The ash content, sulfur content, and ash-softening temperature are expressed in symbols. Thus, in the case of ash content, the first symbol is A4, for coal with an ash content from zero to 4 percent; the next is A6, for coal with ash content from 4.1 to 6 percent, and so on, the last being A20 plus, representing coal with ash content of 20.1 percent or higher.

In the case of ash-softening temperature (a. s. t.); the first symbol is F28, for coal with an a. s. t. of 2,800° F. and higher; the next is F26, for coal with an a. s. t. of 2,600° to 2,790° F., and so on, the last symbol being F20 minus, representing coal with an a. s. t. of less than 2,000° F. In the case of sulfur, the first symbol is S0.7, for coal with sulfur content zero to 0.7 percent; the next is S1.0, for coal with sulfur from 0.8 to 1 percent; the next is S1.3, for coal with sulfur from 1.1 to 1.3 percent and so on, the last symbol being S5.0 plus, representing coal with sulfur content of 5.1 percent or higher.

Thus, a designation of a certain coal as 2-4 in., 132–A8-F24–S1.6 would indicate a coal of 2-inch to 4-inch size, having a heating value of approximately 13,200 B. t. u., an ash content of 6.1 to 8 percent, inclusive, an ash-softening temperature of 2,400° to 2,590° F., inclusive, and a sulfur content of 1.4 to 1.6 percent, inclusive.

While the above methods of description have the essentials of standardization, the symbols used are not likely to be easily understood by consumers without a considerable amount of explanation of their meaning. The Consumers' Counsel therefore decided in 1938 that another and simpler system of nomenclature should also be made available to consumers. It proposed, in "Know Your Coal", that coal be rated by the primary factors of friability, ash, and British thermal units, and also by any other factors that may be important in the coals of the particular district; and that a simple, understandable classification for the three primary factors be as follows:

TABLE 1.-Coal classification

1. FRIABILITY OR SIZE STABILITY

Percent of coal as it comes from the mine which will pass over a 2-inch round-hole screen

Know Your Coal" (Consumer Ideas No. 3), by Consumers' Counsel of the National minous Coal Commission, 11 pp., U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1838, 10 cents.

Comparison of the Bituminous Coal Division quality designation with those recommended by the Consumers' Counsel Division.-Th coal classifications now used by the Bituminous Coal Division are in fluenced by consideration of numerous economic factors in additio to analytical qualities. For each classification the letter designation used, unlike the designations in the system recommended by the Co sumers' Counsel Division in the preceding table, are not precisel defined; and the designations treat as a unit all the factors reveale by the physical and chemical analysis rather than grade each facto separately. The methods used to determine the classifications in eac district are not always made explicit. In addition the classificatio systems differ from district to district; for example, in district 10 th classifications range from A to N, inclusive; in district 1, from A t H-2, inclusive; in district 4 from D to U, as follows: D, H, K, M, N O, Q, R, T, U. The meaning of a letter used in one district bears n necessary relation to the meaning of the same letter used in anothe district. The letter classifications are significant only within the dis trict, and denote a price classification rather than a quality classifica tion.

The system recommended by the Consumers' Counsel, on the othe hand, is intended to afford a precise, uniform, and simple method fo the designation of quality. As the Consumers' Counsel explained i "Know Your Coal,"

if the proposals of the Consumers' Counsel for the standard classification coal are adopted, and the consumer picks up his telephone to order a ton from the retailer, he will be able to ask the retailer what properties the variou coals offered for sale have * * *. The consumer will be told that one coa has a rating of "A" for friability, "B" for ash, "C" for B. t. u.'s; and anothe has a rating of "A" for friability, "B" for ash, and "B" for B. t. u.'s. He ca compare their prices and buy with his eyes open

*

What weight the consumer should give to the various characteristics of th coal he buys depends upon his geographical location, the type of burning equip ment he uses, the amount of nuisance he is willing to put up with, and the price he is willing to pay. Some dealers will be helpful to him in determining th proper weight to give to the various characteristics of the coal. Briefly, if th consumer lives near a coal-producing area that produces coal of high ash con tent and low B. t. u.'s he may find that the lowered cost due to the lowe freight rate will more than make up for the additional work involved i shoveling more coal into this furnace and more ashes out of his firebox. I the consumer has an automatic stoker or other equipment, under certain condi tions, he may find that high-volatile coals are a better buy than low-volatile high B. t. u. coals that he possibly should burn in hand-fired equipment. Coal containing less B. t. u.'s may be a better buy if the equipment is properly designed to burn them.

