Coal tests

Coal tests

t38 Notes and Comments. [J. F. I., COAL TESTS. A n o p p o r t u n i t y has been offered the coal producers of the country to, c o - o p e r a t e...

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t38

Notes and Comments.

[J. F. I.,

COAL TESTS. A n o p p o r t u n i t y has been offered the coal producers of the country to, c o - o p e r a t e with the U n i t e d States Geological Survey in its work of t e s t i n g the coals and lignites of the U n i t e d States. This work was b e g u n at the" W o r l d ' s Fair Grounds, St. Louis, d u r i n g the E x p o s i t i o n and will be continued a l o n g the lines laid down at that time. T h e Survey is desirous of securing from operators and others i n t e r e s t e d in the problems of fuel consumption an expression of opinion as to w h e t h e r they desire to co-operate. in this work. Offers of coal for t e s t i n g purposes should be addressed to, the D i r e c t o r of the U n i t e d States Geological Survey, W a s h i n g t o n , D. C. It is not possible to p r o m i s e at the present time that all offers o~ eoM will be accepted, but the plan is to make the investigation as compl'ete as practicable, d i s t r i b u t i n g the work as impartially as possible over the entire country. The distribution of the work will depend largely upon the replies received to the circular which the Survey is now sending out to coal operators and upon the p r e s e n t and possible future d e v e l o p m e n t of the coal and lignite deposits of the several States. T h e tests will be made for the purpose of d e t e r m i n i n g the fuel values of the different coals and lignites and the most economical m e t h o d s for their utilization. A r r a n g e m e n t s have been made with the m a n u f a c t u r e r s of the equipment used d u r i n g the E x p o s i t o n to have practictlly all of this t e s t i n g m a c h i n e r y left at the disposal of the G o v e r n m e n t . In offering coal for t e s t i n g purposes, o p e r a t o r s are requested to note the following conditions with which it is necessary to comply: I. The coal must be furnished to the Testing P l a n t free of cost to the Government. 2. T h e coal m u s t be loaded u n d e r the supervision of one of t h e inspectors employed for that purpose, who shall be at the same time allowed t o visit the w o r k i n g places in the mine to p r o c u r e samples for analysis. 3. W h e n it is possible to do so, the coal should be loaded in b o x cars and shipped u n d e r seal. Lignites must always be shipped in this way. 4. W h e r e the m a r k e t requires screened coal, this grade will be accepted for test. T h e selection of coal is always to be u n d e r the direct control of the representative of the t e s t i n g plant. 5- W h e r e one of the p r o b l e m s involved is the b e t t e r utililzation ot slack coal, a carload of slack may be accepted for t e s t i n g purposes. 6. As soon as possible after the tests are completed a brief s t a t e m e n t of the results will be furnished to parties supplying the coal, for tl~eir information, but this must n o t be made public until the results are published by the Geological Survey. 7. Everyone interested in any particular test or in the general operation of the plant is invited to be p r e s e n t at any time, but the official record of the test will n o t be given out except as indicated in the preceding paragraph.