Abstract
DR, J. G, VOGEL, director of the Fuel Research Institute of South Africa, has recently described the activities of the Institute (S. African J. Sd.r 31, 194–209, Nov. 1934). Initially, the Union Government wished to encourage the export trade in coal, and prevent the damaging effect on the export of coal of unreliable grade. Now all coal loaded for export or bunkers must be graded by the Institute before shipment. The programme is determined by the fact that the coal industry is neither very old nor extensive, and the information available is limited. A first step is therefore a chemical survey. Already the Institute has made a notable contribution to the difficult problem of coal sampling by devising a novel sampling device. It consists essentially of a rotary drill working inside a sheath, up which a rapid current of air passes. The air and the coal abraded by the drill are drawn into a container after the manner of a vacuum cleaner, where the solids are retained. This apparatus not only enables samples to be collected from seams, but also from waggons a problem which has not hitherto received a satisfactory solution. The Institute is equipped for research in coal chemistry and coal processing, and also for the study of liquid and gaseous fuels.
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Fuel Research Institute of South Africa. Nature 136, 255 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136255c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136255c0