Availability of Specific Coal Analyses to the Public.

Although the symbols used by the Bituminous Coal Division in coal classifications are not of direct value to consumers, the physical and chemical analyses upon which these classifications are largely based, do constitute an important source of information for con sumers. The physical and chemical analyses are required to be filed with the Bituminous Coal Division together with the price proposals and hence, as part of a public record, become available to the public The Bituminous Coal Division has also promulgated a marketing regu lation that any analyses of individual coals quoted to a consumer or distributor by any producer, must be filed with the statistical bureau and district board for the district in which the coal is produced, and

be open to inspection by interested persons at the offices of the statistical bureau of that district and the Coal Division.

Many requests from consumers, for anaylses of the coals of specific mines have been addressed to the Consumers' Counsel Division, and this Division has furnished the pertinent data from the record.

To make the data on coal analyses available in more significant form, data books are being compiled jointly by the Consumers' Counsel Division and the Bureau of Mines, for the purpose of assembling the facts available at the Bituminous Coal Division and the Bureau of Mines regarding the chemical and physical properties of coals in each seam in each county within the producing districts. Data books containing available information for the Appalachian region embraced in price area 1 are nearing completion, and will show not only specimen analyses and their usual ranges but also the rank (low-, medium-, or high-volatile coals) and the character of the samples selected for analysis.

Publications of the Consumers' Counsel Division other than "How Much Heat" and "Know Your Coal," which contain information on the classification and kinds of coal of interest to consumers, include "The Consumer Speaks," "Study Material on Bituminous Coal, Unit II-A-Marketing, Conservation and Purchasing Information for Consumers," "Heat Values from Coal Dollars," "Coal Consumers Digest, and "Co-op Coal News."

BUREAU OF MINES

The Bureau of Mines was established May 16, 1910, for thepurpose of conducting inquiries and scientific and technologic investigations Concerning mining, and the preparation, treatment, and utilization of mineral substances with view to improving health conditions, and increasing safety, efficiency, economic development, and conserving resources through prevention of waste in the mining, quarrying, metallurgical, and other mining industries; to inquire into economic conditions affecting these industries; to investigate plosives and peat; and on behalf of the Government to investigate the mineral faels and unfinished mineral products belonging to, or for the use of, the United States, with view to their most efficient mining, preparation, treatment and se; and to disseminate information concerning these subjects in such manner as will best carry out the purpose of this act.

Most of the activities of the Bureau of Mines concern the ultimate consumer, while some of the investigations and scientific research regarding commodities are directed toward commercial and Government purchasing specifications. It is believed, however, that conmer standards are influenced by basic research carried on by the Bureau of Mines. Undoubtedly, even today, the consumer is able to buy better fuel as a direct result of Bureau of Mines' work.

To select from the huge program of basic research carried on by the Bureau of Mines and to designate those studies that have some bearing on consumer problems of buying would be a tremendous ask far beyond the scope of this monograph. However, a few items will serve to illustrate the contributions being made by the Bureau, and to indicate that research has far outdistanced the steps that have teen taken toward development of standards for the ultimate product. The utilization of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels has been of continuing interest to the Bureau of Mines for many years. Coal affords an abundant and cheap fuel, and the Nation's coal resources being

larger than the known resources of petroleum and natural gas, coal will doubtless be a standard fuel indefinitely, in spite of the increase in consumption of fuel oils. Consequently, the Bureau has turned its attention in part to the development of clean, efficient coal for the householder. At its field stations in the northwest and south the Bureau has tested the effectiveness of pretreatment on hundreds of samples of coal, and it is now possible to obtain washed and dedusted bituminous coals that represent a decided advance in cleanness and efficiency over the dirty, crumbling fuel supplied a few years ago. Investigations of interest to consumers are being conducted on the utilization of coal refuse in making an activated char for water-purification purposes, for a base exchanger for water-softening, and for a soil conditioner in agriculture. Pulverization of coal is now of tremendous interest to industry and may in time be of value to householders should furnaces be equipped for the utilization of pulverized coal. Emphasis in this has been given both to the process and the substance itself. In 1939, reports were made on the physical and chemical properties of Alabama coal, washability studies of coal from three beds in that State, and the physical and chemical properties of coke made or used in the State of Washington.

