AN IDEAL FUEL 



1073 



•steady advance in briquet-making. The 



supply of the raw material — coal screen- 

 ings — is a great and constant one, and 

 the possible supply of binding material 

 is good. Our annual coke production is 

 now about 35,000,000 tons, and an im- 

 portant by-product of coke manufacture 

 is coal-tar, an ideal briquet binder. Un- 

 til recently most of our coke was made 

 in ''beehive" ovens, by which process 

 the by-products are entirely wasted. 

 Great by-product coke ore retorts are 

 now rapidly displacing the wasteful bee- 

 hives, a recent notable installation being 

 at the United States Steel Corporation's 

 huge plant at Gary, Indiana, and thus 

 large quantities of cheap binding ma- 

 terial are becoming available. Moreover, 

 the binder manufacturers and the bri- 

 quetting industry are showing signs of 

 "getting together." Briquetting Engi- 

 neer Malcolmson stated recently, in dis- 

 cussing the importance of binding ma- 

 terial for briquet manufacture : 



''There is no doubt that the successful 

 briquetting of coal depends as much on 

 the specifications and uniformity of the 

 binder furnished as it does on the me- 

 chanical operations of the machinery. 

 The consumption of pitch for briquetting 

 purposes so far, in this country, has been 

 so irregular and uncertain that pitch 

 manufacturers have not been disposed to 

 give the distillation of tar the proper 

 consideration. In working out the prob- 

 lems which are always inherent in , new 

 propositions, it has been discovered that 

 the ability to put on the market a uni- 

 form fuel necessitated a uniform qual- 

 ity of binder. One of the most prom- 

 ising indications of future success in 

 establishing this important industry in 

 the United States is the attitude which 

 has recently been assumed by the leading 

 pitch manufacturers in recognizing the 

 necessity of a distinct product to be 

 known as "briquetting pitch." These 

 manufacturers also recognize the neces- 

 sity of assisting in every way to estab- 

 lish the briquetting industry by not only 

 spending considerable money in develop- 

 ing a pitch of the requisite specifications, 

 but also placing that pitch on the market 



at a price which will make the briquet- 

 ting of coal commercially possible. 



A numbe:r 01^ brique:t pi^ants in 



PRACTICAI^ OPERATION 



In Mineral Resources for last year, 

 Mr. Parker, of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, describes the briquetting 

 plants in active operation. The plants 

 are located in New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Okla- 

 homa, Montana, Washington, Oregon, 

 Texas, and Wisconsin. 



The briquets range in size from little 

 fellows no larger than a small hen's egg, 

 intended for domestic use, to blocks con- 

 siderably larger than an ordinary build- 

 ing brick. They are variously termed 

 "boulets," "eggettes," "carbonets," "pat- 

 ent fuel," "coalettes," and "briquets." 

 The briquet machines have capacities 

 ranging from a few tons to 40 or more 

 tons per hour. The coal or slack is finely 

 crushed and then mixed with the pitch 

 or binder like a pudding, superheated and 

 saturated steam and water being used to 

 obtain a conglomerate of the right con- 

 sistency, varying with different coals. 

 The material is then forced into the 

 molds and subjected to a heavy pressure 

 of a ton or more to the square inch. 

 Thereupon issues the completed briquet. 



HUGE EIGNITE BRIQUETTING MACHINE 



A statement of the possibilities of the 

 briquet industry in the United States 

 would not be complete without reference 

 to the promising lignite briquetting ex- 

 periments being carried on by the Bu- 

 reau of Mines. At the Pittsburg station 

 of this bureau there has been installed a 

 huge German briquet machine, in which 

 briquets are made by enormous pressure, 

 without the use of binders. The machine 

 develops a pressure capacity of from 

 14,000 to 28,000 pounds per square inch, 

 and is typical of the plants used in Ger- 

 many with great success for briquetting 

 brown coal. Tests have already been 

 made with Texas, North Dakota, and 

 California lignites in order to determine 



