Abstract
THE B.C.U.R.A. Quarterly Gazette—a new publication of the British Coal Utilization Research Association—is designed to give a more colourful account of the Association‘s work and to serve a wider range of readers than a rigorously scientific journal. To factual accounts of research and development projects, it will add a running commentary on the Association‘s staff and their activities. The circulation will not be limited to members only. The first number contains a survey by Sir Charles Ellis, president of the Council, as it finds itself in a nationalized coal industry, covering its members, staff, accommodation, work and prospects. There follow articles on technical achievements in course of development. B.C.U.R.A. Patent No. 1 describes the down jet furnace, which employs a revolutionary system of combustion of solid fuels. Normal combustion on a grate is beset by limitations owing to the presence of ash and volatile matter in the fuel. These are avoided by the new technique, which provides freedom to work at greater intensities and for longer durations. The exploitation of these ideas is only in its infancy. Another item deals with the Association‘s work on domestic heating by open coal fires, which normally radiate not more than 25 per cent of the heat of combustion. Work in past years has shown the possibility of increasing this by one or other method—especially by supplementing radiation with heat convection. To-day the consumers' progress towards fuel economy is limited by lack of availability of efficient appliances. Sometimes these are too costly or even only to be obtained in a new house. The article describes a new inset fire which can be fitted into an existing grate at a moderate cost. It is designed by Mr. J. S. Hales and Mr. T. W. Grieve and claimed to be capable of high thermal efficiencies. When burning normal house coal, the total output of heat—by radiation and convection combined—reached 37 per cent ; with coke, the figure reached 48 per cent of the heat of combustion. In addition, by reducing the flow of heat up the chimney to one change per hour, draughts are minimized and comfort improved.
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B.C.U.R.A. Quarterly Gazette. Nature 161, 841 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161841b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161841b0