The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-29
THE BURNING OF COAL ASHES.

Eastern papers arc devoting good
deal Of discussion to a project said to
have originated with Mr.. John FL.
more Of Altoona, Pa, who claims that
he is able TO burn coal ashes by the uso
of the following formula;
Common salt, one pound, oxalic acid,
coal and three parts ashes and a better
fuel than pure coal is obtained.
Now it is absolutely certain that the
| only thing in the above compound that
will burn is the Zone part coal'' and
the unconsumed coal in the "thrce
parts ashes.' 1t is true that in the or
dinary furnace especially the soft coal
furnace with the usual wide-barred
crate, u great deal Of uncousumed coal
drops down into the ash pan. This is
probably as true in Pennsylvania as 1t
is anywhere else. Perhaps the proper
ton of unconsumcd coal there under
such circumstances is even greater than
! it would be elsewhere, because Of the
carelessness Of those who use material
that is cheap and abundant in their To-
cality, as coal is in Pennsylvania re-
gions.
But let any one take absolutely clear
ashes, having no unconsumed coal IN
them, and apply the above formula
without the addition of any new coal,
and undertake TO burn the mixture. and
n complete failure would necessarily
| result; because there is nothing in that
mixture to burn. The mixture and tho
ashes are, consequently, no factors in
the combustion.
There have been great many formu-
las proposed for the better and more
complete consumption Of coal rs fed
into furnaces of various kinds. Some of
these preparations have been practical
ly successful; but unless coal is very
scarce or dear, it is not economy as
rule to use them. A writer In the New
York Commercial claims that the I'M
consumed carbon in average coal ash is
fifteen per cent of the original total.
And that, without the addition of any
new coal, has been tested sufficiently to
show good practical results with vaTi-
Gus formulas added; but as that would
have to be n separate business, and as
it would not pay on the whole in com.
petition with the use of coal in places
where coal is reasonably cheap, even the
practically successful mixtures which
are used to promote the complete con
sumption of the carbon have not been
able to hold their own in competition
with the crude, coal 1t is suggested
with good deal of plausbility that
mixtures which would consume the re
slduum of coal remaining in the ash
would also, If applied TO the coal in
the first place, aid a more complete
combustion; still, even this. although
showing some good results, has not on
the whole been found to afford any
practical success III competition with
the ordinary and immediate use of the
coal without any mixture at all.
AS an aid to the complete consump.
tlon of the remaining carbon in the
coal, the fifteen with 4 possible twenty
per cent that has been unburned in the
first place, and that would be consumed
when mixed, as stated by the Altoona
man, and burned over a tighter CRATE
than is usually employed, the mixture
probably would have fair measure of
success. Further than that, ii is i'm.
possible TO imagine any good results
from his so.called invention. The idea
of burning the clear coal ash is, Of
course, out of the question; there is
nothing remaining in it to burn.