1 66 THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF 



In the discussion of the Paper 



" ON PEAT FUEL MACHINERY," by JOSEPH 

 MCCARTHY MEADOWS, 



ME. SIEMENS * said, in the course of the discussion, the use to 

 which the peat was to be applied appeared to have been left out 

 of sight. If it was to be worked into peat charcoal, it was of 

 course necessary that it should be thoroughly masticated and 

 compressed, in order to make it of great density. Such peat 

 charcoal was of considerable value, and in blast furnaces he 

 thought it would be better than the best coke that could be 

 obtained, because it was generally free from sulphur. This, 

 however, was not always the case, for at Swansea he had analysed 

 peat, and had found it to contain fully \ per cent, of sulphur, 

 owing, no doubt, to the presence of the Copper Smelting Works. 

 Again, if peat was required for locomotive work it must be ren- 

 dered dense, or it would fly out in large quantities from the 

 chimney ; in which case a machine like the Messrs. Clayton's 

 might be extremely useful. If, however, peat was only to be used 

 for the production of heat, in stationary steam boilers or in fur- 

 naces, it would be entirely useless to subject it to manufacturing 

 operations such as had been described. He agreed with Mr. 

 Cowper in thinking that it was desirable to separate each piece as 

 much as possible from its neighbour, so as to let the wind act 

 upon it, rather than to dry it in sheds by artificial heat, because 

 in the latter case a large proportion of it had to be burnt to 

 produce the heat, and the operation was actually retarded because 

 only a limited quantity of air could be brought in contact with 

 each piece. Air-dried peat, containing 40 or 50 per cent, of 

 water, was capable of producing any degree of heat if properly 

 burnt ; and he considered the proper way of burning such fuel 

 was to convert it into a gaseous fuel. The gas was as rich if the 

 peat contained 50 per cent, of moisture as if it contained none ; 



* Excerpt Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. 

 XXXVIII. Session 1873-74, pp. 265-66. 



