ECONOMISING COAL

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1641, 14 May 1925, Page 6

ECONOMISING COAL

BRICKS FROM ASHES,

Lecturing at the Huddersfield Technical College on coal economy, Mr W. H. Casmey, of Holdsworth and Sons, Limited (Bradford), and that it was a surprising fact that although coal was discovered 1240 years ago, they were now considering how to 'burn it economically, namely, without making smoke.

Britain produced over 12,000,000 tons of furnace clinker and ashes yearly, and science had shown that by roughly grinding these and mixing with them a given weight of lime and water a mixture was found from which splendid bricks could be produced. The bricks were piled on small lorries, 400 on each, and then run into a circular steel chamber, called an autoclavi, 60ft. long by 6ft 6in. in diameter. When the chamber was full, the end was screwed on and made steam tight. Steam at 1201 b. pressure was then turned on, and the bricks were kept under this pressure for about six hours, and when cooled they were ready for use. Fancy 5000 million bricks made per year from clinker and ashes. The soot from chimneys, when freed from smoke and dust, was a most valuable food for all vegetation, including fruit trees and root crops. TheVe was material for 'building houses and food for the community from clinker and smoke. In future all coal would be treated chemically before using it for power purposes, thus bringing it on to the same basis as iron, stone, cotton, wool, or other raw material, and we should then find we could secure from one ton of coal 14cwt. of smokeless fuel, three gallons of motor spirit, 17 gallons of oil. 151 b. of sulphate of ammonia, and 5000 cubic feet of rich gas, the total value being twice that of the coal. It was nothing less than disgraceful that there was, such a huge death-rate, approximately 400,000 a year, one-half of which could be attributed to the breathing of foul dust and smoke-laden air. Millions \sterling were spent yearly for collecting, purifying, and distributing water to the community, but a much larger sum was wasted in fouling the air.