32 R. GREIG-SMITH. 



In proportion to the capital outlaid, the recovery of the 

 coal by-products is one of the most profitable of the chemical 

 industries. Except in the Broken Hill works at Newcastle, 

 where 66 ovens are working very satisfactorily, we have 

 no by-product coke ovens in New South Wales, and all the 

 valuable by-products are thrown into the air. All the coke, 

 outside of the gas works, is made by the beehive oven. Let 

 us see therefore exactly what is being wasted, and to bring 

 the matter nearer home, let us consider the waste in New 

 South Wales. In 1913, 298,612 tons of coke were produced 

 in this State, exclusive of that obtained in gas works, which 

 amounted to 768,055 tons. As coal yields from 60 to 65% 

 of coke, the beehive ovens used half-a-million tons of coal. 

 A ton of coal yields 8,341 cb. feet of gas, 20-85fbs. of 

 ammonium sulphate, 56 — 112 lbs. of tar, and 2 — 3J gallons 

 of crude benzole, of which from 65% to 70% is obtained as 

 finished products. 



A slight calculation shows that in New South Wales 

 we wasted, during ten months of 1913, over four thousand 

 million cubic feet of gas, from 4,400 to 7,800 tons of 

 ammonium sulphate, from 12,500 to 25,000 tons of tar, and 

 from one million to one and three-quarters of a million 

 gallons of crude benzole. 



W. Oorin, in the "Australasian Engineer" for January 

 of this year, considers that the results to be obtained would 

 justify the conversion of the beehive coke ovens to by-pro- 

 duct ovens. He considers that the whole of the South 

 Coast coke would yield the following by-products : — 



5,000 tons ammonium sulphate at £13 ... £65,000 



11,500 tons of tar at £3 34,500 



800,000 gallons of Benzole at 3/- 120,000 



128,000 gallons of Toluol at 3/10d 24,500 



Gas for 200 million units of electrical energy, 



but taking 96 millions at id. per unit... 100,000 



£344,000 

 Value of the Coke produced £209,000 



