Show A NEW OIL GOAL COAL DUST FUEL walter E trent an old salt laker and son of L C trent who previous to going to the coast to make his home twenty years or more ago and who was the local representative of the auis allis chalmers co at that time has worked out a new combination fuel that is attracting much attention at the present time the new fuel according to a descriptive article recently contributed to pacific shipping illustrated of Sc seattle atle by herbert hanlon has been named by the inventor trent amalgam it is claimed that the combustible part of coal is conserved and the ash is eliminated in the new fuel and the expectation is that the trent mixture is likely to surer supersede sede oil and create a market for the poorer grades of coal thus opening opportunities to steamships railroads and other heavy consumers who are now more or less dependent on high priced fuel products how mr trent came to work out the new process the methods employed I 1 and the results attained are described b by y mr alfr hanlon as follows mr trents arents development of this fuel was the indirect result of his having presented to the war college in the earlier stages of the war a design for a constant cycle motor using pulverized coal in the combustion chamber mr trent developed the engine to where lie he was getting the desired results for about ten minutes when the motor would clog with ashes he had therefore to find a way to eliminate the ash from the carbon in the pulverized coal without reducing efficiency fici ency the final result was the trent process amalgam the first commercial plant is at alexandria va this plant which is owned in its entirety by mr trent personally Is is i capable of producing five hundred tons cons of amalgam daily from the first unit of construction and may be quickly expanded the process of producing b the fuel as related to me and demonstrated to me by mr trent is as follows in processing the coal is first passed through a crusher and reduced to quarter inch sizes and is carried on a conveyor to a pit from which it is purn pumped ped wet into a large wood tank filled with water kept in constant agitation b the powdered coal from the first crushing floats to the top overflows into a circular trough and is carried direct to the agitator the heavier materials are mechanically carried into a pulverizing machine the resultant product is then carried back to the original tank and floats over the top into the trough and is carried into the agitator in the agitator oil is added to the powdered coal and water which fills the tank and during the process of agitation b which is accomplished by hydraulic jets amalgamates with the pure carbon of the coal which by the pulverizing 6 has been released from the ash the oil will not amalgamate with the wet ash and the oil and carbon amalgam is salvaged from this tank which is the final step in the process ash elimination is dependent upon the fineness of the wet grinding b of the coal and the viscosity of the oil in the amal amalgam 6 am the ash content plus moisture will not usually exceed five per cent and in some instances will run as low as two per cent I 1 the process yields approximately like results from the various grades of bituminous anthracite semi anthracite cannel and lignite the resultant amalgam from the average of coals treated as described will show 25 per cent oil 70 per cent carbon and about 5 per cent ash and moisture the completed product will stow in ships bunkers 60 per cent more thermal units than is possible with the best of pocahontas coal deemed by the U S navy to be the best steaming coal available it may be stowed in dry plastic or semi liquid form in any form it shovels freely and spreads as readily as any slack coals trent amalgam may be handled by conveyor or pump and can be fired by any automatic or mechanical device for firing coal or by hand it also burns well in what are known as tar bunkers it can be made of a consistency to handle exactly as oil but it is far better to use it dry or in a plastic state to increase the percentage of oil increases the cost without adding to the efficiency boiler tests made at alexandria va show shona that the amal amalgam am has 42 per cent steaming advantage over the best steaming coal available it is claimed that the quicker and better burning of the amalgam in comparison with other fuels particularly coal is a great factor in insuring the maximum efficiency of boilers and burning amal amalgam garn in a firebox will show horsepower horse power efficiency as against horsepower horse power from coal under like conditions the coke from the amalgam shows every indication of being available for any use to which the best of coke may be devoted from ordinary fuel purposes to the reduction ion of minerals and this is claimed for it by mr trent this process properly developed on the pacific coast would tin undoubtedly open up tip fields of opportunity which have hitherto been closed or greatly restricted by reason of inability to produce high quality coke in quantities in the northwest plants under tinder the trent process are under tinder construction in great britain france and italy |