The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-31
Frederick Haskin's Letter
EXPERTS STUDY COAL STORAGE

and safe saha4neoss storaee ~.
coal must be wholly suhmersse
The reason this has not No. =.
sorted to more generally i thst
such . storage plant il expensivs
The Illinois Traction bins are v.s
concrete lined basins. The handlin.
Of the coal ID multiplied because :
must be mined. hauled to the sto,.
age bins, dumped in. flooded. TAea
when coal from the bins ID needeS
the water must be partially draineS
on. the coal hoiste0 and transpnst.
cd again to the point Of consvm,.
ton. However, In some cases NJ.
cost Of such storage is regarded q
we'll spent In that 1t provides in.
surance against suspension due IA
shortage Of production, strikes a
interference with distribution.
Recent investigations by the bu.
reau Of mines reveal that the dan.
gers of spontaneous combustioa
are not so great as they have BEEN
considered in the past. The mon
recent study, made by O. P. Hood.
chief mechanical engineer Of thu
,, bureau, shows that the combustion
10 caused by the surface heating Of
the coal. The contact between The
,, oxygen in the air and the inf|am.
mable elements in the coal causes
|, the heating which increases to the
point of combustion. Mr.. Hood
! points out that the surface present.
ed by ton of coal is tremendous
Each lump presents a surface and
| so does each powdered grain. The
normal coal pile is not SO tightly
/ packed as to prevent the passage
OF the oxygen-bearing air through
| interstices to practically ever
particle of the coal.
One Surface Acre Per Ton.
When all these minute surfaces
J exposed to the air are added By
Mr.. Hood he gets the astounding
| total Of approximately one acre Of
surface to every ton Of coal.
Two remedies for this are sug,
gested by Mr.. Hood. First, stors
only large Jumps of coal. In tn,
lump, the coal is naturally packet
SO densely that the air does no
penetrate. Lumps Of nut size an,
under are those giving the creates
air surface per ton. He suggest
that by more careful handling, Goa
can be brought up and stored il
large blocks.
ii A second suggestion is that Coz
be arti6cially compressed. Goa
dust is pressed into coal briquet
as a commercial proposition nov
for the purpose Of making it easie
to handle. Compression on a large
scale and into large blocks is sus
gcsted to prevent deterioration du
to exposure to the air and to pre-
vent spontaneous combustion. Fin
coal or coal dust can be com
. pressed SO that ton can be pu
j in the form of a block a little len
than a cubic yard in size. M
u Further, Mr.. Hoods investiga
tions show, the air around store
coal influences combustion. Goa
stored in a hot place will deterio
rate and ignite more quickly tina
coal stored in a cool place. III
suggests the possibility Of CO
! storage of coal.
| Mr.. Hood also has found tn
foreign matter in coal, such as su
phur, will hasten its spontaneo
| ignition. BY screening and caref
cleaning of coal intended to
, stored, this could be eliminate
: His Investigations according
have convinced him that prop
methods and care can make t
storage Of coal on a large scale
feasible enterprise.
i Figures prepared by the geolo
: ical survey show that the Unit
5 States owns in the public dorcs
more than 100000, 100000 tons
: unmined coal. 1t has been su
t gested that the government pr
: coed to the mining of this coal a
Z placing it in scientific storage I
!. use in meeting shortages a
8 emergencies in the privately own
+ coal industry.