Norwich bulletin., 1920-11-27

kitchens ewere put in condition the del mands of the people of the country upon the coal piles of the gas works would be | materially reduced With the present 4 high price of gas fl would be tp the
 householdsr's advantage to see to it that l his bill for this kind of fuel was not I liir-'e"essnrilv' big by having his range l overhauled from time to time
 Dtt t is in the big steam plants of l utility companies that the losses show up in recognizable figures. Right here in | Massachusetts, where tile conditions I promoting efficiency are rrobai,ly reia- lively nigh,, the records of the public 1 utility plants for single recent month | furnish case in point The average coal consumption of all the plants of this ] Glass in the state was 2.2p pounds per I kilowatt- hour, but the best Showing in this hne was by very large station 1 with an average of only 1-S pounds, pr a l ! saving of more than twenty per cent over the average. If the average. effi- l sciency of all tie plants in this state could be raised to the standard actually realized in practice by that nne station l the saving would amount to nearly al l third of a million tons 8 year. That I would go a long way. toward minimizing
 the periodical nervousness as to the1 i supply of steam coal in this region. A larger use of electricity as a means i for delivering the power. In the coal isl I one of the visions for the inufediate- future. At the present time the steel fn- dustry has applied electrical motive pow ] CT more generally than any other one 1 enterprise, it's motors today aggregat- ing nearly one-third of all the installed | motors in the country. Engineers seem 1 to be agreed that the greatest hope for fuel ecopony lies in the adoption of the big central station idea. Statis- tics are quoted to show that the aver | age small plant which means about two
 hundred horsepower. consumes eight l times the coal that is required by the Il largest central stations. Add to this the .l savings possible in mining and in rail- reading, and the ratio between present ,i average practice and present best prac- tiec becomes nearly l2 to l. If it is Il admitted that cheap power in plenty is to be the chief reliance in retaining the country's leadership industrially, 5 these facts are worthy of something more than careful consideration. As : Dr. Smith states "Both capital and la- l ber are vitauy interested in the pow U CT supply" and adds that ''The total l cost of one thousand horsepower -hours in ti tesrls CT coal resources is about two , thirds of a ton uith efficient use. and
 nearly eight tons under average con ) ditions of waste at the little plant" fl It is encouraging to be told that dur
 
 f power output of central stations in the Il country at large increased more than . sixteen per cent. over that for the
 similar period of a year ago, and that
 at the same time the additional fuel used was not above eight per cent Yet I other large savings are in store through oi the increased production and use of coke ' which is not only an efficient fuel. but in ' it's making there are preserved for the 2 use of industries quantities of tar, ben f zol, toluol, and other oils, also sul- Ii phate of amninia, and the suiphue gas
 The most up-to-date steel plants any I one of which may use four and a half
 million tons of ceal a year, have amply = demonstrated the value of coking. With 2. them the by-product gas and tar are ' used for melting and heating tt1a waste ..i gases from blast furnaces are utilized t in gas engines to bow o1e fuTua ces s.a a& ? generate electricity needed in the opera s tion of cranes, machine shops and the y like, afid in motors to drive the rolling y mills. What the engineers are looking ; forward to is the day when raw coal vii cease to be burned in any house or pub. 2 lie building, or factory. When in it! :, place there will be either coke or gas ], the other products of the coal having 'e been extracted in the form of motor cal T fuel. road oil, dye stuff. and drugs nt More than half of the coal reserves O.
 l the world are said to lie in the United
 1 s'te-o~ to--'-c--- That sounds bi~ if nc
 one inquires as to its availability fol
 i u.-.. s..-.. .a-uIv geAer;l !. ons. Tn.-S useC
 to say less than fifty years ego. thai 2 the Pittsburgh bed was good for thirt. h generations, but at the present rate o -e mining it's exhaustion is regarded with IT in another generation. The Big Vein .- in Maryland was estimated forty year d since as ample for a century and d half. but it is believed to be all bu m worked out today. There is no indica II ton that the demand for coai fuel ii re decreasing in this count, and the foreig T. demand of the present is not regarde |. as temporary It is clear, therefore V that the country must use it's coal nor ,f efficiently in the future than in the pas - that it must more fully develop it's wa .. ter powers, and that in the matter O export fuel we reserve t;ae right to re ;; tain for our own use the by-product:
 sending elsewhere such cargoes of eoK oosi as can be spared. Chile wants our eoa 'I. but Dr. Smith pertinently asks why W M ,A should send there, into the worlds ricf III est nitrate field. the nitrogen content
 our coal that is so greatly needed b
 the farmers at home. It is evidently hi
 belief that the benefits of fuel economic
 are not to be reserved for future ger
 erations merely. but that the preseI
 may largely enjoy the advantages lower fuel costs through a bettermei IT. of practice
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