UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Class Book Volume 
 
 S5~[ 2. 
 
 Je 07-1 OM 
 
 GEOLOGY 
 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 2. 
 
 A Preliminary Report on the Peat 
 Resources of Iowa 
 
 AND 
 
 A Report on the Tests of Iowa Coals 
 Made by the Government Coal-Testing 
 Plant at the Louisiana Purchase 
 Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1904 
 
 
 
 FRANK A. WILDER. PH. D. f STATE GEOLOGIST. 
 T. E. SAVAGE, ASSISTANT STATE GEOLOGIST. 
 
 
 DES MOINES 
 
 Published for Iowa Geological Survey 
 1905 
 
 
IOWA 
 
 ICAL SU 
 
 BULLETIN NO. 2. 
 
 A Preliminary Report on the Peat 
 Resources of Iowa 
 
 AND 
 
 RVEY 
 
 A Report on the Tests of Iowa Coals 
 Made by the Government Coal-Testing 
 Plant at the Louisiana Purchase 
 Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1904 
 
 FRANK A, WILDER. PH. D., STATE GEOLOGIST. 
 T. E. .SAVAGE, ASSISTANT STATE GEOLOGIST. 
 
 DES' MOINES 
 
 Published for Iowa Geological Survey 
 1905 
 
SS-] 
 
 Xo 3 2. t> 
 
 A Preliminary Report on the Peat 
 Resources of Iowa 
 
 AND 
 
 A Report on the Tests of Iowa Coals Made 
 by the Government Coal -Testing 
 Plant at the Louisiana Purchase 
 Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 
 
 1904 
 
 BY 
 
 T. E. SAVAGE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 A Preliminary Report on the Peat Resources of Iowa. 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 Composition of peat 6 
 
 Comparative table of analyses 6 
 
 Conditions of peat accumulation 6 
 
 Manner of accumulation of Iowa peat beds 7 
 
 Distribution of peat marshes in Iowa 8 
 
 Location and description of individual marshes 9 
 
 Peat deposits in Worth county 9 
 
 Fertile township area 9 
 
 Northwood area 9 
 
 Norman area . 10 
 
 Peat in Winnebago county 10 
 
 Scarville area 10 
 
 Lake Mills area 10 
 
 Forest City area 11 
 
 Thompson area 11 
 
 Marshes in Hancock county 11 
 
 Kanawha area. 11 
 
 Duncan area.. 11 
 
 Miller area 12 
 
 Peat deposits in Cerro Gordo county 12 
 
 Clear Lake area 12 
 
 Meservey area 13 
 
 Peat areas in Wright county 13 
 
 Clarion area 13 
 
 Dows area 13 
 
 Marshes of Franklin county 13 
 
 Peat deposits in Emmet county , 13 
 
 Armstrong area 13 
 
 Marshes in Palo Alto and Clay counties 14 
 
 General statement. 14 
 
 Uses of peat 14 
 
 Peat as a fuel IS 
 
 Table showing calorific power of peat and other fuels 15 
 
 Preparation of peat fuel . .16 
 
 Cut peat 16 
 
 Machine peat 16 
 
 Cost of mills 17 
 
 Peat briquettes 18 
 
 Cost of plants 18 
 
 Special apparatus for burning peat l9 
 
 Peat as a source of producer-gas 19 
 
Zl) 
 
 Cost of peat gas plant * * * ' ’ ‘ * ‘ ' ’ 20 
 
 The peat industry in Iowa 2C 
 
 P testing Plant at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. > 
 
 Mo., 
 
 Preliminary statement ; * * 2 
 
 Securing the samples 25 
 
 Chemicaf analysS'and calorimeter determinations o£ the 
 
 tested 2^ 
 
 Methods of analysis ’ ' 2 
 
 Table of analyses 2 {* 
 
 Washing tests ” * 3 j 
 
 Coking tests 1 " 7 * ' ‘ 7 . . . . . 35 
 
 Table showing results of coking tes ^ 
 
 Briquetting tests 3^ 
 
 Steam tests 3 
 
 Table of results of steam tests ^ 
 
 
! 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 A PRELIMINARY REPORT , 0t‘-THE PEAT 
 RESOURCES OE IOWA. 
 
 BY 
 
 T. E. SAVAGE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 For several years it has been known that considerable quantities of 
 peat existed in the marshes of northern Iowa. As early as 1867 Dr. 
 Charles A. White made some observations on these deposits and called 
 attention to their importance.* 
 
 In the present series of Geological reports the. presence of peat is 
 noted in a few counties, but no attempt was made tO' determine the ex- 
 tent or the quality of such beds. 
 
 In recent years the increase in the cost o'f fuel and, especially, the 
 improvement in the methods and the machinery by which peat is pre- 
 pared and utilized, have so stimulated the development of the peat in- 
 dustry that such deposits promise to become important sources of heat, 
 light and power. 
 
 For some time the Director of the Iowa Geological Survey has been 
 planning a systematic study of the peat deposits of the state, but until 
 recently this has been deferred owing to the pressure of other lines of 
 work that seemed to be more imperative. However, the investigation 
 was taken up during the summer of 1905, and the field work was 
 assigned to Mr. L. H. Wood, under the supervision and with the 
 assistance of the State Geologist. 
 
 A thorough examination of the individual marshes was undertaken 
 to locate those that were productive, to learn the extent and the depth 
 and the quality of the peat which they contain, and to collect samples 
 from the several deposits from which analyses and tests could be made. 
 
 The marshes of the state proved to be richer in vegetable deposits 
 than was anticipated. In view of the large quantity of peat that was 
 located, and because of the growing importance of this industry, it was 
 thought desirable to publish a general report on the peat resources of 
 the state in the form of a bulletin, preliminary to the more com- 
 plete report which will embody the results of the analyses and tests 
 that are yet to be made. 
 
 The data relative to the distribution, location and description of 
 the peat-bearing marshes are taken from notes made by Mr. Wood. 
 Many of the facts relating to the manufacture of peat fuel, and 
 cost of machinery were obtained from a paper by W. E. H. Carter in 
 the Twelfth Report of the Ontario Bureau of Mines, and from Special 
 Consular Reports, Volume XXVI, which treats of Briquettes as Fuel in 
 Foreign Countries. 
 
 *White: 1st and 2nd Annual Reports of Progress, pp. 121-135. 1868. 
 
 See also, Geol. of Iowa, Vol. 2, pp. 275-288. 1870. 
 
6 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 OPPOSITION OF PEAT. 
 
