SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
These figures show that only 1,500,000 tons, that is, one-sixth of the coal 
used in Australia, is at present “ carbonized,” 7.e., 900,000 tons in gas works 
and 600,000 tons in coke ovens. The coal used for these purposes, as will 
appear later, is carbonized at relatively high temperatures. In the one case 
the primary object of the process is, of course, the production of gas, and 
in the other, the manufacture of coke, and while the processes are conducted 
to attain these respective objects, the by-products can be saved, though 
at the present time in Australia they are very largely wasted. The remainder 
of the coal used in Australia is burnt simply for the purpose of generating 
heat, either under boilers or in some other manner, and a large proportion 
of the available heat-units as well as valuable by-products are entirely wasted. 
Even in large modern steam generating plants, burning coal under boilers 
in the usual way, the maximum thermal efficiency of the steam generators 
does not exceed about 80 per cent. That is to say, one-fifth of the potential 
value of the coal is wasted. A recent examination of 1,000 boilers in England 
gave an average thermal efficiency of only 57 per cent., and no fewer than 
300 of them had an efficiency of less than 50 per cent. It is obvious, there- 
fore, that present methods are exceedingly wasteful, not merely by reason 
of the loss of the by-products, but also in respect to the available heat-units 
wasted. 
In various countries, notably in England and America, a great deal of 
attention has recently been paid to what are known as processes for the 
“low-temperature carbonization ”’ of coal. The object of these processes 
is to devise a commercial method of carbonizing coal in such a way that the 
valuable by-products, available for the purpose of nitrogenous fertilizers, 
crude oils, motor-spirit, and oils for marine propulsion, can be saved and 
the “ carbonized ” residue used as a smokeless fuel, either for the generation 
of electricity at large central power stations or for domestic purposes. ‘The 
* problem of establishing an efficient process on a commercial scale has not 
yet been solved, but it is considered that there is little doubt that satisfactory 
processes will be evolved before long. Investigations have made it clear 
not only that different temperatures and processes of distillation, but also 
that different types and even different seams of coal give quite different 
- results in the nature, qualities, and yields of by-products. 
Industrial development in Australia, as in other countries, will be greatly 
affected by the cost at which power can be supplied in the form of electricity. 
In this country we have neither water-power nor natural oil or gas in any 
appreciable quantity, and the problem of the economical production of 
electric power from coal is therefore of special importance. The cost of 
producing power from coal could be substantially reduced by the establishment 
of large central stations, where, instead of burning the coal directly under 
steam boilers, it would be first subjected to carbonization and gasification 
processes, which in addition to fuel gas would yield valuable by-products. 
It is obvious, therefore, that the question of low-temperature carbonization 
is of the highest importance in this country. or instance, there is the case 
of Collie (W.A.) coal, which is not suitable for bunkering coal, owing to its 
liability to spontaneous combustion. If the necessary investigations were 
carried out this coal might be carbonized and a satisfactory steaming coal 
obtained, in addition to valuable by-products. Again, there is the problem 
of the economic utilization of Newcastle and Maitland coal. At present a 
small fleet of steamers and numerous railway waggons and locomotives: are 
engaged in transporting coal at great cost from Newcastle to various indus- 
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