Abstract
THIRTY-THREE representatives of local authorities and other organizations co-operating with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research met at the Fuel Research Station of the Department at East Greenwich on November 30 to discuss the investigation of atmospheric pollution. Dr. G. M. B. Dobson, chairman of the Atmospheric Pollution Research Committee, presented a report on the progress of the investigations carried out under the auspices of the Committee. The Conference noted especially that arrangements are well in hand for the intensive survey of pollution in and around Leicester. After the meeting, the representatives were shown the work of interest to them which is in progress at the Fuel Research Station. Broadly speaking, there are two fundamental and closely related factors involved in the reduction of atmospheric pollution by coal burning—the nature of the fuel and the appliance in which it is burned. The former of these leads to the selection from the varieties available of fuel most suitable for a given purpose. The preparation of coal for the market, by cleaning and grading, assists materially in the reduction of pollution; the cleaning yields a coal of lower ash content, thus decreasing the potential emission of ash in the form of grit, while grading the coal according to size reduces the content of small particles which may be blown from the fuel bed by the draught. The aim in coal-burning appliances is towards greater control over the combustion. This is obtained by uniform air distribution to the fuel and the regulation of air supply, thereby promoting efficient combustion and a reduction of the unburned products passing into the atmosphere. In the domestic field attention has been devoted mainly to the production from coal of a free-burning smokeless fuel, by removing the greater part of the volatile matter which is responsible for most of the smoke nuisance. Appliances have been designed for the burning of such smokeless fuel. Efforts are also being made to test and modify domestic appliances so that raw coal may be burned more efficiently and with a substantial reduction of pollution.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research on Atmospheric Pollution. Nature 138, 963–964 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138963c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138963c0