The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-21
EXPERIMENTS WITH FUELS.
The Manufacture of Eriaucttes From
Iig-E3tC and Peat.

Lig;Gjtc and Peat.
ON Tho subject Of In. high cost or fuel
The state DEPARTING 1t has received the
following from Frank II. Mason the
mttd States Consul General AT Berlin:
The unprecedented scarcity and high
cost OF fuel last year and the unrelcnting
policy OF the coJl-p~sGuoins syuJiCates
Do restricting their output To- maintain
hiEh prices since the stress OF demand has
subsidized, have combined to stimulate tx-
p'TiUelrs ana inventions which have for
their purpose the better uli iz1tion Of the
vast deposits Of peat and Ignite with
which Germany g. endowed II is stated
upon official authority that the turf peat
beds Of the Empire cover an area Of
$4,000 acres, and it has been deemed
r,rruach TO German science that with
such wealth Of material. the people
should suffer for want of fuel
Already during the past dozen years.
great progress hal been made In the man
UfaCture and use of briqucttes from
brown coal or Ignite. held together by
a mat-ix Of bitUmcn, either developed in
the material itself by heating or added
as "a by-product Of gas and coke manu-
facture These briqucttes sell I'm Berlin
for from s. to S275 per thousand. are
readily. yield click though somewhat
cyanegceut flame and are the standard
domestic fuel Of the poorer and middle
classes in most German cities But the
supply of brown coal is limited and its
area restricted in comparison with that Of
peat which has heretofore played an in
significant role in the fuel supply Of Ger
many. This has been because of its large
percentage Of impurities, especially wa
ter which in the humid climate OF North
Germany was difficult to eliminate. and
which with the best preparation held the
calCrlc value Of weather dried peat be-
low the limit Of availability for manu-
featuring purposes or even domestic fuel
The problem has been 20 devise new
ana inexpensive process 10y which peat
can be deprived Of its excess Of water,
anu without admiXture OF bitumluOuS or
other coal, converted into briqucttes Of
sufficient heating power 20 replace those
made from other and more costly materi-
ais Numerous processes more OF less
successful have been perfected and tested
on an industrial scale. until finally one
invented by Engineer StaUber Is an
nouuced, which has the endorsement Of
the Royal Chemical Testing Station. at
Berlin.
According to the published report Of
tins Institution, the bTlquetteS made from
turf 10y the Staubcr method contain i5if
per cent fixed carbon. 454 per cent hydro
gen g-s4 per cent oxygen. and 3J5 per
cent ash, and have a thermal value of
5S06 calOries- This is fully up 10 the stand
ard Of brown coal. which latter has the
defect Of containing from loi 10 Pa per
cent OF sulphur. whereas the new turf
hliquettes are wholly free from that i'm
purity. and are therefore adapted 20 a
number of uses for Whici charcoal is now
employed German bT 1wn coal Of aver
age quality contains a. IL comes from the
mine % 10 O. per cent OF water. and the
secret Of successful and economical brl-
gUCtte manufacture from that material
about u percent, by the application of
just sufficient heat 70 melt the bitumcn
which il contains and soften the whole
mass 10 "a consistency at which IL presses
on cooling harden and become solid and
clean 10 handle.
The Stauber process for working peat
consists, so far as has been thus TAR re-
yeaIed Of a series of specially COntrived
machines by which the crude turf is pull
VerZcd. hbrcs, roots, and other impurities
eliminated. the water removed by com
preston OF the proper proportion. and the
CICansed material reduced TO a uniform
consistency and pressed into mOiCS by
automatic machinery. To what extent
heat is used, OF whether coal tar is ever
employed mdtriN 10 strengthen the
structure of the briquettes, does not as
yet appear v hac Is asserted on appa-
rcuuy trustworthy authority IS that by
the new process. neat viii 70 a large eN-
tent replace Ignite as a cheaper and far
and that brIquttttS so made viii have
sufficient thermal value not only for do
nestle heating. but for making steam and
various minor processes Of manufacture
for which biJuminOUs coal has heretofore
been deemed iudlspensa BILE 1t is expected
Tat the new T1EctSs viii not only serve
10 greatly relieve the scarcity Of fuel iu
Germany. but ever -ua!ly furnish "A sur
plus for export to Switzerland and Italy