 Peat represen ts.the. ’parly stages in the carbonization of vegetable 
 matter, just as coal is the product of a more advanced stage of this 
 same process. It is composed of plant tissues that have undergone more 
 or less decomposition and chemical alteration. It varies 'from a yellow- 
 ish or brown, fibrous substance in which the leaves and tissues of 
 the plants are quite perfectly preserved, through different stages of 
 decay and maceration, to a dark colored, mucky material in which little 
 of the original structure can be recognized. 
 
 There is always present in the peat a variable amount of mineral 
 matter. This material may represent the ash or mineral constituents of 
 the plants from which the peat was formed, or it may consist in large 
 part of foreign matter derived from the silt borne by winds or from 
 sediments carried by water. 
 
 In the natural state peat always contains a high percentage of 
 moisture which is with difficulty removed by drying. 
 
 In Iowa marshes a large proportion of the vegetable matter is in a 
 more or less fibrous condition. It is in part composed of the remains 
 of aquatic species of mosses belonging to the genus Hypnum, but in most 
 of the bogs the leaves and stems of rushes, sedges and other groups of 
 water-loving plants have contributed the larger share. 
 
 The following analyses will show the composition of samples of 
 Sphagnum moss, oak wood, New Jersey peat and Illinois coal. The 
 table also shows the gradual increase in the percentage of carbon 
 that takes place in the changing of the vegetable matter to peat, and 
 in its further alteration to bituminous coal. 
 
 Comparative 7 able Of Analyses 
 
 Material Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen 
 
 per cent, per cent. per cent. per cent. 
 
 ♦Sphagnum moss 49.88 6.54 42.42 1.16 
 
 ♦Oak wood 50.60 6.00 42.10 1.30 
 
 ♦New Jersey peat 58.00 6.36 31.85 1.14 
 
 flllinois coal 65.48 5.09 15.04 1.39 
 
 The close similarity between the composition of Sphagnum moss and 
 oak wood will appear from the table, and the decrease in the propor- 
 tion of oxygen as that of the carbon content increases will also be 
 observed. The best grades of peat contain io to< 12 per cent more of 
 carbon and io to 12 per cent less of oxygen than the vegetable matter 
 from which it was formed., 
 
 CONDITIONS OF PEAT ACCUMULATION. 
 
 In order that vegetable matter may be preserved in the form of 
 peat the material must accumulate under water where it will undergo 
 imperfect decomposition without free access of air. When plants decay 
 on the surface of the ground the tissues are soon broken down into the 
 
 ♦Riea : 21st Report of the State Geologist of New York, pp. 68 and 61, 1801. 
 tSee this bulletin, p. 28. 
 
CONDITIONS OF PEAT ACCUMULATION. 
 
 7 
 
 simple compounds out of which the vegetable structures were built, and 
 the materials are returned to the air in the form of carbonic acid gas, 
 water and ammonia. The humus of the soils and the leaf mould of the 
 forests represent the products of incomplete oxidation or decay of organic 
 matter on the surface of prairie and woodland. 
 
 Under water, where the supply of oxygen is limited, decomposition of 
 vegetable matter is much less rapid and complete. In the water contain- 
 ing such matter there are also present soluble acids whose antiseptic prop- 
 erties serve further to hinder the process of plant decay. Under these 
 circumstances small quantities of carbonic acid gas, marsh gas and nitro- 
 gen are slowly liberated, but there are left much of the hydrogen and 
 the greater portion of the carbon. The further such decomposition 
 proceeds the higher is the proportion of carbon that remains, as is shown 
 in the foregoing table. 
 
 . Conditions favorable for the accumulation of peat are usually pres- 
 ent in swamps or marshes or around the margins of small lakes or 
 ponds. In such places the vegetation is usually luxuriant, and as the 
 successive generations of plants die their stems and leaves fall in the 
 water and are there protected from complete decay. 
 
 MANNER OF ACCUMULATION OF IOWA PEAT BEDS. 
 
 \ 
 
 When the glaciers melted from our state they left a comparatively 
 level surface which was broken by numerous minor inequalities. De- 
 pressions of varying extent and depth dotted the prairies, and were 
 especially abundant over a belt near the margin of the respective ice 
 sheets known as the terminal moraine. Such basins became filled with 
 water and formed lakes and marshes which are still conspicuous topo- 
 graphic features of northern Iowa. Such bodies of water are quite free 
 from sediments, and furnish congenial conditions for the growth of a 
 large variety of plants. 
 
 Marsh-loving forms soon established themselves around the shallow 
 margins of these pools, and lowly algae flourished in the deeper water. 
 Aquatic mosses spread widely over the surface in tangled mats and 
 long, floating strands. As the growth of each year was completed the 
 dying leaves and stems and filaments fell to the bottom and were em- 
 balmed together by the water of the bogs. As the seasons of the cen- 
 turies came and went the water was constantly shallowed and the 
 borders of the basins were constantly narrowed by the accumulation of 
 plant remains. The grasses and sedges kept crowding each other 
 further out from the shore, the amphibious rushes pushed out further 
 still, while among and beyond these the water-loving mosses reached 
 constantly toward the center. As the deposit deepened the alteration 
 of the materials continued and the vegetable matter became more and 
 more compacted into peat. 
 
 The rate of accumulation of these deposits depends largely upon 
 the character of the vegetation which the marsh supported. Where the 
 plants consisted chiefly of species of mosses the increase was made very 
 slowly, but where the deposit is made up of the remains of coarser 
 
8 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 plants, the accumulation grew more rapidly. The stage of filling at 
 present attained in the lakes of our state depends also upon the size 
 of the lake and the original depth of the basin. 
 
 In north-central Iowa, lake filling by the accumulation of vegetable 
 debris has been in progress ever since the retreat of the Wisconsin 
 glacier. At the present time the history of many of the smaller lakes 
 and marshes has been completely closed ; areas of swamp soil being 
 the only witnesses to the former existence of water, and the only in- 
 dication of underlying deposits of peat. 
 
 In other lakes the filling is but partially completed, and they exist 
 today as broad, shallow marshes overgrown with moss and rush and 
 sedge, whose stems and leaves still contribute an annual increment to 
 the vegetable accumulation on the bottom. 
 
 In the larger and deeper lakes, where wave action was stronger, 
 there are no deposits of vegetable matter or but a discontinuous fringe 
 which represents the initial deposit of a future bed of peat. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF PEAT MARSHES IN IOWA. 
 
