The Coming of CoalBruère, Robert W. (Robert Walter)
History
The Coming of Coal
Bruère, Robert W. (Robert Walter)
Coal; Coal trade -- United States
In their report made for the Smithsonian Institution, Gilbert and Pogue
point out that "there are in one ton of good bituminous coal, fifteen
hundred pounds of smokeless fuel analogous to anthracite, ten thousand
cubic feet of gas, twenty-two pounds of ammonium sulphate, two and
one-half gallons of benzol, and nine gallons of tar" and that lignite
gives almost as much of these commodities. Apart from the fuel values
represented by the "smokeless fuel analogous to anthracite" the gas and
benzol, the ammonium sulphate, and tar have unique values as
fertilizers, and the source of those mineral elements from which our
dyes and a large part of our modern medicines are made. The process used
to extract these commodity values is similar to that which nature used
in making anthracite, except that the volatile matter which the
geological revolution drove off into the air is collected and utilized.
The gas created by the process can be delivered by pipe lines over
practically any distance to the centers of consumption, or, with the
help of the internal-combustion engine, converted into electrical energy
at the mine. Gas as a fuel has the great advantage that it eliminates
both storage and haulage, and produces the same amount of heat from
about one-half the amount of coal, and since it can be produced as
needed all the year round it will go far to eliminate the seasonal
character of coal mining. Moreover, wherever heat rather than light or
power is desired, gas, in the present state of technical development, is
even more economical than electricity. Under the by-product system the
present annual coal output can be made to more than double its service
in driving machinery and in addition it can be made to contribute
heavily to our supply of fertilizers, motor fuel, and chemical
products. It is estimated that the aggregate loss resulting from the
present wasteful utilization of coal is over ten dollars a year for each
inhabitant of the United States.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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