The Economic Aspect of GeologyLeith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Science
The Economic Aspect of Geology
Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Geology, Economic
(2) Localization of the bituminous production in the eastern and
interior states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
and Kentucky. The principal reserves of bituminous coal occur in the
same provinces, but important additional reserves are known in Texas, in
North and South Carolina, and in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast
provinces.
(3) The existence of large tonnages of subbituminous coal in the west,
which have not been mined to any extent.
(4) The existence of large fields of lignite in the Gulf Coast region,
and in the Northern Plains region, which have not been mined.
=Coke.= About one-sixth of the bituminous coal mined in the United
States is made into _coke_, that is, it is subjected to heat in ovens
from which oxygen is excluded in order to drive off the volatile gases
(chiefly hydrocarbons and water) which constitute about 40 per cent of
the weight of the coal. The residual product, the coke, is a light,
porous mass with a considerably higher percentage of fixed carbon than
bituminous coal. In regard to composition, coking accomplishes
artificially somewhat the same result reached by nature in its slow
development of high-grade coals, but the texture of coke is far
different from that of coal. Not all bituminous coals are suitable for
coke manufacture; and such coals are frequently divided into two
classes, known as _coking_ and _non-coking_ coals. Coke is used
principally for smelting purposes. Because of its spongy, porous
texture, it burns more rapidly and intensely than coal.
The gases eliminated in coking are wasted in the old-fashioned "beehive"
ovens, but in modern "by-product" coke ovens these gases by proper
treatment yield valuable coal tar products and ammonia. It is estimated
that the sum of the value of the products thus recovered from a ton of
coal multiplies the value of the ton of coal at the mine by at least
thirteen times. The importance of this fact from the conservational
standpoint cannot be too much emphasized. At present over half of the
total coke produced in the United States comes from by-product ovens,
and this proportion will doubtless increase in the future.
BALANCE SHEET SHOWING CONTRAST BETWEEN VALUE OF 1 TON OF BITUMINOUS COAL
AT MINE AND VALUE OF PRODUCTS WHICH IT CONTAINS, BASED ON CONDITIONS
PREVAILING IN 1915.[1]
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