AMERICAN FOREST CONGRESS 377 



ducer gas in which the British thermal units measure 

 from 125 to 154 per cubic foot. It has been shown 

 that the gas produced from the lignites of Colorado, 

 North Dakota, and Texas ranges from 160 to 190 B. 

 T. U.'s per cubic foot, and I have been informed that 

 during a portion of the runs on one of the lignites from 

 North Dakota as high as 216 B. T. U.'s were made in 

 the gas. An average run of Texas lignite produced 

 gas of a little less than 170 B. T. U.'s. 



In the operation of the coal-testing plant, the amount 

 of electric horse power produced by the consumption 

 of the coal by two different methods was ascertained. 

 One of these was burned under boilers connected with 

 the steam engine, which in turn was connected with a 

 dynamo that transformed this power into electrical 

 units. In the other case a quantity of the same coal 

 was burned in a gas producer, the gas thus produced 

 being used in a gas engine, and the power thus gen- 

 erated being in like manner transformed into electrical 

 units. By this means the amount of electrical power 

 generated from the same coal or lignite under the two 

 systems was easily compared, and it was found that 

 in the case of the bituminous coal the economy of the 

 gas engine over the steam engine ranged from 30 to 

 considerably more than 50 per cent. Owing to the 

 fact that the furnaces were not at the time suited to the 

 use of lignite which disintegrates on exposure, attempts 

 to use it under the boilers were unsatisfactory, whereas 

 the quality of the gas produced from the same grade of 

 lignites was from 20 to 25 per cent higher than that 

 obtained from bituminous coal. This is partly offset 

 by the fact that a larger amount of lignite is required 

 to produce the same amount of gas, and it is also true 

 at the present time that the installation of a gas pro- 

 ducer and gas engine plant is more expensive than 