 The peat deposits of Iowa occur in the north-central portion, over 
 the area that was covered by the Wisconsin ice sheet. They are espe- 
 cially well developed in a belt eight to twelve miles in width around 
 the margin of this area, among the ridges of the moraine. In such situ- 
 ations the water level of the lakes is held higher and more constant 
 than over the level lands. The basins also are deeper, thus pre- 
 venting a large proportion of mud being mixed with the vegetable 
 material through the borings of crayfish. The gentle slopes that border 
 the depressions were until recently covered with forests which pro- 
 tected the growing deposits from contamination by silt or sediments 
 from wind or water. For these reasons the morainic basins generally 
 contain deeper and purer deposits of vegetable matter than are found in 
 the marshes over the prairies. 
 
 The greater number of good bogs occur among the hills of the 
 Altamont moraine, on the eastern border of the Wisconsin drift plain. 
 They cover areas of varying extent in the west half of Worth, Cerro 
 Gordo and Franklin counties and the eastern portions of Wright, Han- 
 cock and Winnebago. Between this eastern belt and the west side of 
 the Wisconsin drift area there are occasional marshes that contain con- 
 siderable peat. The largest of these occur in the counties of Emmet, 
 Palo Alto and Clay, while smaller areas are found in Dickinson, Kos- 
 suth, Green and Calhoun counties. 
 
 The quantity of peat in the Iowa marshes, distributed by counties, 
 can be computed by multiplying the number of acres of peat-bearing 
 marsh land in each county by the average depth of the peat in yards, on 
 the assumption that one acre of peat, three feet in depth, would produce 
 1,000 tons of dried fuel. 
 
 On this basis Worth county should yield in round numbers 6,000,000 
 tons of dry peat fuel; Winnebago county 8,000,000 tons; Hancock 
 county 3;000,000 tons; Cerro Gordo county 10,000,000 tons; Wright 
 

 UNIVERSi. ; 
 
 * y y 
 
 
 
OUTLINE MAP 
 OF THE DRIFT SHEETS 
 OF IOWA 
 
 1905 
 
 LOCATION OF MARSHES 
 CONTAINING DEPOSITS 
 OF PEAT INDICATED 
 BYSMALLCROSSES 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 WISCONSIN DRIFT 
 IOWAN DRIFT I 
 ILUNOIAN DRIFT 
 KANSAS DRIFT 
 
 ^OVERLAIN with L OE $5 ) 
 
 MARSHES CONTAINING PEAT + 
 

 
 
 
 
 "»'V£«sw“m ;mis 
 
 
 
 
LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL MARSHES. 9 
 
 county 1,000,000 tons; Franklin county 1,500,000 tons; Emmlt county 
 2,000,000 tons and Clay and Palo Alto counties 4,000,000 tons. 
 
 If we would be very conservative and estimate the yield of peat per 
 acre, three feet in depth, at only 600 tons*. of dried fuel, we would still 
 have about 22,000,000 tons of such fuel located in northern Iowa. 
 
 The distribution of the marshes, and their relation to the border of 
 the Wisconsin drift sheet are shown on the accompanying map. 
 
 LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL MARSHES.f 
 
 PEAT DEPOSITS IN WORTH COUNTY. 
 
 The peat-bearing marshes of Worth county occur in the townships 
 of Fertile, Bristol, Silver Lake and Hartland. 
 
 Fertile township area . — About two miles west of Hanlontown, in 
 the southern portion of Fertile township, is a large marsh known as 
 Goose lake. It lies partially in sections 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28, and 
 covers an area of from 600 to 800 acres. Two test borings at widely 
 separated points showed a depth of 12 and 13 feet, respectively, of 
 clean, fibrous, fairly dry vegetable matter. 
 
 Near the west side of this same township a marsh, 150 to 180 
 acres in extent, covers portions of sections 18, 19 and 30. A boring 
 near the middle of section 19 showed a depth of 8 feet of peat. 
 
 In the northeast corner of Fertile township, and extending across 
 section 7 of Danville, is a broad slough that embraces 160 to 200 
 acres, and contains a depth of 13 feet of clean, solid peaty material. 
 
 The above marshes and others of smaller extent, make Fertile 
 township a rich center for peat. They could all be worked from 
 Hanlontown, the nearest railroad station from which the most distant 
 bog is about five miles. 
 
 Rice lake, in Bristol township, is bordered with vegetable deposits 
 some of which are very deep. At the east end there is an area of 200 
 acres in which the deposit tested 12 feet in depth. An arm of this lake 
 covering several hundred acres extends towards the southwest into 
 Winnebago county. 
 
 Two and one-half miles east of Joice a marsh covering 50 acres tested 
 7 feet of solid peat, and another good deposit lies nearer to the town. 
 
 The larger marshes of Bristol township are convenient to the 
 Lake Mills area, in Winnebago county. 
 
 Northwood area . — In Hartland township a narrow slough extends 
 for three miles along a creek in sections 33, 34 and 36. This area 
 embraces more than 200 acres and tested 9 feet in depth. Along 
 Goose creek, in sections 13, 14 and 15, a marsh nearly as large as the 
 last tested 3 to 10 feet of vegetable material. This deposit is some- 
 what scattered along the creek but might become valuable if worked 
 
 ♦Trans. Am. Inst, of Mining Engineers, Vol. XXXV. p. 101. 1905. 
 
 t A sufficient number of borings to determine the average depth of the vegetable ma- 
 terial in the different marshes could not well be made However, the figures given 
 represent actual measurements taken, and it is believed that they will be a fairly reliable 
 guide with regard to the relative thickness of the peat deposits in the several marshes. 
 
10 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 in connection with the very large area around Grass lake, a short dis- 
 tance north of the state line. 
 
 Norman area . — A large quantity of peat covers the bed and fringes 
 the border of Bright lake, within one mile of the town of Norman. A 
 small marsh in section 36 of this township also contains a good depth 
 of peat. A boring in the marsh at the east end of Silver lake passed 
 through 13 feet of vegetable debris. 
 
 PEAT IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 One and one-half miles southwest of Norman, a grass-grown 
 slough, covering between 200 and 250 acres in section 14 of Norway 
 township, tested 5 feet of dense, brown colored peat. 
 
 Scarville area . — A marsh about one mile southwest of Scarville 
 covers nearly 200 acres in section 22 and 23 of Logan township, and 
 contains peat 7 feet in depth. South of Harmon lake, in section 21, a 
 small marsh covers 50 acres, and at the north end of the lake, in sections 
 20 and 21, is another nearly equal in size. Both of these contain a good 
 depth of vegetable debris. 
 
 Two miles southeast of Scarville a swampy area lying north of the 
 railroad includes portions of sections 20, 21, 27 and 28 in Norway 
 township. This marsh is not uniform in depth, but borings in section 
 28 showed a depth of 6 to 15 feet of peaty matter. 
 
