Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-05-15
BRIQUET1ED G)]l
THE LATEST FUEL
MADE INTO CUBES FROM SLACK
OR WASTE COAL WITH
PITCH BINDING.
TESTED AND FOUND GOOD.
Southern Railroads Report New Mate
rial 90 Per Cent. More Eff
Gent Than Bitumen.
TESTED AND FOUND GOOD
MAY SOON BECOME POPULAR.

\ recent dispatch from Washington,
D. c., says: In testing the fuels being
used by the government, the Z. 5. Geo
| logical Survey has succeeded in develop
| ing the briquetted form of coal to such
an extent that it promises to be an i'm
| portant factor in conserving the rapidly
diminishing fuel supply of the country.
There is every promise that the noun
talns OF waste coal seen about every coal
mine and the low grade coal that is now
beng left in the mines will be turned
into millions of horsepower and Will be
used for domestic heating and locomotive
use throughout the country. Tests that
have been made fer mere than two years
by the government indicate that a fuel
made from slack or waste coal, pressed
INTO briquets not only burns with little
smoke, but also eyapOrates more steam
and produces more power under the same
boilers than does the same amount of
coal. These brlQuetS are made by taking
the waste or slack coal and mixing it
with sufficient pitch so that the coal will
hold together, the whole being pressed
INTO blocks or cakes by machinery.
Briquets Beat Coal
Briquets made from good quality
slack coal have on every occasion shown
their superiority over the same grade of
l.
it is said, that vessels burning briquets
instead Of coal will be able to add from
one to two knots an hour to their usual
speed. What this would mean to one OF
our Atlantic racers is easily seen.
During the last six months two prom
inent railroads of the south have made
trial runs while burning briquets. The
Atlantic Coast line, after giving the new
fuel a thorough trial on a number of
runs reported the briquets were a sue
cess. The official report of the railroad
states that 1927 pounds of coal were
consumed in making 1892 car miles
against 1880 pounds of briquets in
making 1886 car miles. The engine
that used coal made up 231 minutes lost
time and the engine ON which briquets
were tried made up 292 minutes. In
other words with 1920 pounds less of
briquets than coal, 9S4 more car miles
We're covered and 81 more minutes Of
lost time were made up. This is an APP
parent economy of 20 per cent, without
taking into consideration the cost of the
briquets. In describing the results of
the tests the road foreman reported
This coal burns up entirely, leaving no
dirty fire at the end of each trip, saving
thirty minutes time in cleaning the en-
CINE. The briquets do away with the
black smoke while using steam and there
is but little black smoke when the steam
is turned off. This fuel does away with
the stopping W, of t1ues and produces a
uniform steam.
Make Hot Fire
Officials of the Chesapeake & Ohio
railroad made the following report on
the use of briquets: The briquet ig-
mites very freely, making an intensely
hot fire. When the engine is working
there is very little smoke. heavy fire
NAV be carried as there is no danger of
clinkering. Very little ashes are left"
The tests on the G. &. 0. were made
on the through trains between Washing
ton and Charlottesville, Va, during the
rush of Christmas travel.
Want Binding Material
The results of number of investiga--
tons made at the fuel testing plant of
the government at ST. Louis, Mo-, have
lust been published by the Geological
survey, under the title of Binders for
Rriouets." The author of this bulletin,
James e. Mills, declares that the object
of the Investigations was to determine as
far as possible to what extent the manu-
facture of briquets from slack coal may
be successful commercially under the
conditions existing in the United States
The main problem in briquetting, says
the author, is to find suitable binding
material at sufficiently low cost When
the difference in price between Sack coal
and the first class lump is 81, the cost
of briouetting should not exceed this
!