SYMTOSIUM ON SCIENCE AND RECONSTRUCTION 83 



The volatile matter and the caking property are the chief 

 factors which make the use of bituminous coal for this pur- 

 pose, a problem of many difficulties. To follow exactly the 

 same methods as employed with coke or anthracite would 

 be to court failure from the start. Among the difficulties 

 usuall}' encountered may be mentioned, the production of 

 great volumes of smoke, a marked decrease in gas produc- 

 tion capacity, and the rapid plugging of the brick checker- 

 work with pitch and soot. To overcome these difficulties 

 a vast amount of experimenting has been done by various 

 gas operators. While there has been some exchange of 

 views among the operators, it was found on an inspection 

 tour made last summer, by Mr. W. W. Odell, gas engineer 

 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and the writer, that many 

 operators were beset by so many difficulties connected with 

 securing labor and materials and maintaining their plants 

 that the}' had little time to devote to the solution of actual 

 machine operating difficulties. As a result of the inspec- 

 tion, the Geological Surve}^ published its Cooperative Min- 

 ing Investigations Bulletin Xo. 22, describing the observed 

 practice in operating with bituminous coals up to that 

 time and it was decided to make an investigation on a 

 practical scale to learn more facts if possible for dissemi- 

 nation to the gas industry. The Public Service Company of 

 Northern Illinois very generously offered the facilities of 

 the Streator plant for the experiments. Mr. Odell and the 

 writer spent several weeks in that plant, experimenting 

 with various coals under different conditions. While there 

 are still some difficulties to be overcome, it is felt that the 

 results obtained there and the application of the methods 

 employed to some other plants have justified the time and 

 money spent and have demonstrated that many of the diffi- 

 culties formerly encountered can be entirely overcome or 

 greatly diminished. In discussing the methods used at 

 Streator, no attempt will be made to go into great detail. 

 The main facts will be mainly outlined. It is not claimed 

 that all the methods tried originated in the Streator tests. 

 Some of them had been worked out by other operators and 

 to them great credit is due for the pioneer work accom- 

 plished. 



One of the first difficulties to be overcome in the use of 

 bituminous coal was the obstruction to the passage of air 

 blast and steam caused by the caking of the coal. With 