 Lake Mills area . — The thriving town of Lake Mills, in Center 
 township, is fortunately located for the production of peat. Swamps 
 aggregating 800 to 1,000 acres surround the town at a distance of from 
 one to three miles, and two lines of railroad afford good facilities for 
 distributing the product. 
 
 In section 34 and 35 of Norway township, a marsh covers 200 
 acres and tested 10 feet of peat. A bog of 100 acres, in section 1 of 
 Center township, extends east into Worth county, and tested 13 feet of 
 accumulated vegetable matter. Marshes in sections 3 and 4, about one 
 mile west of town, aggregate nearly 300 acres and showed peat to a 
 depth of 8 to 15 feet. 
 
 A filled lake basin extends from the south end of lake Greeley to 
 the west end of Rice lake. A few wooded islands occur over this marsh 
 but the greater portion of the area is covered with a deposit of peat 
 which, near the east end, tested 13 feet in depth. A marsh that lies 
 across section 26 of Center township, in a northeast-southwest direc- 
 tion, represents the northeastward extension of Walnut lake. Near 
 the middle of this swamp a boring passed through a depth of 13 feet 
 of peat. Southeast of Walnut lake a marsh extends for two miles, 
 invading the northeast corner of Mount Valley township. In section 1 
 of the latter township, a marsh covering 40 acres showed a maximum 
 depth of 10 feet of vegetable matter. 
 
 Another swamp, embracing nearly 80 acres, covers a portion of 
 sections 2 and 3 of the latter township and of section 34 of Center. 
 This area tested 9 feet of peat. All of the marshes of Center township 
 and those in the northeast corner of Mount Valley belong naturally 
 
LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL MARSHES. 11 
 
 to the Lake Mills area. In the process of excavating the. peat a water- 
 way could, with little expense, be opened to the northward from the 
 latter marshes above described through those between Walnut lake and 
 Rice lake and on through the bogs connecting Rice lake with lake 
 Greeley. Through such a channel the peat from several hundred acres 
 of swamp land could be brought to Lake Mills by water and there pre- 
 pared for shipment. 
 
 Forest City area . — About five and one-half miles northeast of Forest 
 City, a marsh covers nearly 200 acres in sections 16 and 17 of Mount 
 Valley township. A boring towards the north side of this marsh 
 showed 10 feet of clean, solid vegetable: material. Other marshes, to- 
 gether covering more than 100 acres, in sections 28 and 33 of this 
 township, showed a depth of 13 feet of plant debris. This latter area 
 consists of narrow bogs separated by north and south ridges of morainic 
 material. The peat seems to be very pure and the bogs are fairly dry. 
 
 Near the south side of section 32, Forest township, a marsh covers 
 more than 100 acres and contains a depth of 3 to 4 feet of vegetable 
 matter. There are other scattered bogs of small extent in this portion 
 of the county. 
 
 Among the hills in sections 24 and 25 of Mount Valley township 
 there is an irregular basin over which marshes cover an aggregate of 
 100 acres, and show a depth of 6 to 15 feet of peaty matter. This latter 
 area would be most successfully worked in connection with the Goose 
 lake marsh in Worth county. 
 
 Thompson area . — A series of small swamps, separated by wooded 
 ridges, occur in sections 1 and 12 of King township and sections 7, 8 
 and 17 of Newton. Together these cover more than 300 acres, and 
 show a depth of 4 to 10 feet of peat which is dry, firm and very 
 pure. 
 
 MARSHES IN HANCOCK COUNTY. 
 
 Many of the larger marshes of the county occur over level prairies 
 and contain but shallow deposits of impure peat. 
 
 Kanawha area . — Two miles northeast of Kanawha a large marsh 
 covers 160 acres, in sections 22 and 23 of Amsterdam township. Borings 
 over this area showed 3 to 4 feet of vegetable matter, while a well 
 towards the north edge of the marsh is reported to have passed through 
 8 feet of peat. 
 
 A short distance south of East Twin lake a cat-tail slough covers a 
 portion of section 29 and crosses section 32 of Twin Lake township. 
 Tests near the margin indicated a depth of 3 to 5 feet of peaty matter. 
 Much of this swamp is very wet, but the water could be drawn off 
 to the eastward through the west branch of Iowa river into which 
 stream the area has already been partially drained. 
 
 Duncan area . — About one mile southeast of the town of Duncan a 
 large marsh of 600 acres covers a portion of section 33 of Garfield 
 township and of sections 4 and 9 of German. A ditch through this 
 swamp drains the water to the southward. In the sides of this ditch 
 good, clean peat is exposed to a depth of 3 to 6 feet. A small deposit 
 
12 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 of peat also occtirs along the east side of Eagle lake. 
 
 Miller area. — An unusually good deposit of peat occurs in a narrow 
 slough one and one-half miles southeast of the town of Miller. The 
 bog covers 200 acres and tested 10 feet of clean vegetable matter. 
 
 A marsh is reported near the northeast corner of Concord town- 
 ship, and small bodies of peat also occur along the east branch of Iowa 
 river between Miller and Hayfield Junction. 
 
 PEAT DEPOSITS IN CERRO GORDO COUNTY. 
 
 Practically all of the marshes of Cerro Gordo county lie in the 
 west tier of townships. They are surrounded by low, morainic hills, 20 
 to 50 feet in height. They are generally well drained, and contain 
 peat deposits that range from 3 to 15 feet in depth. The peat is uni- 
 formly clean and solid, and appears to be of excellent quality. 
 
 Clear Lake area . — The city of Clear Lake is situated in the midst 
 
 of a rich deposit of peat. In section 26 of Clear Lake township an 
 
 ice formed embankment 1 has cut off a southward extending arm from 
 the main body of the lake. Over this area a marsh, covering more than 
 
 80 acres, occupies portions of sections 26 and 35. Tests in this bog 
 
 showed 10 to 12 feet of black peat. A short distance further south a 
 drained marsh, 250 acres in extent, covers the southern portion of sec- 
 tion 35 of Clear Lake township and section 2 of Union. Borings over 
 this area showed a depth of 5 to 6 feet of vegetable matter. Still 
 further south a swamp covers 300 acres in sections 11, 12, 13 and 14 
 of Union township; and another marsh about equal in extent occupies a 
 portion of section 24. The last two bogs are fairly dry and contain 
 exceptionally pure deposits in which tests showed solid peat 12 'feet in 
 thickness. In the southwest J of section 23 is a drained marsh, 60 to 
 80 acres in extent, that tested 7 feet of clean peat. 
 
