154 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
ON THE USE OF LIGNITE OR BROWN COAL IN 
THE BLAST, PURNACE, 
————_— > ——_ 
BY PROF. VON TUNNER, LEOBEN, AUSTRIA. 
: os 
(Read before the fron and Steel Institute at its Autumn Meeting, October, 1881.) 
In undertaking, by request, to write a paper for the next 
meeting of the Institute upon the experiments that have been 
carried out in Austria for the production of pig iron with lignite 
or brown coal, I will, at the outset, for the purpose of showing 
what had formerly been done to solve this problem, take the 
liberty of calling attention to an article of my own contained in 
the twenty-first volume of the “ Mining and Metallurgical Year- 
Book for 1873,” pages 52-66. Asa supplement to that article 
I have remarked ina small drochure,* that probably from one- 
fourth to one-third of the coke made could be supplied by the 
newer brown coal dried in a kiln, or by the older brown coal 
in its raw state, whereby 100 parts of coke would need to be 
supplied by 160 parts of brown coal. 
As appears in the article above mentioned, the application of 
the newer brown coal, uncoked, for the production of pig-iron 
was under consideration as far back as the year 1806 in Styria; 
but not until forty years afterwards was attention to the subject 
revived, and it was then approached in several directions. The 
Imperial Ministry at Vienna had specially taken the matter up, 
as is expressly shown by concessions to several leaseholders and 
companies, on the 3rd January, 1871, No. 3365. The earlier 
existing Metallurgical Association for Upper Styria determined 
to undertake experiments on a large scale, because all the experi-. 
ments previously made, separately and on a small scale, had led 
to no decisive result. But all the efforts for bringing together 
the means necessary for these experiments were in vain, which 
is all the more easily accounted for because no fixed programme 
was drawn up as to how, when, and under whose management 
the experiments were to be conducted. Different works in the 
meantime continued to carry out isolated experiments, partly 
with the newer brown coal coked under pressure and with steam 
(in blast furnace No. 2, at Vordernberg, at Koflach, etc.) and 
partly with brown coal of better quality (at Zeltweg, Pravali, 
and Kalan), and, simultaneously, with the application of charcoal 
or the coke of good black coal, and they attained therewith more 
or less favourable results. | But none of these results were satis- 
factory to the “ Mining and Metallurgical Association of Styria 
and Carinthia,” which therefore on the 6th of June, 1880, passed 
a fresh resolution resolving to take up the subject once more, 
and appointing for that purpose a committee, which, among 
_ * The Future of the Austrian Iron Trade, especially the pti sag of Pig Iron,” 
Vienna, 1869, page Io, 
