The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-05-24
INCREASE
Of LOCAL FUEL
RESOURCE
North Dakota Attains Sue
cess in Effort to Utilize
State Coal.

Ing On1te0 STATES theological Sur
vey Press bulletin for May contains
the following article on the production
of Ignite coal in North Dakota:
The production of coal in North
Dakota in 1911, according to figures
obtained by. E. W. Parker and made
public by the United States Geologi-
cal Survey. was 502,6oS short tons,
valued at s72O.4sa. This is the first
time in the history of the state that
the production has amounted to moro
than half a million short tons. North
Dakota was n hf the few western
states whose production in 1911 en-
ceeded that Of 1910, where in 1910 it
had been the one state of the Rock
Mountain and Great Plains provinces
that showed a decrease. The produce
tino in 1911 exceeded that of 1910 by
lO3.5S7 short tons or 1886 per cent,
in quantity. and by s125.35O or 21.O6
per cen in value.
The total production Of coal in
North Dakota and the increase in
1911 Over 1910 are not of really great
Importance when compared with the
output of coal in most of the other
states. east or west. Vet both are sig
'''N Us ttlIlS CoUSlIeIf VIC
success in the efforts to utilize this To-
cal fuel which is of low
grade compared with the Goals from
other states that are brought into
competition with it.
Can Supply Local Demand.
"The development and utilization
Of the lignites of North Dakota. as OF
Texas. must depend on relatively To-
cal markets. for as they disintegrato
rapidly on exposure to tho atmos-
phere they do not hear long trans
portation III must he used a short
time after being mined. Ignite is
not n high grade fuel and on account
OF Its large moisture content does NOT
reach hig temperatures i'm combus-
ton. 1t is therefore undesirable for
steam raising. though it can he used
for that purpose in specially CON
structed furnaces with large crate
areas. 1t does. however. serve fair.
ly we'll for a domestic fuel where
other Goals are ohtainahlc only at a
high price. 1t has also been found
on cou of its %smokeless and SCOT
less qualities. we'll adapted for burn.
ing brick. one of tho few manufac.
turing industries of North Dakota
and considerable quantities are burn.
ed each year in brick kilns at Dickin.
son, Scranton. and kenmare.
Work of University.
The University of North Dakota
has been conducting some interesting
experiments on the utilization of liz.
mite for gas-lnaking and in the man.
u%facture of briqucts. A plant opcr-
ated at the School of Mines of tho
University has been located at the
mining substation at Hebron. In a
letter dated April %, 1912. Prof. L
j: Babcock, Dean of the College OF
Mining Engineering, says:
We are doing a Very large amount
Of research work at this plant on the
use of various binders, the hes,
methods of preparing the coal. u.
we'll as the best methods OF mixing
and pressing. We arc improving oul
plant and charging it at the presen,
time. so as to get data more nearly
approaching those of a commercial
plant. Thus far we have made but
small quantities of %briduets. but the
methods which we are working GU,
we have gotten Very excellent results
1.-The %briqnets are of high grade,
stand we'll in the fire and on exposure
to atmospheric agencies. They are
Of high hea value, being raised from
$500 or $500 in the raw Ignite to
about 10000 British thermal units
in the finished briquets. After the
improvements are compl led Whicf
we are now making u experimental
plant will be able to run uniformity at
a rate of 10 tons per day. We opcr-
ate a gas plant in connection with the
Ignite plant. thereby generating gas
from Ignite and %brquetting the resi-
due. This residue gives a high heat
unit briquet.
1--WE condcnse about IL tons of
raw Ignite into l ton of briauets in
this manner. The gas and other by
products are saved. We derive ap-
proXimately 10000 cubic feet of 400
British thermal unit gas per ton of
reasonably dry Ignite. We Love tried
a great variety of binders and meth
DDS
"A bulletin giving a complete de-
scription of the plant and of the work
proposed to be done was published by
the university in 1911.
although Ignite. as stated is not a
satisfactory steam fuel. investigations
have shown that it is exceedingly
we'll adapted to the manufacture of
producer gas. and as the producer
and the Observation-Disclosures engines
come into moro general use the for
merly despised lignites of North Da-
kota will be found to possess great
potentialities in the settlement and
upbuilding of the state.