Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-15
ELECTRICITY FROM COAL.
Process to Get Heat From Carbon
Without Burning It.

From the New York Tribune.
| "A fresh announcement comes from Chi
| cago that Hugo Jone, city chemist, enter
tafHs great hopes concerning an electric
| battery Of his invention in which use is
! made OF coal. the line OF experiment is
| not new, but 1t Is one Of great Importance
Several other men in Europe and America
| have pursued it within the last ten or
twelve years. A Hartford electrician, H.
| Barringer Cox, also believed at one time
| that he had found a better way to get the
energy out Of coal than to burn it under q
| steam boiler. although his method was not
| chemical. Jone himself 1t may be remark
| ed Is no myth and no crank. He has oc-
cupied his present post in Chicago for sew
eral years, and must therefore have had a
| scientific education. The city electrician Of
| Chicago Mr.. Ellicott,. is reported to nave
much faith in the outcome Of the investi-
CATION In which Mr.. Jone is engaged. But
| 1t does not appear that the latters work
| has reached its final stage. AS yet, indeed
| 1t Is not clear that he is any nearer his
| goal today than he was fifteen months ago.
when the technical papers first began to
! talk about his invention. The proverb
which deprecates Growing until one is out
OF the woods seems to be particularly appli-
cable to the present situation, therefore.
The general principle of Mr. Jones meth
cd is easily understood. In the old-fash-
Toned copper and zinc cell solution Of sui
piiehIS VI upper WIS SLOWLY consumed, SO
that the salt needed occasional renewal.
Mr.. Jone employs sulphuric acid. lead and
coal in such way that the coal entirely
disappears, deposit Of sulphate of lead
forms In the bottom of the cell and cleo
| trlc1ty goes out through the connecting
wires This would probably be a wasteful
way to generate current were it not that
by putting the sediment which is left in the
battery into retort both the lead and the
acid Cor an equivalent Of the latter can be
recovered. Thus the system as whole is
more economical than it otherwise would
be. So far as the public knows, however,
this process may be more costly than rum
| ming a dynamo by steam power. 1t may
ultimately prove that Mr.. Jone gets 35
units of energy where the steam boiler
utilities only 10 and the gas engine .. But
II the requisite plant and incidental opera
ton are three or four times as expensive
as working a steam engine, the invention
will never come into general use. The
economy of the method is yet to be demon
strated This is the vital consideration in
judging Of the merit of the attempt, inter-
eSt1ng and pratseWorthy as 1t is in other re-
spects. It has also been objected that, in
asmuch this carbon cell yields current
of only four volts, it would be necessary to
use a battery of several hundreds or per-
haps thousands, of cells if electric lights
and trolley lines are to be operated a
large scale. Such procedure, though
novel. would not be impracticable. After
ALL the chief thing to be determined Is the
expense of running such a battery.
Although it is too soon to indulge in much
enthusiasm over Mr.. Jones' experiments,
the problem with which he is wrestling is
likely to be solved by some one. sooner or
| later. The carbon battery will not dispense
with coal, but it ought to effect an economy
in its use. Every now and then the world
faces with grave misgivings the possible
exhaustion Of the known supplies of that
kind Of fuel. This will not occur in all
probability, for century more. Obvi-
ously. though, II the purposes for which
fuel is burned today could be effected with
a half or third Of the present consump-
tfon, the coal would last just so much long
er. Mr.. Jone does not claim to get more
than 35 per cent of the possible energy out
Of COAL The ideal battery, of course. would
utilize the whole theoretical 100 per cent
residing therein. If the Chicago chemist
accomplishes only what he announces, and
does so cheaply he may pave the way for
Improvements which will make a still larger
proportion of energy available. The result,
to achieve which so many have already
striven, will probably be worked out. if at
ALL by degrees, not at one time. But even
a partial success will afford both practical
hints and stimulus for research There is
every reason to hope that Mr.. Jone will re-
alize his expectations.