Realizing that the present economic structure depends to a large degree upon petroleum and that the Nation's reserves of crude oil are not inexhaustible, the Bureau of Mines has conducted research on the liquefaction of coal by hydrogenation-a process already successfully applied in England, Germany, and France-for obtaining oil from American coal. As the Nation's oil is gradually depleted, it is hoped that motor fuel from coal can be made so efficiently and cheaply that it can supplement the diminishing supply of the oil fuel without drastic adjustment.

During 1939, the Bureau of Mines conducted carbonization tests on four low-volatile and three high-volatile A-rank coals. These tests were standardized in cooperation with the American Gas Association. The constitution of the coal subjected to carbonizing tests was determined by petrographic and chemical analysis. High- and low-temperature distillation assays were made on coals from various fields to estimate their coke and byproduct-making qualities. An investigation of the effect of adding chemicals to coal was concluded and a small overfeed stoker, which was tested in combination with a modern hot water boiler, was found to give over-all efficiencies as high as 76 percent with intermittent operation, as in house heating. Other coal research includes that on the utilization of sub-bituminous coal and lignite, important as fuel in the West and Southwest, on the causes and means of preventing coal-dust explosions, and on the methods of burning fuel in furnaces.

Should the retail buying of coal be so developed as to include grade specifications, source of coal will be an important factor. The Bureau has made analyses of coals in the United States from more than 1,500 mines and prospects. Heating values of all coals have been determined in addition to proximate and ultimate analyses.

In 1938, 8,681 samples of coal, coke, and related products were analyzed in the coal analysis laboratory. Of these, 6,646 were analyzed in connection with purchases of coal for the use of Government and certain State institutions and for classifications of coals

by the National Bituminous Coal Commission (now Bituminous Coal Division, United States Department of the Interior), 1,823 related to the research program of the Bureau of Mines, and 212 were miscellaneous samples.

The Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the American Society for Testing Materials, has developed new methods of testing and analyzing coal and coke, and has assisted in formulating specifications for classification of coal based on heat value, ash, and chemcal and physical qualities. Moreover, studies have been made to determine the burning characteristics of fuels in domestic heaters. Classification of coals is made by rank, that is, according to degree of metamorphism in the natural series from lignite to anthracite; by grade, that is, according to nature and amount of impurities present, screen size, and so forth; and by type, that is, by varieties such as common banded, splint, cannel, and boghead or algal coals. Studies of coke as a domestic heating fuel have included analysis grading and evaluation, and comparison with other fuels used for the same purpose. Coke is graded by size, heating value, percentage of fixed carbon, volatile matter, and ash. Because certain characteristics of coke are more desirable than others for domestic use, and some types of coke are more efficient, the Bureau of Mines has published several bulletins on this subject to provide data for ultimate consumers as a guide in buying for household use.

The Bureau of Mines cooperated with the American Society for Testing Materials in the preparation of standards for coke analysis

and tests.

The Bureau of Mines technologic work on petroleum and natural ras is concerned with drilling, production, transportation, and refining, and to a lesser extent with petroleum products.

The Bureau of Mines performs an important function in helping to establish standards which the ultimate consumer may use in buying petroleum products.

The Bureau has long recognized that there is a merging from fundamental earch in the laboratory to so-called "practical" research. Therefore, in veloping the philosophy of any research project it is not enough to establish rtain fundamental relationships by laboratory experiment: To be effective he work must have practical application in the field or at the plant."

* Many companies have their own research organizations, both in the aboratory and in the field, and some types of laboratory research are conducted at universities and other technical institutions.

Recognizing this growth and change, the Bureau of Mines for several years has concentrated its efforts on studies of a fundamental nature that apply roughout the whole industry and that cannot reasonably be made by indiidual companies or others."

Thus it may be that as consumer demand becomes more articulate the emphasis on that type of research having direct effect on the ality and performance of ultimate consumer products may become greater and more evident.

Studies of the characteristics of motor fuels and lubricants are Made in order that more suitable grades of these products may be made available to meet consumer requirements.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Studies of the United States Bureau of Mines," by H. C. Pier, p. 2, Information Circular 6737, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C., 1933. Out of print.)

Ibid., p. 7.