Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1918 — FUEL IS POWDERED [ARTICLE]

FUEL IS POWDERED

Railroads in West Experiment * With Substitute for Oil. ADAPTABLE FOR LOCOMOTIVE Most of tho Material Used In Preparation Is Known as Screenings or Buckwheat, and Sells at Maximum Price of $3 Per Ton. Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation compand officials will make immediate exhaustive experiments with powdered fuel as a substitute for oil and the ordinary grade coals on all locomotives in the Northwest. The Oregon-Washington has turned over to the Pacific Coast Coal company one of its locomotives used on the Seattle-Portland run to be rebuilt to use powdered coal as.fuel. The Pacific Coast corporation has made a more exhaustive study of powdered coal than any other producer or user tn the West and will have a free hand tn demonstrating that the fuel is adaptable for railroad uses. Probably with the intent of making experiments along its own lines, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railroad has take a carload of powdered coal to its Portland shops. The new fuel has been adopted by the Pacific Coast Coal company for use in its Renton briquetting plant and will be used exclusively at the Black .Diamond mines. ; * - . Adaptable to Railroad Uses. If the Oregon-Washington’s experiments ' demonstrate powdered coal is adaptable to railroad uses it is unofficially announced that the new fuel will be used exclusively in the Northwest by that road. The company probably would use very largely the cheaper fuel from the Centralia field and would curtail its purchases of coai from mines in the bituminous districts. The Piiget Sound Traction, Light and Power company is* to use powdered coal in its Diamond Ice company plant and ultimately will make over the steam power plants in Seattle for the use of powdered coal. Other Northwestern plants considering the experiment include the Rainier Products company, Pacific Coast- Steel works, Everett Pulp and Paper company and a cement plant at Bellingham.

Blown Into Furnace. The powdered coal is handled in airtight containers and blown into the furnace by light air drafts. The heat produced is intense and far superior to that of any grate coal or oil, it is asserted. Coal operators declare that the success of the powdered coal experiments would release a large quantity of bituminous coal for heavy steaming purposes. Most of the coal used in preparing powdered fuel is known as screenings- dr buckwheat at the mines and 'under Fuel Administrator H.A. Garfield’s ruling, sells at a maximum price of $3 a ton at the mines. As a matter of fact a great deal of this class of” coal sells cheaper than this price, and the powdered fuel experiments promise to give a far wider market for a much cheaper coal.