I.C. 7417

Annual Report of Research and Technologic Work on Coal Fiscal Year 19461

A. C. Fieldner2
P. M. Ambrose3

Cover Page 113kb

Table of Contents 426kb

Page
Section 1
1065kb
Introduction 5
Summary 6
Acknowledgments 9
Origin, composition, and properties of coals 11
Inspection, sampling, and analysis 11
Analyses of Alaska coals 13
Data on coals in District No. 9, western Kentucky 13
Section 2
1138kb
Constitution, properties, and analytical methods 14
Extractable waxes in United States lignites 14
Analyses of miscellaneous materials 14
Electron microscope studies of coal and Fischer-Tropsch catalysts 16
A method of petrologic analysis 17
Section 3
1209kb
Inert organic matter in eastern coals 21
Coal Mining 27
Experimental mine and dust explosions 27
Demonstrations and lectures 27
Inflammability and explosibility of industrial dusts and powders 27
Release of dust-explosion pressures to prevent structural damage 28
Section 4
1746kb
Pressure-relieving capabilities of glass 30
Technical assistance and service to others 31
Investigation of coal deposits 31
Coosa Coal Field, Alabama 31
Coal reserves in areas where fuel supplies are critical 31
Toledo lignite deposit, Lewis County, Wash. 31
Meta-anthracite in Newport and Providence Counties, R. I. 32
Coos Bay, Oregon 33
Alaska 34
Coaldale, Nev. 34
Mining Methods and practices 34
A stripping operation in Illinois 34
Section 5
1746kb
Extraction of pillars 35
Mine mechanization 35
Australian coal mining 38
Eickhoff shearing machine 39
The coal planer 39
Scraper-slide and shaker-conveyor loading machine 40
Effect of scrubbing upon the odorous and irritating constituents of Diesel exhaust gas 40
Section 6
1201kb
Performance of Diesel engines 43
Mine rescue telephones 43
Allaying mine dust 44
Hazards of trolley-locomotive haulage 44
Diesel locomotive tests 45
Liquefied natural-gas fire in Ohio 45
Procedure for testing self-contained breathing apparatus 45
Single-shot blasting units 46
Coal-mine health hazards 46
Use of explosives and gaseous explosions 47
Increase in charge limit of permissible explosives 47
Effect of sheaths upon the gaseous products from permissible explosives 49
Effects of type of ammonium nitrate upon the gaseous products from sheathed permissible explosives 50
Section 7
1129kb
Sensitivity of explosives to initiation by electrostatic discharges 51
List of permissible explosives 51
Consumption of permissible explosives 51
Field samples of permissible explosives 52
Miniature-cartridge test for detonators 53
Technical assistance and services to others 53
The electronic chronoscope 53
Ignition temperatures of compounds in air and oxygen 54
Limits of inflammability of substances in air 55
Extinction of gasoline flames by inert gases 55
Limits of inflammability and ignition temperature of naphthalene 57
Section 8
1054kb
Effect of pressure upon the explosibility of mixtures of acetylene with water vapor, air, and hydrocarbons 58
Extinction of flames by the addition of helium 60
Preparation of coal 60
Metallurgical coal from high-sulfur coal 60
Electrostatic treatment of fine coal 61
Preparation characteristics of Maryland coals 61
Coal-preparation practice in Western Europe 61
Washability of coals from the Mantanuska Field, Alaska 62
Results obtained in washing 62
Removing of extraneous material from industrial and domestic coals 64
Hand preparation of coal 64
Storage of coal 66
Section 9
1229kb
Storage of low-rank fuels 66
Utilization of coal 68
Combustion 68
Fuel-engineering service 68
National Fuel Efficiency Program 70
Boiler feedwater conditioning 71
Boiler water research 72
External corrosion of furnace-wall tubes 73
Section 10
1463kb
Smoke abatement 75
Packaged fuel containing anthracite fines 75
Utilization of mixtures of bituminous coal and anthracite 76
Ash-removal, domestic stoker tests 77
Analysis of size distribution in broken coal 79
The measurement of heat absorption in the primary furnace of a central station boiler 79
Automatic water heater 80
Mineral wool from Rhode Island anthracite 81
Section 11
1028kb
Wartime utilization of coal in Germany 82
Carbonization and gasification 83
Laboratory tests of coking coals 83
Alaskan coals 84
Chilean coals 84
Chinese coals 85
Sardinian coals 85
The free-swelling index of coal 86
Wartime progress in coke production 87
Survey of carbonizing properties of American coals 87
Section 12
785kb
Results of carbonization tests 88
Chilean coals 95
Texas lignite 95
Peruvian coal 95
Powellton and No. 2 Gas-Peerless coals 96
Section 13
1221kb
Beckley coal 97
Durability of coking power and various coals 99
Oxidizing properties of bituminous coals 100
Plasticity of coal 104
Section 14
1057kb
Swelling properties of coal during the coking process 107
Blending properties of coal 110
Bureau of Mines - American Gas Association (BM-AGA) apparatus and procedure 111
Bulk-density research 112
Gasification of subbituminous coal and lignite 112
Section 15
1155kb
Gasification processes using oxygen 114
Liquefaction 117
Reaction of natural gas and steam 118
Section 16
1354kb
Catalysts in synthetic liquid-fuel processes 119
Section 17
2048kb
Synthesis of hydrocarbons from hydrogen and carbon monoxide 126
Fischer-Tropsch process development 126
Coal hydrogenation 128
Experimental plant 128
Experiments in small autoclaves 128
Identification of products of coal hydrogenation and study of typical reactions involved in the process 133
Section 18
1008kb
Characterization of light oil 134
Foreign fuels 135
Literature translations and abstracts 140
Coal-hydrogenation information from captured German documents 141

1 The Bureau of Mines will welcome reprinting of this paper, provided the following acknowledgment is used: "Reprinted from Bureau of the Mines Information Circular 7417.

2 Chief, Fuels and Explosives Branch, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C.

3 Assistant chief, Fuels and Explosives Branch, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C.