 About one mile south of Clear Lake city, an ice formed wall sepa- 
 rates another large marsh from Clear lake. From this ridge a bog ex- 
 tends nearly three miles towards the southeast, covering nearly 600 
 acres. Borings near the north end of this marsh indicated a depth of 3 
 feet of vegetable matter and it is probable that the thickness increases 
 further south. 
 
 One and one-half miles north of Clear Lake a large marsh, 400 
 acres in extent, occupies a portion of sections 1 and 2 of Clear Lake 
 township and of sections 34, 35 and 36 of Grant. This marsh is 
 well drained, and contains a fine deposit of peat that tested 5 to 7 
 feet in depth. From the southwest J of section 34 a narrow slough 
 extends two and one-half miles towards the southwest, and contains a 
 good depth of peat. In the west half of section 6, Clear Lake township, 
 a marsh, connecting with bogs in Hancock county, covers nearly 80 
 acres, and showed a depth of 6 to 10 feet of peat. A smaller marsh 
 in section 29 of Grant township contains a good deposit. A large 
 swamp covering 400 acres, in sections 21, 22 and 27 of Grant township, 
 
 *For an explanation of the manner in which these embankments were formed see Iowa 
 Geol. Survey, Yol. YII, p. 135. 
 
LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL MARSHES. 13 
 
 tested 7 to 9 feet of vegetable matter, and a smaller one of 160 acres, 
 in section 15, showed 5 feet. 
 
 A marsh of 200 acres covers a portion of section 25, and contains 
 an excellent deposit of plant remains, 12 feet in depth. 
 
 Near the northwest corner of Grant township a good bog is reported, 
 and a few promising marshes are found further east in the township 
 of Lincoln. 
 
 Meservey area . — About one mile northeast of Meservey, a drained 
 marsh covers 60 to 80 acres in section 28, Grimes township. Borings 
 over this area showed 8 to 9 feet of clean, solid peat. 
 
 A large marsh in sections 19 and 20 is tile drained, and tested 7 
 feet of pure vegetable debris. In section 3, a marsh of 60 acres showed 
 5 to 7 feet of peat. The peat deposits around Meservey are small, 
 but in quality they rank among the best in the state. 
 
 PEAT AEEAS IN WEIGHT COUNTY. 
 
 Clarion area . — -About five miles north of Clarion a grassy marsh, 
 lying partly in section 1 of Lake township and partly in section 6 of 
 Grant, covers nearly 100 acres, and contains clean vegetable material 
 to a depth of 9 feet. 
 
 Small bodies of peat, a few acres in extent and 3 to 6 feet in 
 depth, occur between the above mentioned marsh and Little Wall lake. 
 Other small marshes lie within a short distance north and east of Cor- 
 nelia; while vegetable matter 2. to 3 feet in depth fringes a portion 
 of the east side of Elm lake. 
 
 Dows area . — One mile west of Dows a number of disconnected 
 swamp areas, aggregating nearly 100 acres, occupy portions of sections 
 27, 34 and 35 in Blaine township. Borings at different points over this 
 area showed 4, 8 and 9 feet of clean, almost dry peat. 
 
 About five miles southwest of Dows a bog of 80 acres has been 
 drained and, at one time, put under the plow. Tests over this marsh 
 indicated 5 to 9 feet of vegetable matter. 
 
 Large marshes occur in the northeast of Wall Lake township, 
 but the peat is shallow and carries quite a large percentage of earthy 
 matter. 
 
 MAESHES OF FEANKLIN COUNTY. 
 
 About two miles northeast of Dows, and conveniently worked 
 with that area, a swamp of 100 acres covers a portion of sections 20 
 and 28 of Morgan township. It contains peat of fair quality, ranging 
 from 5 to 15 feet in depth. 
 
 Near the north side of Lee township a marsh known as the “Big 
 Slough” covers several hundred acres. This area was not tested, but 
 it is reported to contain a good deposit of peat. 
 
 PEAT DEPOSITS IN EMMET COUNTY. 
 
 Armstrong area. — In the southern portion of Iowa Lake town- 
 
14 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 ship a large marsh covers from 800 to 1,000 acres. The area lies about 
 two miles north of Armstrong. It is well drained, and contains a depth 
 of 7 to 9 feet of clean, solid peat. 
 
 MARSHES IN PALO ALTO AND CLAY COUNTIES. 
 
 An extensive area of marsh land lies about four miles north of 
 Ruthven, embracing a portion of sections 19, 20, 29 and 30 of Lost 
 Island township, in Palo Alto county, and of sections 25 and 26 of 
 Lake township, in Clay. This marsh covers more than 1,500 acres. 
 Tests over the south end indicated about 7 feet of vegetable debris. 
 
 At the outlet of Lost Island lake, in Clay county, there is a marsh 
 of 200 to 300 acres that contains peat, but on account of the water the 
 depth of the deposit could not be ascertained. 
 
 Small bodies of peat occur at the west end of Elbow lake and Vir- 
 gin lake, in Palo Alto county, and a few small marshes are found 
 both to the north and south of Ruthven. 
 
 GENERAL STATEMENT. 
 
 The greater number of the marshes mentioned above are almost 
 dry. In some cases no water was reached at a depth of 9 or 10 feet. 
 This dryness is partially due to artificial drainage and partly to 
 prevailingly more arid conditions than formerly existed. Many of the 
 areas support a heavy growth of sedges and slough grass and are 
 utilized for wild meadow or pasturage, while a few have been put 
 under the plow. 
 
 Although there is quite a wide range in the character of the peat 
 found in these marshes, the most of it is somewhat fibrous, brown in 
 color, and consists of very pure vegetable debris, with scarcely a trace of 
 mud. It also showed very little evidence of oxidation due to the drying 
 of the bogs and the resulting exposure to the air. 
 
 The fortunate distribution of the marshes with reference to towns 
 is shown on the accompanying map. The railroad advantages of the 
 respective points may be seen by referring to the map of the state pub- 
 lished and distributed by the Iowa Railroad Commissioners. 
 
 Several million tons of peat are accessible from Clear Lake, Lake 
 Mills, Dows, Hanlontown and Armstrong, while important quantities 
 are convenient to the towns of Meservey, Scarville, Norman, North- 
 wood, Forest City, Thompson, Duncan, Miller, Clarion and Ruthven. 
 A railroad passes through each of these towns. Lake Mills, Forest 
 City and Ruthven are supplied with two lines. Two branches also 
 connect at Dows; while an electric line in addition to the railroad gives 
 to Clear Lake practically all of the advantages of two lines of road. 
 
 USES OF PEAT. 
 
