Three general lines of inquiry are embodied in the plan of investigation undertaken and contemplated by the Technologic Branch, after conference and with the advice and approval of the Advisory Board: 1. The ascertainment of the best mode of utilizing any fuel deposit owned or to be used by the Government, or the fuel of any extensive deposit as a whole, by conducting a more thorough investigation into its combustion under steam boilers, conversion into producer gas, or into coke, briquettes, etc. 2. The prevention of waste, through the study of the possibility of improvement in the methods of mining, shipping, utilizing, etc. 3. The inspection and analysis of coal and
lignite purchased under specification for the use of the Government, to ascertain its heating value, ash, contained moisture, etc.
The first general line of work concerns the investigation and testing of the fuel resources of the United States, and especially those belonging to the Federal Government, to determine a more efficient and more economical method of utilizing the same. This work has developed along the following lines:
The collection of representative samples for chemical analysis, and calorimeter tests by a corps of skilled mine samplers, from the mines selected as typical of extensive deposits of coal in a given field or from a given bed of coal; and the collection from the same mines of larger samples of from 1 to 3 carloads, shipped to the testing station for tests in boiler furnaces, gas producers, etc., as a check on the analysis and calorimeter tests;
The testing of each coal received to determine the most efficient and least wasteful method of use in different furnaces suitable for public buildings or power plants or ships of the Government;
The testing of other portions of the same shipment of coal in the gas producer, for continuous runs during periods of a few days up to several weeks, in order to determine the availability of this fuel for use in such producers, and the best method of handling it, to determine the conditions requisite to produce the largest amount of high-grade gas available for power purposes;
The testing of another portion of the same coal in a briquette machine at different pressures and with different percentages and kinds of binder, in order to determine the feasibility of briquetting the slack or fine coal. Combustion tests are then made of these briquettes, to determine the conditions under which they may be burned advantageously;
Demonstrations, on a commercial scale, of the possibility of producing briquettes from American lignites, and the relative value of these for purposes of combustion as compared with the run-of-mine coal from which the briquettes are made;
The finding of cheaper binders for use in briquetting friable coals not suited for coking purposes;
Investigations into the distribution, chemical composition, and calorific value of the peat deposits available in those portions of the United States where coal is not found, and the preparation of such