Greater Energy from Coal 



139 



vast brown and black lignite deposits of 

 the West are available for use in the gas- 

 producer. It has been demonstrated that 

 brown lignite from North Dakota will 

 produce in some cases more than four 

 times the power when used in the gas- 

 producer than when burned under the 

 boiler. These Hgnites, containing from 

 20 to 45 per cent moisture, have always 

 stood at the bottom of the scale as a 

 boiler fuel, and they have been used for 

 power purposes only where it has been 

 impossible to secure bituminous coal. It 

 was discovered at the Geological Survey 

 coal-testing plant that these lignites, in 

 spite of their high moisture content, can 

 be utilized commercially to the best ad- 

 vantage in the gas-producer equipment. 



In the boiler-room of the fuel-testing 

 plant, where careful study has been made 

 of combustion and the conditions govern- 

 ing the methods of firing the various 

 coals of the United States, it has been 

 shown that through proper stoking and 

 superintendence the coal bill of the coun- 

 try could be considerably reduced by this 

 careful attention to details which is too 

 often neglected in the average commer- 

 cial plant. 



A force of specially trained experts 

 has been at work for some time making 

 a careful study of coals which contain too 

 much ash or sulphur to be available for 

 commercial purposes. These investiga- 

 tions have been carried on both in the 

 laboratory and in the field, and the re- 

 sults obtained so far look forward to a 

 time when these dirty coals can be 

 greatly improved by proper washing or 

 other means of mechanical preparation, 

 and as a result many low-grade coals will 

 be extensively operated. 



The briquetting of slack coal and other 

 waste sizes has been successfully accom- 

 plished at a low cost. The resultant 

 briquettes have proved superior, in al- 

 most all cases, to lump coal from the 

 same mines for power purposes. This 

 branch of the investigations opens to the 

 commercial world a hitherto unknown 

 field which is destined soon to become an 

 important factor in the production of 

 fuel. 



The following tabular statement shows 

 the comparative efficiencies of a number 

 of coals tested in the gas-producer and 

 burned under boilers, demonstrating the 

 economy of the gas-producer equipment: 



Table showing the relative efficiency of coals 

 used under the steam, boiler and in the pro- 

 ducer-gas plant at the U. S Geological Survey 

 fuel-testing plant, St. Louis, Mo., in 1904. and 

 1905. 



(By Manus R. Campbell.) 



Name of coal tested. 



West Virginia (13) 



West Virginia (14) 



West Virginia(i8) 



Virginia (3) 



Ohio (5) 



Pennsylvania (5) 



Pennsylvania (8) 



Ohio (6) 



Virginia (4) 



West Virginia (20) 



Penn.sylvania(io) 



West Virginia (4) 



Kentucky (6) 



Ohio(4) 



Pennsylvania (6) 



Virginia (2) 



niinois(i9) 



Kentucky (5) 



West Virginia (t6).... 



Kentucky (i) 



Pennsylvania (4) 



West Virginia (g) 



Ohio (9) 



West Virginia (7) 



Ohio (3) 



West Virginia (12) 



Virginia (I) 



Ohio (8) 



Indian Territory (4).. 



niinois(io) 



West Virginia (l) 



Indiana (8) 



Indiana (7) 



Kentucky (7) 



Ohio (7) 



Pennsylvania (7) 



Alabama (2) 



Indiana (II) 



Illinois (13) 



Illinois (18) 



Illinois (14) 



Illinois (15) 



Illinois (16) 



West Virginia (8) 



Indiana (5) 



Indiana (9) 



Illinois (11) 



Indian Territory (i).. 



Illinois (3) 



Indiana (6) 



Indiana (3) 



Illinois (S) 



Illinois (9) 



Illinois (6) 



Illinois (4) 



Wyoming (3) 



Kentucky (3) 