 The uses to which peat has been applied are many and varied. It 
 has been used extensively as a fuel. It has been burned into coke 
 
USES OF PEAT. 
 
 15 
 
 and charcoal, and is being successfully converted into gas. 
 
 The undecayed upper portion of bogs furnishes “moss litter” which 
 on account of its high powers of absorption for liquids and gases, finds 
 a wide use as a deodorizer and disinfectant. When ground into fine 
 meal peat is used for making antiseptic bandages, and for packing 
 eggs, meat and fruit. Peat dust has been used as a substitute for char- 
 coal in the manufacture of gunpowder, and, when mixed with India 
 rubber and sulphur, it is used for insulating electric cables. Peat pulp 
 is being used in place of straw and wood pulp in the manufacture of 
 paper, card board and the coarser grades of paper board. 
 
 As a fertilizer applied to sandy soils, peat adds warmth, increases 
 the moisture, and promotes the solubility of the minerals of the soil. 
 
 For the people of Iowa the greatest interest will attach to the 
 use of peat as a fuel and as a future source of producer-gas. 
 
 PEAT AS A FUEL. 
 
 Peat burns with a short, yellow flame and intense heat. It burns 
 without scot, with little smoke, with no unhealthful gases, and leaves no 
 clinker. It requires little draft, is easily ignited and, once lighted, 
 will continue to burn until all the fuel is consumed. It is especially 
 suited for culinary purposes because of its cleanliness, and on account 
 of the fact that a peat fire quickly reaches a high temperature. 
 
 Peat is not only a valuable domestic fuel, but, in Europe, in the 
 solid or gaseous form, it is widely used in metallurgical purposes, in 
 steel and glass furnaces, for firing locomotive boilers and for generating 
 electric power. Boilers using peat fuel are estimated to last three times 
 as long as those fired with coal. 
 
 The heating power of unprepared peat compared with that oi 
 other fuels is given in Thurston’s Elements of Engineering as follows: 
 
 Table showing calorific power of peat and other fuels. 
 
 Fuel. 
 
 Calorific power. 
 
 Water vaporized at 
 boiling point. 
 Parts by one part. 
 
 Relative. J 
 
 ! Absolute 
 IB.T.U. per lb. 
 
 Coal, anthracite 
 
 1.020 
 
 14, 833 
 
 14.98 
 
 Coal, bituminous 
 
 1.017 
 
 14, 796 
 
 14.95 
 
 Coal, lignite, dry 
 
 0. 700 
 
 10, 150 
 
 10. 35 
 
 Peat, kiln dried 
 
 0.700 
 
 10, 160 
 
 10.25 
 
 Peat, air dred 
 
 0. 526 
 
 7,650 
 
 7.73 
 
 Wood, kiln dried 
 
 0. 551 
 
 8,029 
 
 8. 10 
 
 Wood, air dried 
 
 0. 439 
 
 6,385 
 
 6. 45 
 
 From the above table it will be seen that unprepared peat has a 
 higher heating value than wood, but is inferior to coal. The American 
 Society of Mechanical Engineers estimate 2.5 tons of pine wood to 
 possess equivalent heating power to 1.8 tons of ordinary air-dried peat, 
 and to 1 ton of anthracite coal. The German Chemical Testing Sta- 
 tion of Berlin reports the fuel value of peat briquettes at 13,330 B. T. 
 U. per pound.* The average is probably about 8000 to 1 1,000 B. T. U. 
 
 ♦Morrison: Address before the Nat’l Association of Engineers The calorific value 
 of peat briquettes, like that of different coals, will vary within wide limits. See Trans. 
 Am. Inst, of Mining Engineers, Vol. XXXV, p. 104, and Speoial Consular Reports, Vol. 
 XXVI, p. 116, 
 
16 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 In the countries of Europe peat has been extensively used as a fuel 
 for a very long time. Both Germany and Sweden produce 2,000,000 
 tons of peat each year, and Russia 4,000,000 tons. In Scotland and Ire- 
 land large quantities are annually consumed. The people of Holland pre- 
 fer peat fuel in their brick yards and for domestic purposes. The 
 large bogs of Russia are owned by the government, and permits for 
 working them yield an annual revenue of $938,000. Germany is said to 
 possess greater wealth in her peat bogs than in her coal fields. In 
 Austria and Denmark peat has long been an important article of fuel, 
 while, in recent years, large quantities of peat fuel are annually prepared 
 in the province oi Ontario, Canada. 
 
 In the United States the peat fuel industry has been largely 
 neglected on account of the wide extent of her coal fields and the for- 
 tunate distribution of these deposits which has made an abundance of 
 excellent fuel generally accessible at a moderate cost. 
 
 PREPARATION OF PEAT FOR FUEL. 
 
 There are three general methods of preparing peat, which result in 
 the following forms of peat fuel: 
 
 (1) “cut peat”; (2) pressed or “machine peat”; and (3) peat 
 briquettes. 
 
 CUT PEAT. 
 
 “Cut peat” is prepared in the simplest possible manner and forms 
 the poorest grade of peat fuel. Blocks of crude material are cut out 
 from the bog, dried in the air and burned without further treatment. 
 One man can cut about one and one-fourth tons of dry peat per day. 
 Six or eight weeks are required for drying and, when dried under the 
 most favorable conditions, such peat will still contain as much as 30 
 per cent of water. The material is so loose and bulky that it is difficult 
 to fire properly into a stove or furnace, and the large amount of water 
 in the fuel makes it of low heating value. 
 
 On account of its cheapness “cut peat” is the staple fuel for a 
 large number of the poorer people of Europe, but it would not prove 
 a satisfactory fuel to persons accustomed to burning wood or coal. 
 
 MACHINE PEAT. 
 
 “Machine peat” is prepared by grinding the crude peat into a pulp 
 while wet and then cutting; or moulding or pressing the material into 
 blocks. The blocks can be dried in the air in from six to eight weeks, 
 or by artificial heat in a much shorter time. The grinding or macera- 
 tion of the peat greatly facilitates the escape of moisture and causes 
 “machine peat” to dry much more perfectly than “cut peat;” the blocks 
 contracting to about two-thirds of their original volume. By the 
 process of grinding a self-binding property is developed which causes the 
 blocks to become dense and hard and practically waterproof. Dried 
 “machine peat” can remain out doors without injury and be shipped 
 long distances without crumbling. 
 
PREPARATION OF PEAT FOR FUEL. 
 
