The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1917-08-02
DEPLORES GREAT
WASTE OF COAL
Head of Uncle Sans Bureau Of
Mines Sounds Warning
to the Nation.
AFFECTS VERYHOUSEHOLDER
Loss Through inefficient Use Of Fuel
Is Estimated by Government Ex-
perts at Half a Billion DOL
lars Annually.

Is Estimated by Government ES-
perts at Half a Billion DOL
lars Annually.
Fully half a billion dollars, or one
fourth the first issue Of Liberty Loan
bonds, was wasted last year in this
country through inefficient use of coal,
according to Van. H. Manning, direc-
tor of Uncle Sans bureau of mines.
He further declared that this waste
was continuing at an even greater
rate and at a much larger penalty to
the country because of the increase
in the price of coal. "The penalty Is
not only a heavy tax on the American
pocketboOkI' said Mr.. Manning, but 1t
is also an unpatriotic thing, fol: every
pound Of coal we waste there is much
less available to put into energy to
end the war
Last year the United States mined
600,000,000 tons of coal, the great
est production ever witnessed in the
world and of this amount we wasted
150,000,00O tons, or % per cent,
through inefficient use.
"As an example, in the modern, eff
ficient power plants of the country 20
per cent of the heat in the coal con-
sumed is converted into power, where
as in the small power stations the eff
| flciency of all kinds of steam-pOwer
plants in the United States can be only
matter of guesswork, 1t is quite
| probable that the average is some
where in the neighbOrhOOd of 8 or
per cent of the energy of the coal
transformed into useful energy ready
for distribution. SO you can see that,
If it were possible to elevate the av-
erage efficiency to something near the
maximum now attainable in steam
plants, about three times as much en-
! ergy would be available for the pro-
ductive industries of the country.
Care in Furnace Room Needed.
you will find business men, how
! ever, making the statement that In
order to attain these savings it will
be necessary to put in new equipment,
and that this is not the time for
| changes with the factories working
at their maximum to supply the ma
| terials needed in the war. This Is
partly true, but there is hardly man.
ufaCturing establishment In the cOun-
try which cannot, with certain
amount of care and supervision in its
| furnace room, use much less coal and
obtain much greater results.
Owing to the great abundance of
coal here, in the past the manufac-
turer has paid but little attention to
| the amount of coal he burned or how
| 1t WAS burned. In addition, technical
training in our colleges has placed rel
| atively small emphasis on the prin-
| Clples and the processes Of cOmbuS
| ton, concentrating their attention
rather upon the Improvement of the
| engine. The more evident facts of
| combustion seemed so simple as to Of
| fer little inducement for an intensive
| study of the process, but, as a matter
of fact, the burning of fuel is by no
means simple process, and the mis-
conceptions that have resulted from a
too casual study Of the phenomena
! have led engineers to construct un-
economical and inefficient devices.
THE nature of coal has also been
misunderstood by many users. Coal
is an extremely complex substance, be-
| having quite differently under differ
ent conditions of combustion, and as
the United States is extremely rich
in a great variety of mineral fuels, it
would seem necessary that the fur
mace design should vary with the diff
ferent fuels used.
Bureaus Reports to Aid.
"The bureau of mines has for num-
her of years been engaged in studying
these problems and has by this tine
completed number Of reports that
| tend to solve many of the difficulties
met with in the burning of coal. These
reports are not only of extremely great
value to the engineers and tiremen of
power plants, but they are also prac-
| teal aid to the householder in keep
ing up his furnace in an economical
manner. Many of the conclusions of
the bureau, as embodied in these re-
ports, can be put into operation at
once with great saving of coal aud
without any expensive new equipment
being installed.
Looked at in a broad way, 1t is
not economical to transport high
grade coal through long distances into
districts where fuels of lesser value
are to be had in abundance, when, as
matter of fact, the cheaper fuels
! could be satisfactorily used if the user
would show little patience and gump-
| ton. The suitability of fuels for use
in any locality Is, therefore, a matter
of public education in which the bu-
reau of mines takes deep interest.
AS an illustration, the substitution of
coke for anthracite coal in many local
tiles is very desirable on the score of
economy, and the bureau desires to
stimulate the use of coke as a domes-
tic fuel because of its cleanliness"