322 RECORDS. 



in Germany, many factories have been established for the 

 compression of Hgnite, or brown coal, and peat into 

 briquettes. 



The principal deposits of lignite are near Berlin and Cologne. 

 The larger of these is south and east of Berlin and is known as 

 the Lausitz district. About 280 factories for the manufacture 

 of briquetted fuel, with a total of 680 presses, have been estab- 

 lished in these two regions, and their output in 1902 was ap- 

 proximately 12,438,000 metric tons. The briquettes are about 

 7 inches long, 2 ^ inches wide, and i ^ inches thick, with 

 rounded corners. Their wholesale price in the larger German 

 cities is between ;^2.io and $2.25 per metric ton. 



Excellent briquettes have been made from the lignite of Ala- 

 bama ; but the experiments with the lignites of North Dakota 

 have been less successful. The calorific value of the German 

 briquettes is from 7,500 to 9,000 B.T.U.'s. True peat and 

 other bog matter is becoming of importance in the manufacture 

 of briquetted fuel. The process of manufacture which has 

 been employed in Canada has depended upon heat for the ex- 

 pulsion of the major part of the contained moisture. This has 

 been an unsatisfactory method, because the temperature (280° F.) 

 necessarily employed has weakened the natural cementing quali- 

 ties of the bog material. 



The German method which has been very successful is to 

 break up rapidly and thoroughly the cellular structure of the 

 partly decomposed vegetable matter. This sets free the water 

 from the plant fiber without injuring the cementing material. 

 In the process, part of the moisture is squeezed out of the 

 mass, and the remainder evaporates rapidly on exposure to the 

 air. The briquettes are ready to use in about two weeks after 

 leaving the machine. Their calorific value is greater than that 

 of the briquettes made from lignite. 



The briquettes made from American bog matter seem to be 

 as good as the European. The percentage of ash is high, but 

 the ash is very free in character. This characteristic together 

 with the absence of sulphur, makes the fuel work well under 

 boilers. Wherever transportation charges bring the cost of 