 17 
 
 “Machine peat” is suitable not only for domestic use but for almost 
 any purpose to which bituminous coal is applied. When air-dried, it 
 contains 15 to 25 per cent of water,* while the water content of Iowa 
 coal varies from 13 to 19 per cent. However, the more perfect com- 
 bustion of the peat and the absence of soot in the flues tend to offset 
 its disadvantage as a fuel on account of the larger amount of water 
 it contains. 
 
 During 1903, the Swedish government conducted numerous fuel 
 tests in locomotive engines which showed that, except for its bulkiness, 
 “machine peat” could be fired in the engines with as good results as 
 English coal, and with little more labor, and that when mixed with 
 coal a fire superior in calorific value to either of the fuels alone was 
 produced. f 
 
 All of the better classes of mills for making “machine peat” employ 
 much the same principles. They consist of a hollow iron cylinder 
 encasing a set of revolving cutters for thoroughly grinding, 
 kneading and mixing the crude peat. Rollers set with screw 
 ridges force the material past the cutters and out through the nozzle 
 in a long cylindrical or rectangular rod, which is cut into blocks of 
 desired size. 
 
 Cost of mills . — The Ackerman machine, used extensively in Sweden, 
 requires an 18-horsepower engine and the help of 15 men. It can 
 produce 20 to 25 tons of “machine peat” per day at a cost of $1.35 
 per ton, laborer’s wages at $1.00 per day. The complete equipment 
 of such a plant costs about $1,900. 
 
 The Anrys or Anrep machine, preferred in Russia, is built in two 
 sizes, the larger producing 40 to 60 tons per day, with 38-horsepower 
 engine and employing 28 men. This machine costs $1,900, exclusive 
 of power plant. The smaller type produces 20 tons per day, with 
 19-horsepower engine and 13 men, and is sold for $830, without power 
 plant. With these machines the working costs per ton of dried fuel 
 are about 80 cents. 
 
 Another machine, coming into wide use in Sweden, is made in 
 sizes ranging in capacity from 20 to 40 tons per day, and costing from 
 $215 to $675, exclusive of power plant. German machines are quite 
 similar to those employed in Sweden, and produce one: and one-half 
 to two tons of peat fuel per man per day. In Denmark a plant of 
 65 tons daily capacity is manufacturing “machine peat” at a cost of 
 60 cents per ton, with laborers’ wages $1.33 per day.f 
 
 The Atkinson-Norton machine, perfected and used by Prof. C. L* 
 Norton, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in making tests; 
 on peat, will produce 5 to 10 tons of “machine peat” per day with a 
 2-horsepower motor. The machine alone costs about $75. The entire- 
 cost of a plant equipped with a larger machine of this type, having a 
 daily capacity of 20 tons, is estimated at $2,500. 
 
 On account of the greater bulkiness and somewhat lower heating; 
 
 ♦Special Consular Reports, Vol. XXVI. p. 136. 1903. 
 
 +13th Report Ontario Bureau of Mines, p. 84, 1904. 
 
 JSpecial Consular Reports, Vol. XXVI, p, 138. 1903. 
 
18 
 
 PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 value of “machine peat” compared with good coal, it is not probable 
 that this form of fuel will become widely used in the state. It seems 
 certain, however, that a farmer having good peat deposits on his land 
 or, better still to insure a wider demand for the fuel, a number of 
 men could jointly install a small “machine peat” fuel plant, at a cost 
 of a very few hundred dollars, and by operating such a plant during 
 the autumn months they could supply a local demand for domestic 
 fuel at a price very much below that at present paid for coal. While 
 this form of peat is slightly inferior to good coal, yet it possesses a 
 higher heating value than wood and, burned in peat stoves, would 
 prove a satisfactory and very economical domestic fuel. 
 
 PEAT BRIQUETTES. 
 
 Tn the more approved peat briquetting plants the peat is dug, pul- 
 verized and spread by a mechanical excavator, and is dried in the air 
 to a water content of 30 to 45 per cent. The air-dried peat is then 
 passed through a disintegrator in which the fragments are beaten into 
 small bits and the tissues thoroughly crushed in order to facilitate the 
 further liberation of moisture. This broken peat is then conveyed to 
 the dryer in which it is subjected to artificial heat until not more than 
 12 to 15 per cent of moisture remains. From the drying pan it is 
 carried to the hopper and cooled, and thence conveyed to the briquetting 
 press. Two general types of presses are in use; one consists of an open 
 tube, and the other of a closed die resting on a solid base. The latter 
 type has proved the most satisfactory. Pressure of 11 to 13 tons per 
 square inch is applied, and the resulting briquettes are dense and solid, 
 and have a heating efficiency equal to the best grades of Iowa coal.* 
 Peat briquettes absorb moisture readily and hence must be kept dry. 
 
 In Holland the cost of production of peat briquettes is from $2.00 
 to $2.15 per ton. At Welland and Beaverton, Ontario, peat briquettes 
 are being made for about $1.50 per ton, and are sold for $3.50 per 
 ton at the works. f At the Beaverton plant “cut peat” was found to 
 be a cheaper fuel for use under the boiler and dryer than good wood 
 at $1.30 per cord. 
 
 The Beaverton is one of the oldest and most successful peat bri- 
 quetting plants in America. Estimate of the cost of the complete equip- 
 ment of a peat fuel plant, similar to the Beaverton, with a capacity of 
 
 3.000 tons of briquettes per year, running ten hours a day, or 6,000 to 
 
 7.000 tons when working continuously, is furnished as follows 
 
 Briquette press, die or mould type $ 2,500.00 
 
 Dryer 1,350.00 
 
 Breaker or disintegrator 400.00 
 
 Excavator, including motor 600.00 
 
 Generator, tram car, motor and tracks 1,200.00 
 
 Engine and boiler, 50-horsepower 2,000.00 
 
 Shafting, belts and conveyors 700.00 
 
 Buildings (brick) 1,500.00 
 
 Sundries 200.00 
 
 Total $10,450.00 
 
 •For the calorific value of a number of Iowa coals see this Bulletin, pp 25-27 • and also 
 Iowa Geol. Surv , Vol. XIV, p. 37 1 . 
 
 +Uth Report Ontario Bureau of Mines, p. 27, 1904 
 tl8th Report Ontario Bureau of Mines, p. 225, 1903. 
 
PEAT AS A SOURCE OF PRODU[CEB -G/.S. 19 
 
 Some of the above items could probably be reduced;, ui Ahe Tdimate 
 may prove of value as a guide to the cost of a peat briquetting plant 
 that has been proven successful by years of experience. The total cost 
 of a plant with a capacity of 15 tons per day, or 30 tons working 
 night and day shifts, is estimated at a little less than $>28,000. 
 
 SPECIAL APPARATUS FOR BURNING PEAT. 
 
