Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-27
ADDING TO FUEL SUPPLIES
United States Consul - Berlin Writes Of
the Bnquetts Industry.
CONSTITUTES MOST or FUEL OF BERLIN
Ignite, Peat, slack and waste of the
Mines Used 10 Make n Product
M Equal of Anthracite
for Fuel.
CFrom a stan Correspondent

territory or the union, making turtner IN
quiry concerning the machinery and pro-
cesses employed in Germany for making
fuel .hriouettes from Ignite. peat and coal
dust, indicates that public interest In the
whole subject OF, utilizing the hitherto
wasted or neglected fuel materials, so
abundant in America. has been thoroughly
aroused Mr.. Frank II. Mason. United
States consul general at Berlin. writes in a
report Just received at the State depart
ment.
There are in New England, western New
York, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ore
I gon and Washington vast beds OF peat
which have been thus far hardly explored.
There are in the Dakotas and the Gulf
6tates large deposits OF Ignite and material
midway in ohafacter between. Ignite and
peat, and there are 10 all Nthe coal mining
states ENORMOUS Quantities of Nbituminous
dust ana anthracite culm, all of which may
by the, employment OF modern. machinery
and processes be added to the fuel supply
OF our country. g.
"As has been stated in these reports,
this Is an industry in which the first ten
tetive efforts made In the United States
have generally failed, but which has been
developed in Germany. France and Bel
GUM by long, careful, scientific experience
into an important and successful system Of
production. There is no reason why any
American operator or mine owner should
risk a dollar In vague or hazardous expert
ments; he has only to ascertain by expert
inquiry what his crude material contains
whether or not 1t is adapted to profitable
conversion into briquettes, and, II so, by
what process and machinery II can be most
effectively treated. With a view Of answer
ing concisely the latest Inquiries on this
subject and simplifying to some extent the
practical proposition, the following resume
| Of the briquette manufacture, as II exists
in Germany. lie respectfully submitted.
Two Classes of Fuel.
German briquette factories are divided.
in respect to the crude material employed.
into two general groups-those which mako
household briquettes from brown coal Zig
nite) or carbonized peat; and those which
produce the so-called 'industrie briquettes,'
using as basic material coal dust OF Slack
the waste of bitumlnous coal mines.
"First-Household briquettes, as made
in Germany from brown coal, peat and to
a small extent from anthracite dust, are
used for CRATES. heating stoves. cooking
stoves and ranges, and constitute the prin-
cipal household fuel of Berlin and other
German cities. They are clean to touch,
kindle readily, burn with a clear, full
flame and are cheaper In Berlin, ton for
ton, than anthracite or good bituminous
coal. They are made-largely from brown
coal-in factories located mainly In 81
lesia. Saxony and the Rhine provinces, and
united In 6 syndicate, which controls the
! output. regulates prices and looks after the
general welfare OF the industry. &
Machinery for the manufacture OF bri-
-.-AN-- 49, Il--lNA4 l. ..oAA - 1890
large establishments. among which may be
cited the zeitzer Eisengiesserei, at zeit,
in Saxony; the Maschinen Fabrik Buckau,
at Magdeburg. and the Koenlgin Marien-
hutte, atHCainsdorf in Saxony, s4f 81
There are'1n Germany 4S9 brown-coal
mines, which produced last year 44,211, 9O2
tons Of Ignite, valued at S46, 042. 500, or a
little more than 81 per ton. OF this whole
number Of mines 1sl have eacn from one
to six briquette factories, in each Of which
from one to ten presses are employed. The
whole brown coal briquette industry OF
Germany includes 2s6 factories, with a to-
tai Of SOL presses. Statistics of the total
yearly product are not accessible, but from
the fact that a single press turns out from
nifty to ninety tons per day It will be read
lily inferred that the annual output is enor-
nous. They are the standard household
fuel throughout a large portion OF this
country. and are besides largely used for
firing steam boilers, especially in cities
where their cleanliness and freedom from
smoke and dust are highly esteemed. The
standard household briquette is about
eight inches in length by four inches in
width and two inches thick, and is re-
tailed and delivered In Berlin at prices
ranging from 81 per loco in summer to
$3.50 in winter.
Used I'm Commerce.
"Second-Industrial briquettes are used
in Germany for firing locomotives and other
steam boilers. for smelling in reverberatory
furnaces and for many other kinds OF indus
trial heating. They are made of bituminous
coal dust, held together by a matrix OF
mineral ~pitch-that is, coal tar derived from
retort coke ovens or gas manufacture, and
from which the benzole and other valuable
elements have been eliminated. Pitch of
this quality costs in this country from $40
to S12 per metric. ton (equal to 2,205
pounds) The percentage OF matrix neces-
sary to be used varies greatly with the
"fatness"-i e., richness in bituminous ele-
ments OF the coal itself. Slack from very
fat coal will work into briquettes with an
addition OF 2 or 3-per cent Of pitch. while
leaner grades may require 8 to or even IL
per cent, the latter proportion being. sum
eient. at the present cost OF pitch, to render
such coal improbable for briQLette making
purposes. Briquettes made from bitumi-
nous slack. although not smokeless, are
much more nearly so than ordinary bitumi.
nous cosL When burned in locomotives 0l
any WE'LL constructed boiler or other fur.
mace with a good draft. they create only 4
thiny translucent mist, which contains rela.
lively little SCOT, and Is Very 'diferent from
the inky clouds that roll up from most fac.
tory chimneys where soft coal is shoveiet
Unfortunately into the furnaces. The a,
notable defect Of such briquettes is thai
the mineral pitch, which is used as
binder. contains more or less ereosote; thli
renders dust and fumes from such fuel aeriS
and sometimes Irritating to the skin whei
confined in a close. hot boiler room. Sof
coal briQuettes are made from the dust am
waste OF mines. and, when the composition
OF the coal 10 such Ms to permit a low per
eentage Of binder to be used. they are tn
cheapest and easiest kind Of briquettes 4
produce. They are made in machine presse
Of the zeitE pattern. with a capacity o
ninety tons OF briqusttes per day.
Capacity of Two Mini0h TOas.
The output Of soft coal briquettes Il
western Germany is controlled by a syn
dleate called the Briquette Sale syndicat
Of Dortmund. which includes among IL
members thirty-one factories, located Il