SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
The scheme of work which the Board is carrying out includes :— 
1. The further organization and development of a survey of the coals of Great 
Britain, and in particular as to the suitability of different types of known i” 
origin for conversion into gases, fuel oils, and coke. : 
. The obtaining of data for the preparation of thermal balance-sheets for various 
to” 
methods of coal carbonization and the gasification of coke, and in connexion ~ 
_ with the use of gaseous fuels in industrial furnaces. 
3. The obtaining of data for the preparation of economic balance-sheets for car- 
bonization, gasification, and furnacing operations. 
4, The obtaining of similar thermal and economic data in connexion with the use 
of peat as fuel. 
5. Experimental work on carbonization at temperatures up to 650° C. and on 
various types of apparatus for this purpose. . ; 
6. The study of the coke produced under (5) from various types of coal as a smoke- 
less fuel for domestic and industrial purposes, either directly or in the form 
of briquettes. . ‘ 
7. The study of oils produced under (5) as a source of fuel oils for use by the Navy 
in steam boilers or in Diesel engines. 
8. The study of the hydrocarbon gases produced under (5) with a view to their 
utilization directly as a high grade fuel or as a source of fuel alcohol. 
4. POWDERED COAL. 
The possibility of applying combustion to powdered coal for industrial : 
purposes, especially in connexion with the utilization of small coal, is also 
a matter of prime importance in connexion with the subject of coal economy. 
By pulverizing coal and carrying it forward in a stream of air to a combustion 
furnace it is possible to obtain perfect combustion with complete prevention 
of smoke. The first application of this method of burning coal was in the 
cement industry in the United States of America, where, about 30 years ago, 
the firing of rotary cement kilns was adapted to the use of powdered coal, 
the air-coal mixture being injected into the kilns to yield a flame of great 
intensity and length. In this way more expensive fuels, such as oil and 
natural gas, were superseded. The application of powdered coal to other 
industrial operations is extending, especially in the United States of America, 
where, at the present time, it has reached an annual consumption of nearly 
10,000,000 tons of fuel. ; 
Special attention is directed to this matter in the Report of the British 
Fuel Research Board. It appears that in Great Britain also this develop- 
ment has mainly taken place in connexion with the cement industry, the only 
other experience of the method in that country being its use by the Admiralty 
- on a limited scale for steam raising in certain forms of land boiler, The 
British Board was so impressed with the importance of the developments 
in the United States of America that it sent a special investigator to that 
country to inquire into the whole position. The information collected has 
been published by the Fuel Research Board in the form of a Special Report 
' entitled “ Pulverized Coal Systems in America.’’ The Board is of the 
opinion that the matter is of such importance that it has ordered a complete 
large-scale testing plant for the purpose of investigating the suitability of 
_ various types of British coal for use in the pulverized form. 
‘The bare fact that this method is now being applied to the burning of 
over 10,000,000 tons of coal per annum in America is in itself a strong reason 
for its serious consideration in other countries. The advantages of the 
method as an almost perfect means of burning coal must of course be weighed 
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