Glen Summit Paper - The Utilization of Anthracite Waste by Gasification in Producers

THat the problem of utilizing anthracite waste is worthy of the thought bestowed upon it, may be shown in few words. In the year 1889, for instance, 35,408,000 tons of coal were sent to market from the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. According to the report of the State Geological Survey, the amount of coal thrown on the dumps as waste, varies, with circumstancett, from 44 to 60 per cent. of that shipped to market. The lower of these figures represents 16,579,000 tons of waste for that year, and it is obvious that if this, or any considerable portion of it, could have been saved, it would have constituted an important addition to the fuel-supply of the country. It is not surprising, therefore, that so much attention has been given to the utilization of this waste. Among the many lines of experiment pursued with this object in view, the conversion of the carbon of the culm into producer-gas seemg at first to promise the most satisfactory solution of the problem. It is well known that in foreign producer-plants almost all kinds of