Smokeless Fuel
BY SIR LAWRENCE CHUBB.
Tur. coal smoke which pollutes the atmosphere of all large cities arises from two sources : it is emitted from the shafts of factories or other commercial premises such as hotels, restaurants, blacksmiths' forges, or groups of offices or shops, and from the ChimneyS of private dwelling houses. Owing to its tarry nature it is now recognised that domestic smoke is far more harmful as a destructive agent than the more perfectly Carbonized particleS thrown into the air from boiler furnaces. Each particle of soot clings to all but the smoothest surfaces and leaves behind it a stain of dirt. The gravest danger from -the factory comes from the invisible sulphurous
acids thrown off in -the process of eonibustiom.- • - It will probably:never be possible -to deterinine exactly the proportion of pollution between industrial and dothestic smoke.' Nevertheless, careful investigations conducted -by the Atmospheric Tellution Committee of the Department of Scientific and -industrial Research have led- the Committee to the conclusion that in London, at all events, smoke pollution consists of about two and a half parts of dOmestic smoke to one of -industrial smoke. - _
It may be asserted with some assurance that the proportion has undergone a great:change since the prevalence of smoke= laden and long-continned -Winter fogs led to the formation of the Coal Smoke,:Abatement -Society. When the Society was formed, now forty,two 'ago; through the -efforts of the late Sir William Richmond- and Dr. Harold Des Voeux and their friends; it was a relatively rare occurrence to find a factory chimney which,' at more or less frequent intervals (luring the day, did not belch forth large quantities of black smoke. That; happily;:has become a thing of the past: Greater care in 'stoking, better equipment and supervision in the boiler house, and the growing use of smokeless methods of steam or power production have brought about a material reduction in the output of factory smoke, and although some works are still persistent offenders, on the whole an immense improvement has been effected.
Moreover, the law in regard to industrial smoke has been greatly strengthened by the passage of the Public Health (Smoke Abatement) Act, 1926, which increased fines, gave an all-embracing definition of smoke, and made it easier for local authorities to deal with the habitual offender. That is all to the good, and when our Councils are permitted by the Minister of Health to make and enforce reasonable by-laws for checking injurious smoke, regardless of its colour, the rate of improvement will be accelerated. Up to the present the only by-laws that the Department is prepared to sanction are confined to black smoke, although the emission of such smoke in qknintity, _has_ been illegal, ever ,s-ince, the_fixst, great public Health Act was placed upon the Statute Book in 1875. The Smoke Abatement Act specifically excluded the private dwelling house' from any municipal control on the plea that the time had not arrived for coercive measures in regard to the kitchener and open hearth. The opinion was expressed by the Minister of Health that no attempt could fairly be made to force the adoption of smokeless methods of cooking and heating-in private houses until a satisfactory substitute for bittintinous coal was generally available at a price that would corn- pare favourably with that fuel. .
The present position, then, is that in and around London alone—and what is true of the Metropolis holds good in every large city—there are seven hundred thousand private dwelling houses, and from some at least of the chimneys of the over- whelming majority of those houses smoke is being almost constantly emitted throughout the winter- months. That is the short explanation of the fact that, given- suitable atmo- spheric conditions, smoke-laden"London fogs are-still prevalent.
It must not, however, be thought that no improvement is taking place. Each year sees an increase so rapid as to be startling in the number of gas and electric cookers and heating appliances installed in privatehouses._ These appliances in the aggregate greatly reduce the output of _smoke. But the poorer members of the community:cannot often afford to pur- chase or hire such appliances even if they could find room for a cooker- in their small housei.- The working- man's family mainly live in the kitchen and they cling, not unnaturally, to the kitchener and its coal fire ; in the parlour there is a pre- ference for a fire that can be seen and poked altogether apart from the question of relative expense.-- In the houses of the more wealthy, the same considerations as to space and expense do not apply, and great improvements in smokeless methods of cooking and heating are taking place.
What, then, is the solution of the problem of the nuisance of smoke from private houses? It will only be found in the produc- tion and availability on a commercial scale of a solid smokeless fuel having a low ash content and containing sufficient volatile matter to ensure-ready ignition and a cheerful flame. When such a fuel can be produced in quantity at a price comparing favourably with that of bituminous coal, it will be practicable to urge Parliament to decree the abolition of the use of bitu- minous coal as a fuel.
• There are three forms of smokeless solid fuel at present on the aiarket—gaS coke, anthracite coal, and low temperature coke, suitable for use in a normal grate or kitchener.
Considerable improvements have recently been made in special grates and stoves designed for the consumption of gas coke, and there is no doubt that-the latest forms of grate enable that fuel to be used in an ordinary living room under conditions that ensure in some measure the visible and cheerful glow that by, many . is. deemed an, essential accompaniment ,of a fire. Anthracite; too, has been proved to be a satisfactory sub- stitute for ordinary coal where special stoves and grates or other appliances can be installed for its consumption. The tests of anthracite conducted some years ago by. the Coal Smoke Abatement Society clearly show its many advantages as- a cheap and satisfactory heating agent.
. It is, nevertheless, generally conceded by all who have studied the subject, that in the low temperature carbonization of coal on commercial lines will eventually be found the solution of the domestic smoke nuisance. In this connexion the recently issued Report of the Fuel ilesearch Board shows that encouraging progress is being made in investigating the many practical difficulties which arise in the carbonization of coal. In his preface to the Report, the chairman, Sir Richard Threlfall, points out that the Board, since its inception, has recognized in low temperature carbonization a potential means of making improvements in fuel utilization, particularly in the direction of smoke abatement, and also as a possible means Of produeihg 'supplies of liquid fuel for home con- sumption. At the. Fuel Research Station at Greenwich many experiments and tests are taking place, and a special type of carbonizing retort is being tested by the Board at the Gas Light and Coke Coinpany's Station at Greenwich. Fight other plants of a suitable size erected by firms or individuals have also been investigated. It "is, however, somewhat discon- certing to find that the stage now reached in the development of low temperature carbonization appears no longer to justify the priority given at the Fuel Research Station to the develop- ment of full-size retorts. The report does not indicate whether the Board are satisfied that such retorts are or are not com- mercially practicable. One of the most difficult problems is to utilize to the best advantage the tars and other by-products. The drop in the world-price of fuel oil and motor spirit is a serious factor which is telling heavily against the enterprise of the commercial firms engaged in manufacturing smokeless fuel. Nevertheless, their efforts have already abundantly demonstrated that it is practicable to produce a satisfactory fuel for domestic consumption—a fuel which burns steadily with a pleasant flame and generates great heat. It has been proved, too, that an increasing demand exists for such a fuel, and that when it is available in sufficiently large quantities and at a price within the reach of the average householder, it will be deliberately chosen as a satisfactory substitute for smoke- producing bituminous coal. The time has arrived when the nation cannot afford to waste its remaining coal supplies, and public opinion is beginning to recognize that no country, however rich, can afford to go on paying an annual bill of £80,000,000, which is the estimated amount of the damage caused by coal smoke.
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