point when it was hoped to be able to take actual steps
in the provinces. The generation of electricity was
being considered as distinct from its distribution, and
the principle adopted was that existing rates must be
respected and existing areas not interfered with as
regards distribution. A scheme had been formed by
which the country would be divided into a certain
number of areas, and in those areas it was hoped to
form committees of engineers particularly interested in
the generation of electricity. It was hoped to arrange
a scheme whereby one station would bo shut down for
one week, with the exception of taking the peak load,
and during the week-end. whilst the other took all the
remaining load, 'and in the next week the position would
be reversed. Tt was not likely that that result could
ahvays be arrived at, but in one particular case it had
actually been done. The parties had agreed to generate
equal quantities of electricity and to divide the hours of
working between them. In addition to the saving of
fuel, thev would save something worth saving in the
matter of labour, because it really meant that onlv one
station was working instead, of two. so far as labour was
concerned.

Gas-Fired Boilers for Electric Power.

Mr. R. A. Chattock (city electrical engineer,
Birmingham) said that apparently the greatest economy
in coal could be obtained bv gasification and the recovery
of the by-products, and it had been demonstrated that it
wans perfectly possible to run large electrical generating
stations by means of gas-fired boilers. Indeed, greater
economy in the running of these stations could be

obtained by that means than by burning raw coal. At
the same time, it was evident, from what had been done,
that the amount of work involved in handling coal in
that way was very much greater than had to be done at
the present time in burning raw coal. A very much
larger area of land was necessary, extensive works were
required to be put down to distil the coal and recover
the by-products, and, in addition, if it were done on the
enormous scale to which indications pointed, every one
of these by-products would represent practically a busi-
ness in itself and require an organisation and large staffs.
It was hardly fair to ask the electrical industry to take
on all these duties in addition to supplying electrical
energy, and it seemed to him that the handling of coal
in that way should be undertaken by some other body,
which would primarily be occupied in that only, leaving
the generation of electrical energy to the electrical
engineers. Such a body wrould have naturally to work
in close touch with electrical engineers, but the busi-
nesses would have to be kept distinct as far as financial
and operating conditions were concerned. Possibly an
association could be formed for handling the coal of the
country in this way, consisting of coal owners and
users. Indeed, such a body might have statutory powers
given to them to handle the coal of the country. If such
a scheme as this could be carried out, then electrical
energy could be generated on a vastly greater scale than
at present, and at enormously lower rates. It had been
suggested that large generating stations should be put
close to the spot where the coal was produced, but there
was one consideration governing that, namely, the
necessity for an ample supply of condensing water. In
the Midlands they were not very well supplied with
rivers, and cooling towers were necessary. The cooling
towers at Birmingham were evaporating one million
gals, of water per day, and the whole supply of
water to the city of Birmingham was only about 25
million gals, a day, and had to be brought mostly from
Wales, so that if they imagined large generating stations
fifty times the size of the present Birmingham station
(which would probably be necessary to supply that area),
it was quite possible that the available supply of water
in the district would not be sufficient, and it would be
necessary to allocate these stations where there was an
ample supply of water and where the best results could
be obtained from the generating plant. The cost of
transmitting energy from such positions by means of
trunk mains would be reduced to a comparatively low
figure if a very high electrical pressure were used, and
there was no objection to going up to 100,000 volts for
transmitting purposes. It was difficult, however, to see
at the moment how these large generating stations could
come into existence within a reasonable period of time.
There were two ways. One was the slow process of
natural development, as in the past, but he did not
think that would meet the objects in mind by the com-
mittee, namely, fuel economy. Economy in fuel could
be arranged for more quickly by compelling all users of
energy to take their supplies from these large electricity
works, possibly by a tax on coal as had been suggested
by Mr. Woodhouse, or it might be necessary to get
Parliament to compel users to take their energy in the
form of electricity, the justification for such g course
being the proper conservation of the coal supply of the
country and the elimination of smoke. There would
then be every prospect of giving a supply of power at a
figure so low that it would represent a saving in the cost
of production compared with present methods. How-
ever, if the handling of coal were concentrated at certain
centres it would save an enormous amount of congestion
on the railway systems and the traffic all over the country
would be reduced. The coal could be taken along certain
trunk lines specially arranged for this particular traffic.
It was interesting to know that power companies and
municipalities were coming together with regard to
linking up, and, in addition to what Mr. Chamen had
said, the Institution of Electrical Engineers had
appointed a committee to consider very much the same
question, but they were looking at it from a national
point of view, and were considering the engineering
necessities for centralising the generation of electricity
at certain points in the country and distributing i-t from
these centres throughout the country.

Mr. J. T. Highfield also regarded the question of
generation of electricity on a large scale by the use of
coal and the treatment of coal in such a way as to obtain
by-products, as distinct and separate processes. The
problems resolved themselves into an economical ques-
tion, which must be worked out by collaboration between
chemists and engineers, for it could not be doubted that
the extraction of by-products involved a very large expen-
diture of money, and it became a question whether it
was worth while incurring this expense. He was not at
all sure that it was the right policy to look on our coal
supplies now as lasting only so many hundred years, and
to spend large sums of money in trying to economise,
because, before that period had elapsed, developments
might arise which ■would render all this capital expendi-
ture wasted.

Dr. Dugald Clerk, F.R.S., said that if electrical
engineers succeeded in doing all they apparently hoped,
it appeared to him that gas engine builders and the gas
industry would be wiped out of existence altogether. If
electric power were distributed in the way it had been
suggested, obviously it could be supplied very much
cheaper than at present, and that would be a national
service. He believed, however, it would be found that
for many years to come, there would still be room for
both the gas and electrical industries in this country.

(To be continued.}

Capt. the Hon Sydney James Drevor Joicey. of the North-
umberland Fusiliers, coal owner, who died on active service
on March 20 last, left estate valued at £36.461.