MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1941  /11006

 The Consumers Ligmte Co at Alba, Tex ," usmg raw Texas hgmte without charring
in making briquets, began to operate commercially in 1940 and also reported
a small tonnage in 1941

Raw fuels used in making fuel briquets in the United States, 1940—41
Rawfuel
Net tons

Percent of total

—~— —~
 1940 1941


.

1940
1941


Anthracite and semianthracite culm and fine sizes          
Bituminous and subbituminous slack'                 
Residual carbons from oil-gas manufacture and natural-gas
 pyrolysis; petroleum coke; and semicoke (lignite char) -
222,618
636,312

144,167
265,637
787,722
.
175,043
22.2
63.4

14.4
21.6
64.1

143

1003097
1228402
1000
1000
 ' Includes small tonnage of Texas lignite used without charring.


 Seven operators reported washing their raw fuel (totaling 269,927 tons)
before manufacturing it into briquets.
 In 1941, as in 1940, four operations reported making more than one kind
of briquet. One in Nebraska made three kinds in 1941 (petroleum coke, semianthracite,
and low-volatile bituminous cubes); another in Nebraska made two kinds of
cubes from petroleum coke and semianthracite A large Wisconsin operator made
small pillow briquets from a mixture of Pennsylvania anthracite and low-volatile
bituminous coal as well as from low-volatile bituminous coal exclusively.
The fourth, a Missouri operator, made two kinds of pillow briquets from the
hard coals of Arkansas.

Production of fuel briquets, 1940—41, with reference to sources of
raw fuels used
*

Location of plant
Net tons

Percent

~
in1941

1940
1941

Atar near Lake Superior or Lake Michigan coal docks
At ~l mines                                     
At or near petroleum refineries and oil- and natural-gas plants - - -
Atotherlocations'                                 
511 336
414,490
111,667
13~377
532 728
539,223
141,405
15,046
4 2
30.1
26.6
12.5

1,050,870
1,228,402
16.9
 ' Fall River, Mass.; Jackson, Mich.; and Omaha, Nebr.


 Binders and recarbonization.—As the following table indicates, asphaltic
pitch is the preferred binder in briquetting coal and coke. An approximate
total of 80,000 tons of asphaltic pitch and 2,300 tons of starch and smaller
amounts of other binders were used in the manufacture of fuel briquets in
1941.
 Of the three plants using no binder, two briquetted the carbon residue from
the manufacture of oil gas and one used low-volatile bituminous coal. The
last, which has been in operation since 1936, manufactures 3%-ounce pillow
briquets by impact; capacity of the plant is about 1% tons per hour and impact
pressures of 50,000 to 60,000 pounds per square inch are obtained; the entire
production is consumed locally.
 "Coal Age, Texas Lignite Mine—Develops Method of Briquetting in Struggle
for Markets vs. Gas and 0,1: VoL 46, No. ii, 1941, p. 51.