January 19, 1917.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

duplicate, to provide for the cars coming from the caige
in the other compartment of the shaft.

Mine cars containing shale or refuse are taken over
the cross-over dump without dumping, and switched to
a track leading to the left end H of the tipple, where
their contents are dumped into a chute, usually by
means of a horn dump, after which the cars are returned
to the empty tracks D. In the same way, coal intended
for local or wagon trade is dumped into la chute at H,
and roughly bar screened before being loaded into the
wagons. Cars to be loaded with timber are taken
through the end J of the tipple to an elevator, lowered
to the ground, loaded, and returned to the system at E.

The screening plant in such a tipple may consist of
either gravity bar screens or shaker screens. As illus-
trated in fig. 4, on the shaker screen M one, two, or
three sizes of coal can be prepared at once. It is of all
steel construction, and rests on independent founda-
tions. The coal dumped into the weigh box is weighed
by scales in the weigh room K, the check puller at the
dump having taken the miner’s check from the car and
dropped it into a chute (not shown), which carries it to
the weigh room, so that proper credit is given for the
coal.

The coal passes over the dead plate or chute L to the
upper shaking screen M, which is 8 ft. wide by 16 ft.
long, and consists of plates with l|in. round hole per-
forations. The undersize from here is loaded as screen-
inigs on track No. 3. In some cases it is washed before
being marketed. The oversize of the screen passes over
a short dead plate to the lower shaking screen N, of
which the upper part consists of 5 in. hole plate. Thus
1| in. to 5 in. egg may be loaded on track No. 2. The
lump or chunk coal passes over the 5 in. screen, and
through the adjustable chute S into the car on track
No. 1. If it is necessary to load box cars, the box car
loader is run out from P into the car, as shown, and the
chute R is adjusted to feed it. It is possible, by veiling
the screens, to load mine-run on either track No. 1 or
No. 2, or to load l^in. lump on track No. 1.

Owing to facts previously stated, the capacity of these
tipples is relatively small in comparison with those at
pillar and room mines, a daily production of 1,500 tons
being considered large. A large proportion of the coal
produced is clean lump, and consequently most of the
screening plants in tipples of this type are small and
simple.

COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION SCHEME
FOR ENGINEERS.

An interesting report on the subject of the education
of engineers has been issued by a special committee of
the Manchester Association .of Engineers appointed in
1914, in the course.of which they state that in attempt-
ing to deal with the whole range of education, they found
themselves faced with three great difficulties, namely—
the general lack of co-ordination among the existing
technical schools land colleges; the divorce of technical
instruction from practice in the workshops, and the lack
of continuity in ‘the education of the great majority of
engineering employees. As a result of their delibera-
tions, the committee recommended the adoption of the
following scheme :—

(1)	Employers should insist, upon a boy reaching a
satisfactory standard of education before becoming an
apprentice; in fact, every boy should be called upon to
produce'a certificate of success in a standard school-
leaving examination before he entered the works. ,

(2)	All engineering apprentices should be given an
opportunity to attend a school for two half-days per week
from the beginning of their apprenticeship to the age of
17. During this period there, should be no evening
classes, but the employer should pay the boy’s wages
for the two half-days, and thus retain his influence over
him. The school fees should be specially reduced to
such a figure' as the ordinary apprentice would be., able
to afford. The committee were aware that this recom-
mendation might cauSe some little disorganisation in
the workshops, but they also believed that the resulting
continuity in education would quickly compensate for
any such disadvantage.

(3)	At the age of 17 the half-day schooling must in
most cases cease, and the youths should be encouraged
by their employers to attend evening technical classes
two or three nights per week. Those who had derived
most benefit from the part-time classes should have an
opportunity of passing an examination admitting them
to a day course of, say, one day a week, like the appren-
tice day course at the Manchester School of Technology.
In every case the employer should reward the boy
according to his progress in the works and in the school
by offering special grants or prizes for industry and
ability.

The. committee were of opinion that these proposals
could be applied at once, and that they were of such a
practical nature as to suit many other industries
besides engineering. They also considered that com-
pulsion might very well be applied to the continuation
of education beyond the age of 14 years. At the same
time, they thought that compulsion may not be essen-
tial, because an employer offering the advantages sug-
gested would readily obtain the better apprentices, so
that by a natural process all employers would soon find
it advisable to offer similar terms. As a means of
carrying out the recommendations, if endorsed by 'the
council, it is suggested that a committee should be
appointed and 'authorised to co-operate with representa-
tives of the educational authorities, in order to discuss
possible arrangements as to courses, times, teachers,
and standards.

The late Mr. Thomas Peat, iron founder, of Bank-street,
Farnworth, near Bolton, left estate valued ait £2,656.

ORGANISATION OF THE COKING
INDUSTRY.

