ON FUEL ECONOMY. 197 



employed. When completed, this return will enable the Committee to 

 arrive at an approximate estimate of the margins of possible economies 

 in the shape of improved utilisation, of the coal carbonised which can 

 now be effected in the coking industry and the directions in which 

 further progress is likely to be made. 



A memorandum is also in course of preparation describing the more 

 important developments of the by-product coking industry, from its 

 inception until the present day. 



With regard to gasworks practice, inquiries have been instituted 

 regarding the present practice in connection with the manufacture of 

 towns' gas, and for this purpose the Institution of Gas Engineers is 

 officially represented on the Sub-Committee. It is also intended later 

 on to consider the question of low -temperature carbonisation from the 

 point of view of its possible economic results, but up to the present 

 time so little authentic information is available that the Committee 

 would welcome the offer of proper facilities to enable them to investi- 

 gate the matter. 



C. 



Metallurgical, Ceramic, and Refractory Materials Sub-Committee. — 

 Dr. J. E. Stead (Chairman), Mr. Robert Aemitage, M.P., Professor 

 J. 0. Arnold, Sir Hugh Bell, Bart., Mr. E. Burv, Sir Egbert 

 Hadfield, Mr. Greville Jones, Dr. J. W. Mellor, Mr. Egbert 

 Mgnd, Mr. Bernard Moore, Mr. Benjamin Talbot, Mr. B. W. 

 Winder, and Mr. H. James Yates. 



The amount of coal consumed in metallurgical, ceramic, refractory 

 materials, and cognate industries probably amounts to approximately 

 20 per cent, of the total home consumption. Of this, probably about 

 three-fourths must be debited to the iron and steel industries. 



The Sub-Committee has taken steps to ascertain from some of the 

 larger manufacturers data which will assist it in determining the actual 

 amount of fuel which is being used on the average in the manufacture 

 of the various brands of pig iron, spiegeleisen, ferro-manganese, &c., 

 throughout the Kingdom. A memorandum is in preparation concern- 

 ing the heat balance of a blast furnace of modern construction for the 

 manufacture of Cleveland No. 3 and other pig irons, and a description 

 will be given of the best methods now available for the utilisation of 

 the surplus gases from such a furnace. Inquiries are also being made 

 as to the results of the application of dry air to blast furnaces. 



In like manner a series of questions relative to fuel consumptions in 

 steelworks has been prepared for circulation among the larger steel 

 plants in the Kingdom, with a view to ascertaining both the present 

 average consumption and the directions in v.-hich further economies 

 may be looked for in the near future. In this connection the Sub- 

 Committee will endeavour to draw up a statement as to the best lay-out 

 and arrangement of a combined by-product coking, iron-smelting, and 

 steel-making plant from the point of view of utilising as completely as 

 possible surplus gases and waste heat, and thus realising the maximum 

 fuel economy in the heavy-steel industry. 



