CARBONISATION OF COAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21098, 4 February 1932, Page 12

CARBONISATION OF COAL.

THE SALERNI PROCESS. ENGLISH BANKER'S SUPPORT. An enthusiastic view of the possibilities of low-temporal lire carbonisation of coal was expressed by Sir Eric Hnmbro at a luncheon given by him in London in honour of Commendatore Picro Salerni, the Italian scientist who, 9t tho Third International Congress on Bituminous Coal, organised by the Carnegie Institute and held in Pittsburg, U.S.A., in November, disclosed a process, which he had developed after years of experiment, Tor the low-temperature carbonisation of coal.

Sir Eric Hambro said flic greatest trouble of British mines was that fine coal, which formed a large percentage of their output, fetched an insufficient price, and, in some instances, could not be sold at all. Experts bad long agreed that if a system of low-temperature carbonisation were available which could be generally applied it would provide the remedy, as by such treatment fine coal could be turned into fuel of a value not merely equal to that of lump coal, but superior to it.. 'j his could be done if, in addition to the, home market for solid fuel, (ho coalmining industry could take into its orbit a large part of the market which was now supplied by imported oil. Lowtemperature carbonisation could give the. means of achieving this. When he was m Rome in 1930 he learned from His Excellency Benito .Mussolini, tlie most far-seeing man of modern times, tlia.tr, although his country bad no coal other than that imported, he firmly determined to leave no stone unturned to bring about the evolution of a low-temperature carbonisation process sound enough to enable the treatment of all coal that Italy consumed. It was in connection with Mussolini's scheme that Tiero Salerni, who in the past had done some of the most useful work thathad been done in that difficult field, was prevailed upon to abandon for a time his other pursuits, and concentrate again on low-temperature carbonisation. How he set to work and how he reached- success was set out in the papers which Commendatore Salerni and Professor Wheeler, of Sheffield University, presented to the congress of the world's greatest experts at Pittsburg. Professor Wheeler's paper contained the following momentous declaration:—"lt is difficult not to conclude that by the Salerni system the admittedly difficult problem of lowtemperature carbonisation has been effectively solved. It provides a solution of the problem so complete as to render the treatment of all bituminous coal for use in grates economically practicable."

Sir Eric Hambro said that the present was no time to ask for finance from the Government or even from the public, and he decided, therefore, to shoulder himself the responsibility for the provision of the initial funds. Salerni had done bis share. It behoved him to do his in order that the trade depression, and the prejudico which past failures had cast upon low-temperature carbonisat ion, might not delay the career of an industry which could bring back prosperity to the mining industry, rid tho country of smo'ke, and create a home supply of oil and motor fuels. He. was deeply convinced that, this now industry would be the surest means of removing the chief cause of Britain's present crisis. It might appear that in doing this he was departing from the traditions of British banking, whose sound rule if had been to finance only well established industries. This was not so, for lie was acting in this case not as a banker, but as a private individual who realised tho country's urgent need for action.