The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-02-21
EXPERIMENTS NOW UNDER WAY TO
MAKE Ignite MORE VALUABLE AS
FUEL. SAYS l. P. DOVE OF MIN0T
DR.. E. p. Schoch Of Texas Uni.
versity Has Been Successful
in Processing Texas Ignite
and Is Now Working on
North Dakota Coal

-
Tests which now are being made by
Or. E. p. Schoch, chemical engineer
Of the University of Texas, may
result in q cheap method of process
ing North Dakota Ignite 50 as to
make it much more valuable for
fuel than at present, according to
I. p. Dove of this city, head Of the
Dakalite Products company.
Tests already made by DR.. Schoch
with Texas Ignite have resulted in q
fuel containing $4,000 heat units per
pound as compared with 1000 heat
units for the same amount of Ignite.
The process, as worked out with
Texas Ignite, is said to be compar-
atively cheap and Of such nature
that it will mean new commercial
product for North Dakota if the
Ignite found in this area can be
handled by the Schoch process.
Many tons of Texas Ignite al.
ready have been processed by Dr.
School," Dove said. 1--WE are already
familiar with the product that comes
from Texas Ignite. What we are
now doing is to find out whether
North Dakota Ignite produces es.
sentially the same kind Of product
as the Texas Ignite or whether il
may be better or worse. Generous
sized samples of North Dakota lig-
mite have already been shipped, and
this information will be in our pos.
session in the near future.
May Solve Fuel Problem
"The whole matter Of improving
Ignite has been the subject of wide
investigation and this process Of DR..
Schoch shows the most promise for
producing high-gradc fuel ut low
cost, at least SO much below any
method SO far suggested that ! feel
it merits the most careful and intel.
ligent attention due to its POSSIBLE
ity in helping to solve the fuel prob
lem of the Northwest"
Difficulty in marketing Ignite coal
in the past has been due to the
heavy moisture content Of the fuel
and its attendant low heat unit con.
tent. With nearly one third of the
weight Of the fuel represented BY
water, North Dakota consumers pay
thousands Of dollars annually in
handling charges which would be
avoided if the fuel were Of higher
quality. It is the freight cost and
low heat content which have re.
stricted the market for Ignite Goa
to, q territory relatively close te
the mines which produce it.
Tests have shown that Ignite car
be briquetted to make s. fuel with
high heat content and relatively low
weight per heat unit, Dove said, but
these processes have not been ad.
vanced to a point where briquettine
Is feasible as commercial PROPOSE.
ton, so far as he knows. Practically
all of the briquetting processes ad.
vanced to date require the reduction
Of the Ignite to charcoal and bind.
ing of the charcoal into small Jumps
with tar or some similar substance
Keeps Original Form
The Schoch process treats the lig.
mite with certain oils, which remove
the moisture but maintain the lig.
mite in its oroginal lumpy form and
halts the process Of disintegratior
which is common to raw Ignite wher
the water is evaporating.
Most of the Ignite produced IL
the state, experiments have shown
burns clearly and is practically
smokeless. If these qualities can b.
retained in the processed product
and the cost of the processing is
low, North Dakota's millions of ton.
of Ignite deposits may become i'm.
mensely more valuable than at pres
ent and the mines Of the state may
be placed in position to compete
with coal shipped into the North.
west from eastern states via the
Great Lakes.
Geological surveys estimate that
North Dakota has 600 billion tons Of
Ignite which may be mined com.
raercially, or more coal than Penn.
sylvania and West Virginia com.
bined. Development Of these de.
posts into high quality fuel would
be expected to have a real influence
on the industrial development of the
state, particularly as the state con.
tains vast deposits of high-grade
clays suitable for both brick, tile
and pottery.