46 



Compared with coal, briquettes made by either of the above proc- 

 esses have many advantages to offer. Calorimetric tests show that con- 

 densed peat possesses a fuel value equal to the best coal, and practice 

 proves that this fuel is available under ordinary conditions of burning. 

 The best of coal contains slate, shale, iron and other clinker-producing 

 elements. Clinkers inhibit the supply of oxygen (air) and the carbon, 

 unable to burn, goes up the chimney in the form of smoke. On the other 

 hand, the very nature of its origin prevents the possibilty of clinker forma- 

 tion in a peat fire. The ashes of the new fuel, fine and soft as cigar ashes, 

 fall through the grate bars and allow a constant supply of fresh air to 

 pass through the fire, thus securing perfect combustion and practically 

 no smoke. 



It has been urged against peat that it contained a high percentage of 

 ash-producing constituents. A marketable peat will contain from two to 

 ten per cent, of ash, pure coal from two to eight per cent. These are 

 the figures of the laboratory. As a matter of fact the average per cent, 

 of ash from a coal fire is from 20 to 35 per cent, and in it is contained 

 not only ashes and clinkers but also quantities of unburned coal — the 

 result of choked grate bars. 



The almost universal absence of sulphur in peat renders it a far more 

 wholesome fuel than any of the soft coals. Indeed so mild is the smoke 

 produced from peat that it has been used in emergencies as a substitute 

 for tobacco. 



In specific gravity, this condensed fuel will vary from about 1.10 

 to 1.G5. In other words a ton of it will occupy about the same space as 

 a ton of hard coal. 



While peat briquettes are not absolutely waterproof, they are rela- 

 tively so, for when once the fibre of the material is destroyed and it has 

 been allowed to dry, no amount of soaking will reduce it to its original 

 condition. 



Recently some attempt has been made to combine peat with various 

 other substances. For one reason or another all of these mixed fuels 

 have failed. One of the most notable of those combinations uses a certain 

 proportion of crude petroleum. As a result :i pile of such fuel is constantly 

 liable to spontaneous combustion. 



Mixtures of peat and anthracite dust have failed, owing to the neces- 

 sity of using an expensive "binder" to give the briquettes solidity. Aside 



