Abstract
A VALUABLE and original paper on the economic selection of coal was contributed at the autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute by Mr. A. L. Booth. The method usually adopted is to carry out a proximate chemical analysis, which at the best is very unsatisfactory and of little real use, to collate the results with practical experience, and to make a trial on some particular plant. Only too often it proves to be unsatisfactory, and trouble arises from the fact that two coals can have practically the same appearance and give the same analysis, and yet be totally different in behaviour. This occurs quite frequently, and does not seem to be realised by fuel-users generally. Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co. s works, with which Mr. Booth is connected, use some 250,000 tons of coal per annum for different purposes, and it was the unsatisfactory nature of chemical methods of classification which led to experiments being made with the microscope to ascertain whether a more trustworthy method could not be devised. The method adopted was as follows:
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Microstructure of Coal. Nature 107, 282 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107282a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107282a0