At the December meeting, of the Midland branch of
the Coke Oven Managers’ Association, Prof. L. T.
O’Shea read a paper on this subject. To assure the
success of the industry as a national one, he said, it was
necessary that the movement should be organised in such
a way as to allow freedom foir originality and enterprise
to exercise their influence on. its development. The
first essential was a clear realisation of the extent of
the industry, and the possibility for its future develop-
ment, and then to consider the actual steps to be taken
to lay the foundation for future success.

Importance of the Industry.

The material handled was the raw material from
which products essential for the needs of other indus-
tries were obtained, and up to the outbreak of the
present war few were interested in 'the subsequent treat-
ment or use made of these products. The world’s
supply of ammonia was chiefly obtained from coal, and
it had mostly been converted into sulphate for sale as
a fertiliser; but it had wider uses—cold storage, the
freezing method of pit sinking—in fact, almost every
industry or process that required the production of low
temperature depended on the production of ammonia.
The manufacture of modern high explosives required
supplies of ammonium nitrate, whilst 'ammonium
chloride and carbonate were essential"to the woollen,
dyeing, electrical, galvanising, and even drug industries.

The value of coal tar 'arose through the discovery of
the organic dyes, but its importance had risen greatly
since then. The pre-war value,'and perhaps also its
present value, was chiefly dependent on the presence of
aromatic compounds, viz., benzene, toluene, xylene,
naphthalene, anthracene, carbolic acid, cresol, etc.
These bodies, contained in the various crude fractions of
tar distillation, were required for the manufacture of
dyes, explosives, drugs, photographic chemicals, per-
fumes, antiseptics, and even essences and flavourings.
At the present moment benzene, toluene, and carbolic
acid were chiefly required for the manufacture of explo-
sives; but in the future large supplies of tar would be
required for other than the explosives industries. The
supply, of benzene and toluene in coal tar itself was
really very small, the greater portion being found in the
gas as benzol. <

Possibilities of Development.

There was a large proportion of non-coking coal, for
which no use had been found, and this at present was
lost to the nation. The possibility of its distillation
was a fascinating problem; but the real solution lay in
finding a satisfactory use for the non-volatile residue,
and the determination of the yield and value of the
crude by-products of distillation. A solution of these
two problems would increase our national resources of
fuel.

The low-temperature distillation of coal had not made
much progress, but there appeared prospects of a fertile
field for development and financial success in the pro-
duction of fuel for all classes of internal combustion
engines, and for use in ships, to say nothing of a substi-
tute for coal for domestic use.	■

Another problem 'also awaiting attention was the
recovery of the sulphur in coal. This sulphur, if con-
verted into sulphuric acid, would yield more than suffi-
cient to convert the ammonia obtained from coal into
ammonium sulphate. Up to now, that recovery had
received little attention in coke .works; but German
inventors had devised at least two processes as substi-
tutes for the. old.and time-honoured one.. These were
the Feld and Burkheiser,processes, and although at the
present theycould not be, said > to be successful, it
was impossible to say. how far they might be developed
by persistent and. careful research. .

The most suitable refractory material. to resist the
destructive action of salt had yet to be found.’ It was
a problem forcibly impressed on the coke manufacturers
in South Yorkshire by the long 'account for repairs that
was so common in the district.

The problem of the economic use of the . gases was
one of extreme importance from a national standpoint,
for at present a very large proportion of a: valuable
source of energy was being wasted. The prevention of
this waste by "erecting central power, stations, or by its
use at the works themselves for the' generation of electric
energy, was a great economic problem in connection
with the conservation of our coal supply.

The Pioneer in South Yorkshire.

The by-product coking industry was one of recent
development in England. . .Early attempts in the middle
of last century resulted in failure, but about 1898 Mr.
G. Blake Walker was the pioneer who gave a lead to
the colliery industry in South Yorkshire in coal distil-
lation, and to-day there were few collieries fortunate
enough to possess a good coking coal that had not their
batteries of by-product coke ovens. In 1913 the quan-
tity of coal. carbonised in retort coke ovens was about
13,500,000 tons. The quantities of ,the crude products
obtained were difficult to estimate,- but it had been
stated that whilst before the war the yield of benzol
was 3,000,000 gals, per annum, in 1915 it had risen to
15,000,000 gals., and was probably now about 20,000,000
gals. Taking the average yield of tar at about 5 per
cent., 675,000 tons of tar might ,be expected. The
benzol obtained by its distillation, together with the
crude benzol from coke works, . would yield about
30,000,000 gals, of finished products. The 'ammonia
obtained was equivalent to about 1 to 1-J- per cent, of
ammonium sulphate; and the yield in 1913 was 138,816
tons, and in 1914, 137,430 tons. h

Organisation and Scientific Control.

