BRIQUETTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 9431, 4 June 1891, Page 5

BRIQUETTES.

UTILISATION OF COAL WASTE.

The manufacture, of briquettes from Victorian coal is a subject which is touched upon in a report which has been famished by Mr J. Cosmo Newbery to the Mining Department. _ He states that the process adopted by him in the experiment which he recently carried out was simply to warm the lignite when wet and press it into a; heated mould. The pressure was obtained by using the hydraulic press at the Victorian railway workshops, at Newport.' “ Something has yet to be learnt," writes: Mr Newbery, ** as to the pressure necessary, and the size of grain to give the freestburning briquette, but this can only be done when the work is carried out on a practical scale, which is not possible with the present appliances. Rocentlnformatlon from Germany makes it doubtful whether the fuel in this form can be used on locomotive engines, as any small fragments which become detached from the mass and are sufficiently light to be carried away by the draught, are a source of danger, not only 1 to the country generally during dry weather, hut also to the railway stations, goods sheds, and the carriages or trucks of the train, for the lignite sparks, unlike coal, wood, or coke sparks, will not go out till wholly consumed, and everywhere it testa there is danger. When the briquette is made with rather roughly crushed lignite, I think it will bum more freely and be better for stationary engines than when made .with finely-crushed material; but’ with It there would be much more danger from sparks in locomotives. It is possible' that the difficulty may be got oyer by making two classes of briquettes—one for locomotives, and one for stationary engines and household purposes. Considering the vast deposits we have of this fuel, probably the thickest in the world, the subject is well worth every inquiry." In the opinion of Mr Newbery coal washing should aloe be introduced. On this point he says• "The recent improvements in coal washing are creating a revolution in the coal-mining industry of Europe. The waste heaps of many mines in England and on the Conti-' nent are being washed, and are yielding a better profit than the mines. Many of our Gippsland coals would be vastly improved by washing. Leaving out the labour, this coal washing is said to be done-by the Luhrig system at a coat of lsd per ton."