The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-01-16
NEW FUEL IN BRICKS
Recently Introduced Enterprise n
the State Of California.
Goal Pulverised and Compressed with
Other Ingredients Into COnven-
tent Form for Shipment to
Consumer.


the appearance and burning quail
ties of. the new briquettes. Pending
their arrival in sufficient quantities
to satisfy this natural desire, a num-
Der of gentlemen have been investl-
eating. the matter on their own ac-
count, reports the San Francisco
Chronicle. They have visited the
briquette factory in Stockton, have
tested the fuel in their private stoves
and CRATES and have been complaisant
enough to place samples of the prod
uct in their pockets to exhibit to
their friends and acquaintances. They
show a black object, round in form,
having nine inches of circumference,
with convex ends, which, though 1t
comes from the coal pit and the pc
troleum well, leaves no trace on the
cleanest sands. The convenience of
the briquettes is apparent at first
view, and those who have tested its
burning qualities are unqualified in
their praise.
The briquette factory is located on
the Stockton water front, adjacent to
the bunkers of the Tesla company, to
which the cars of the Alameda & San
Joaquin railroad, owned by the fuel
corporation, convey the fuel from the
mines, SO miles distant. The process
Of converting coal, asphaltum and
other ingredients into briquettes was
seen to be simple in its very perfec-
ton. The main object sought is the
increase in the combustible value of
the coal by chemical process so as to
utilize the volatile gases, which! al
though containing the largest amount
of heat units, are permitted to escape
in the. burning of crude coal. This
is fact recognized by several Euro
pean governments, which have intro
duced briquettes for fuel in their
navies, requiring that they shall con-
tain greater number of heat units
than the ordinary coal. knowledge of
the superior heating qualities of bri-
quettes has also been acted upon in
the eastern states, where factories
for their manufacture are well es-
tablished.
Reduced to its simplest expression,
the process of briquette manufacture
consists in the pulverization of the
coal, it's mixture with the other in
gradients and their compression into
compact shape adapted to easy ham
ding, and the securing of the best
draught conditions. The reduction of
the coal to powder form by means of
crushers requires no description. It
is then dried and heated to high
point, and only when this has been ac-
cOmplished is the coal mixed with the
other components of briquette fuel.
Now comes the most interesting
part of the process in the shape of
the compression. This is obtained by
passing the material, by means of
hoppers, into the two great pressers.
So nicely is the machinery adjusted
that nothing is lost; whereas, by the
eastern systems a large per cent. of
the material has to be returned to
undergo again crushing, drying, heat
ing and mixture. BY means of pis-
tons working in opposite directions
under the compulsion of large side
wheels the fuel material is pressed
into briquette form at pressure of
$4,000 pounds. The briquettes are
now perfect. They only require cool
ing, the throwing out of the few
which do not come up to standard as
to density or shape, and conveyance
to the bunkers for shipment by car
to market. This is done by machin-
cry almost exclusively. and does not
call for description. The briquettes
are facts when they leave the COM
pressors.
The daily capacity of these is 500
tons, but undoubtedly their number
will have to be increased as the public
becomes acquainted with the advan-
tages OF the burning of briquettes.
They are now in use in Stockton and
Oakland, where it is found that a ton
does the work of ton and a quarter
OF the ordinary coast Goals for domes-
tic purposes and increases the heat
production so per cent. over steam
Goals.