To organise the industry, the first thing to realise was
that the 'colliery manager who embarked on coal distil-
lation had taken under his control a> chemical industry,

land therefore became a chemical manufacturer. All
chemical manufacturers ■ realised that their processes
must be carried out under conditions controlled by
certain laws, the infraction of which must necessarily
lead to disaster; that, once the conditions were known,
they could and must be controlled from the laboratory,
and only when that was efficiently done could success be '
achieved.

The next point to realise was that the coal distiller
started with a substance of unknown constitution to
produce results under conditions which could not be
said to be identical for all the different varieties of coal
which 'he had at his disposal, and in this respect he
was at a disadvantage, and the most favourable condi-
tions for any one class of coal must be obtained by
experience. The task of the coal distiller was a diffi-
cult one, calling for sound and wide knowledge, as well
as practical experience and judgment; and the first step .
towards organisation was to secure properly trained men.
to exercise control.

The control of the process largely devolved on the
laboratory. Several points suggested themselves as.
matters of daily routine, amongst these being the main-
tenance of a proper distillation temperature, dependent
on the proper combustion in the flues and the calorific
power of the gas. It should be a matter of daily routine
to check the combustion by analysis of the flue gases,
which might be confined to the estimation of CO2 by CO2
recorders. Daily records of the calorific power of the
gases could also be obtained by means of automatic gas
calorimeters. Thus a check could be kept, not only on
the combustion in the flues, but on the composition of
the gas. Any irregularities could thus easily be notified,
and confirmed by special analysis, and their cause ascer-
tained and removed.

Daily determinations of the amount of ammonia and
benzol passing away in the gas could easily be made if
apparatus for the purpose were permanently fixed up in
the laboratory, whilst periodic determinations of total
ammonia and benzol in the gas would serve as a check
on the efficiency of the scrubbing plant. Systematic
determinations of the dirt in the coal, if carried out '
daily, served as a check on the efficiency of the washer,
and supplemented the daily analysis . of the coal and
coke. The records of temperatures in the Various parts
of the cooling and washing plants gave important indi-
cation on irregularities. The benzol plant could largely
be controlled by temperature records, and whilst, for
purposes of simplicity of working, the men in charge
might be given routine orders, based on time and quan-
tities, temperature records were the means whereby
irregularities were discovered and rectified. Control of
this. character must be organised and under the super-
vision of a competent chief, skilled in the technique of
the process, and in the details of the construction and
working of his plant. Under his supervision the routine
work could be carried out by duly qualified but less
highly skilled men.

The construction, working, and maintenance of the
plant were equally important, and required the closest
association between the chemist and the engineer. The
manager, if a ajieimist, must have a knowledge of
chemical engineering. Many ■ chemists werb handi-
capped by want of that engineering knowledge which
would enable them to judge how' far it was possible to
carry out their ideas on a working scale. • Given that .
knowledge, then, with the assistance of a mechanical
engineer, developments and improvements became
easier, and. failures fewer.

Suggested Course of Training.

The control of a coke oven plant, then, should be in
the hands of a chemical engineer, and it was important
to consider of what his training should consist. The
man who aspires to manage and control a coal distilla-
tion plant must have a thorough knowledge of chemistry
up to the standard of a degree in science. Specialisation'
in organic chemistry would appear important, and, .
physical chemistry should not be. omitted. Physics
should include chiefly heat and electricity up to an inter-
mediate standard, mathematics (pure and applied); up
to the same standard. He should also have such a
knowledge of French and German as would enable him
to consult the .foreign literature. The training in these
subjects of pure science should be followed by a course
of applied science, which should include such subjects
as building construction and mechanical drawing, heat
engines, the elementary principles of mechanical and
electrical, engineering, and a. sound knowlege of chemical ■
engineering and of the chemistry of coal and by-product
recovery. The question arose of how far it was desir-
able to combine instruction in the lecture room land
laboratory with practice in the works. He believed in .
the closest possible association between the. school of
instruction and the works, as it steadied the student,
and gave him a stimulus to prosecute- his studies with
greater thoroughness and enthusiasm. At the s^me
time, the training in observation and' reasoning made
him more observant, and enabled him to think more
clearly over the practical problems he met with. But
this attention must be undivided, and not be distracted
by duties to be carried out for the works manager.

If . training on these lines were agreed to, the proper
plan to adopt for training the coke works manager would
be for the pupil to devote the whole of the first year to
his pure science subjects, and 'then, perhaps, combine
his studies with practical experience. This course,
would probably lead to the extension of the training to
four years, and then, although the student would not
be ready to accept the responsibility of the manage-
ment and control of the works,, he would be able to ■
undertake the part of chief chemist; competent'to con-
trol the laboratory or undertake research. ‘ To finally fit.
himself for the more responsible position of manager,
he must enlarge his outlook and acquire a practical
experience of the details of the process of manufacture
in some more or less subordinate position in the works.