COAL BRIQUETTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 21

COAL BRIQUETTING.

EXPERIMENTAL PLANT. GOVERNMENT ACTION , . FINDING SUITABLE BINDERS. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The acquisition of an experimental briquetting plant capable of producing five to 10 cwt of briquettes a day, was announced to-day by the Minister in charge of" the Department of Scientific and "industrial Research, the Hon. H. Atmore. The Minister said the plant was being obtained on the recommendation of the Fuel Research Committee for the purpose of trying out various materials as binders for the briquetting of coal. The plant would be flexible and more suited for such experiments than would be a large commercial plant, as the cost or binder was an appreciable, item in briquetting. The work was highly desirable from the point of view of briquetting carbonised residues and distillation and also for raw slack. "In some of the smaller coalfields where there is little sale for slack, but where the : amount is, not sufficient to ■justify the erection of carbonising works," added the Minister, "it is considered that there are possibilities for briquetting, especially if blends of bituminous and brown coals could be used. It is proposed to make briquettes from blends with varying proportions of different coals; also to investigate the nature and amount of binder required and the degree of fineness to which the coals must be ground. Sufficient will be made in each series to permit of practical burning trials. In this way reliable information on the cost of manufacture and the marketing possibilities of various briquettes will be obtained. It is anticipated thak at least some of the slack coal now being rejected will be put to profitable use." . ,