USES FOR COAL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 313, 29 August 1932, Page 2

USES FOR COAL

INYESTIGATORS SEARCH WIDELY FOR NEW METHODS. OIL-MIX EXPERIMENTS. Mr. Isaae Foot, Secretary foi Mines in Britain, sp'oke at a recent luncheon of the Coal Industry Society on "The Wider Uses of Coal." As examples of the immense changes which were taking place in the industrial sphere where coal met its^ competitors, Mr. Foot said that owing to improvements in methods of manufacture an inerease of 45 per cent. in th'e output of gas since 1913 required an increased use of only Sh per cent. of coal, and an increased output of 139 per cent. of electrical units required an increased use of only 35-5 per cent. of coal. Had the quantity of coal used for these purp'oses increased in the same ratio as the output of gas and electricity, 12,000,000 tons more coal would have been required. But these improvements of method were not to he deplored; rather were they to be weleomed, said Mr. Foot. They were necessary if coal was to maintain its place in competition with other fuels and if our manufacturers were to be able to keep down their costs of production. There had been a vast inerease in the use of oil during the last 20 years. Even when th'e whole of the motor spirit was excluded there remained a very large inerease in the use of oil products at the expense of coal. iln the new conditions salesmanship and serviee became of increased importanee. Used on Cunardfcrs. Large scale experiments with pulverised coal were being made in British shipte. That day's newspapers contained news of an experiment with a new fuel, a mixture of crude oil and pulverised coal, that was heing made by the Cunard Company in the liner Scythia. Th'e experiments were concerned not only with methods of combustion, but also with improvements in boiler and engine design. This was a matter which called for close cooperation between the four industries of coalmining, shipping, shipbuilding, and marine boiler-making. The use of pulverised fuel was more widespread than was generally realised, and the Mines Department was at present engaged in an inquiry as to the quantity of coal consumed in this form. In the development of new methods, added Mr. Foot, there must he a co~ ordination of practical experiments and scientific inquiry — co-operation between the industrialist and the scientist. Coal tar was formerly a waste product, hut the research of the scientist had turned it into wealth. The industry's battle had to be won in the laboratory. Immense issues were involved, some scientific and some social. The chemist and the scientist were dealing wtih issues affecting the lives of tens of thousands of their fellow eountrymen.