REPORT OP THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1901 r67 



dryness, coherence, and purity of the peat. In some countries, 

 notably Ireland and Germany, the peat is dug, dried and then 

 used, but, while cheap when employed in this manner, still it 

 lacks heating power, for it is not only porous, but even when 

 air-dried may still contain as much as 25$ or 30$ of water. Peat 

 of this character burns very freely. 



For developing the maximum calorific power therefore it is 

 not only necessary to dry the peat thoroughly, but also to 

 compress it into some dense and more solid form. Pressure 

 alone is not sufficient to drive out all the moisture, nor has it 

 been found practicable to dry the peat in bulk^ and therefore a 

 preliminary pulverization is always necessary. 



While experiments carried out on a working scale have shown 

 that, when properly treated, peat will develop a good calorific 

 power, still it can not compete successfully with bituminous 

 coal in those countries where there is an abundance of the last 

 mentioned material. 



P. R. Bjorling 1 refers to a peat which was used for fuel, and 

 contained from 75$ to 85$ of water in its raw condition. This 

 was reduced to 5$ to 15$ by air-drying, and in that condition 

 contained from 5$ to 15$ of ash. The composition varied be- 

 tween 50$ and 66$ carbon; 4.7$ to 7.4$ hydrogen; 28$ to 39$ 

 oxygen; and 1.3$ to 3$ nitrogen. In the air-dried condition the 

 calorific value was 3000-3500 units, or, when dried at 100° C, it 

 was 5200 units. 



Experiments which have been made to test the heating effect 

 of raw and prepared peat as compared with coal, indicated that 

 the number of pounds of water heated from to 100° C, by one 

 pound of peat varies from 18 to 62. 2 



The heating power of peat can be determined by means of a 

 calorimeter. The principle of this consists in determining the 

 number of degrees temperature to which a given quantity of 

 water can be raised by the heat given off by a certain amount 

 of peat in burning. For such a test a number of different calorim- 



1 Colliery Guardian, 80:1127, 1183, 1294; 81:21. 

 •Mineral Industry, 2:492. 



