The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-07
SAFER STORAGE
FOR COAL IS
NEEDED
No Satisfactory Preventive OF
Spontaneous Fires Has
Been Discovered.
By HARRY WARD.
international NaMs Service.

1AUSElMe4t1WsN0t
The problem Of stabillzins the coal
industry has been studied by various
commissions ana Government blu.
reaus for years, and the United States
Coal Commission IL now struggling
with it. There IL now before the coal
commission an extensive report pre-.
pared by investigators Of the Fed
eral Bureau of Mines and the Car
neaie Institute Of Technology cover
Ing the spontaneous combustion OF
soft coal, and these investigators
have reached the conclusion that
safe storage OF bituminous coal prob
ably is the only solution Of stabilizing
the coal industry.
So long as the peaks Of demand
react back to the miners the coal
industry will be q seasonal one, with
g resultant unsatisfactory labor sit
uation, Joseph d. Davis, fuel chem
list, ana John r. Byrne, research tel:
low, who conducted the investigation,
stated.
Need Storage System.
"If some system could be devised
whereby coal could be stored eco
pomically, with little deterioration
and danger Of spontaneous con1bus.
ton, the mines would be operated
practically the whole year, say 300
working days, instead Of $50 TO 40
days, as in 1920, at q uniform rate
OF production" their report stated.
unfortunately no such general stor.
age system has yet been devised.
.'The loss by deterioration Of coal
at ordinary temperatures 10 small
when compared with that caused by
rapid oxidation at elevated tempera-
lures and the loss by spontaneous
ignition.
ITO overcome the hazards Of self
heating and spontaneous combus-
ton VARIOUS means of storage have
been suggested, such as storing
under water or in an atmosphere
of carbon dioxide; screening the
coal and storing only large sizes,
cooling the coal piles by means Of
ventilating pipes, covering the coal
pile with sand or q layer Of fine
coal to prevent breathing Of the
heap, and SO forth. Many OF these
methods do more harm than good,
and others are prohibitive on ac-
count Of their cost. I"
New Coal Dangerous.
The report further stated that
the tendency Of Goals to fire spon.
taneously differs with their age,
the younger Goals being the more
dangerous. No case has been re.
corded in which anthracite coal
fired spontaneously. Al the other
extreme is Ignite, which cannot be
stored, even in Jumps. with safety,
except under water. Between
these two extremes are the various
grades of bituminous coal, the class
which is most commonly stored.
The liability Of different bituminous
Goals to fire varies widely on ac'
count OF differences in the coal.
Broadly speaking. the bitumlnous
Goals Of the eastern part of the
United States store better than the
Goals of the Middle West. These
in turn arc safer to store than the
sub-bituninous Goals OF the inter.
mountain region.
Chemically Analysed
'"The solution Of the problem of
spontaneous combustion may lie in
the microscopic examination OF
Goals and it's correlation with the
rate Of heating" Said the report.
Goal Is composed OF three parts
anthraxylon, or bright ecoal: attri.
tus, or dull coal, and mineral
charcoal, and may be separated
into almost pure samples Of each.
Tests indicate that the anthraxylon
is the constituent that heats first
in the spontaneous heating Of
coal"
On account Of the low conduc-
tivity Of coal, cooling by artificial
ventilation il almost Impossible un.
less the air reaches every part of
the pile. According to the report
exclusion Of air az much a. posi-.
BILE. in order to stop oxidation, is
more successful than attempts at
ventilation TO dissipate the heat
generated.