 In making comparative tests between peat and coal it is important 
 that the peat should be burned in a stove adapted for this fuel. Peat 
 briquettes are so similar to coal that they can be burned in stoves 
 suitable for using the latter. However, a screen should be placed 
 over the grate to prevent waste, and care exercised in the regulation of 
 the draft. When peat is used under a boiler the grate bars should be 
 reduced one-half, and both the grate and the fire wall behind it should 
 be raised closer to the boiler, than for coal, on account of the short flame 
 of burning peat. 
 
 Special stoves have been designed for burning “machine peat” which 
 possess a heating efficiency of 90 per cent. The upper part consists 
 of a chamber into which the fuel is stored and from which it is fed 
 to the fire automatically through a trap door at the bottom. The fire 
 box is V-shaped, with perforated sides. Through these holes the air 
 enters in such a way that the draft is never choked and there is no 
 loss from unconsumed fuel. The ashes accumulate in the trough of 
 the fire box, by shaking which they are dropped to the pan below. 
 Tests with such stov.es in midwinter showed that a continuous fire could 
 be kept for 96 hours on 46 pounds of “machine peat,” by firing seven 
 times at intervals of twelve to fifteen hours; an even and suitable tem- 
 perature being maintained in the rooms during the time.* 
 
 PEAT AS A SOURCE OF PRODUCER GAS. 
 
 Prof. C. L. Norton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
 says that gas can be produced from New England peat in about the 
 same amounts and of much the same kind as that obtained from bitumin- 
 ous coal. He suggests that it is as a source of producer-gas that we must 
 look for the greatest development of the peat fuel industry. A test 
 of “machine peat” from a bog near Taunton, Mass., gave 4 cubic feet 
 of gas with a calorific power of 654 B. T. U. per cubic foot, from 
 each pound of peat. 1 
 
 The advantages of using peat as a gaseous fuel pertain equally 
 to the burning of coal gas. 2 The use of solid peat fuel involves a loss 
 of 25 to 30 per cent of heat, which heat loss may be reduced as low as 
 15 per cent by first converting the peat into gas and then burning the 
 gas. 
 
 In the iron and steel industry peat gas is preferred above coal gas 
 ®n account of its greater freedom from sulphur and phosphorus. It is 
 also coming into extensive use as a fuel for steam boilers. 
 
 *12th Report Ontario Rureau of Mines, p. 227, 1903. 
 
 Ilf orton: Report No. XV. on Bog Fuel. Insurance Engineering Exp’t Station p. 10 1904 
 See this bulletin, pp. 87 and 38 
 
PEAT RESOURCES OF IOWA. 
 
 20 
 
 ' 1 1 ! ’has 'fen 'found that, for industrial purposes, by locating the 
 
 power plant at the bog, peat can be converted into gas and the gas 
 used as a fuel more economically than solid peat, for the reason that 
 “cut peat” — the cheapest kind of peat fuel — can be successfully converted 
 into gas without ‘any previous treatment. The peat gas can be con- 
 veyed through pipes to the place of consumption, or it may be con- 
 verted into electrical energy and transmitted in that form to more 
 distant points. In such plants the cost of fuel has been estimated at only 
 one-ninth of a cent per horsepower per hour. 1 
 
 Tests on the fuel value of peat gas made by the Merrifield genera- 
 tor from “cut peat” fuel showed an average of about 135 B. T. U. 
 per cubic foot of gas. 
 
 Cost of gas plants . — With regard to plants for the production of 
 peat gas the following estimate* is made: one ton of compressed peat 
 analyzing approximately: moisture 15 per cent, ash 7 per cent, fixed car- 
 bon 21 per cent, and volatile matter 57 per cent, will yield not less than 
 100,000 cubic feet of fixed gas, carrying not less than 150 B. T. U. per 
 cubic foot. Peat carrying up ta30 per cent of water may be used, but the 
 yield of gas will be reduced about 1,000 cubic feet for every additional 
 1 per cent of moisture. Complete apparatus and material for equip- 
 ping such a plant, producing not less than 20,000 cubic feet of gas 
 per hour, will cost about $5,000. 
 
 THE PEAT INDUSTRY IN IOWA. 
 
 Little has been done towards utilizing the peat deposits in our state. 
 Small quantities of “cut peat” have been burned at Lake Mills, Ruthven, 
 Meservey and a few other points. 
 
 At Dows, Iowa, the Iowa Fuel and Brick Company has been 
 preparing peat fuel in a small way for the past two years. In 1904 
 several tons of “cut peat” were taken from the bog, while during the 
 past year they have been doing pioneer work in the manufacture of 
 “machine peat” fuel. The process they follow consists in mixing and 
 pressing the crude peat in a brick machine and drying the bricks in the 
 air. The dried blocks are quite dense and do not crumble when 
 handled. About 75 tons of peat fuel have been prepared in this way 
 during the past summer. 
 
 Mr. Henry Lemke, of Dows, the secretary of the company, esti- 
 mates the cost of preparation of peat bricks in the present condition of 
 the plant at $2.50 per ton, but he feels confident that the expense can 
 be reduced to $1.50 per ton, or less. He states that there is a good 
 demand, at $3.00 per ton, for all the peat bricks they can produce; that 
 people who once use them for fuel always come back for more. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 It is not expected that the peat fuel industry will immediately be 
 developed in Iowa on a large scale. It will require time for the people 
 
 Special Consular Reports, Vol. XXVI, p. 140, 1903. 
 
 *12th Report Ontario Bureau of Mines, p. 231, 1903. 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 21 
 
 to become assured that peat fuel, even at the cheaper cost of 
 production, can be more profitably burned than coal. It is possible, too, 
 that peat may only become popular as a fuel in that portion of the 
 state remote from coal supplies and where deposits of peat are abund- 
 ant. 
 
 Doubtless the vegetable matter in the various marshes will differ 
 very materially with regard to its suitability 'for successful manufacture 
 into a good grade of peat fuel. It would be wise to have thorough 
 tests and analyses made of any deposit be.fore attempting to exploit it 
 commercially. Peat samples for tests and analyses should be sent to the 
 State Geologist, Dr. Frank A. Wilder, at Iowa City, Iowa, who will 
 see that proper tests are made and the results of the same reported. 
 Prof. C. L. Norton of the Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., will 
 also test keg samples of peat, sent by freight prepaid to the above 
 address, and report on the quality of the peat, and to what extent it is 
 adapted for being worked in the common types of “machine peat” mills. 
 
 Until the use of peat fuel becomes pretty well established, it is 
 probable that small peat manufacturing plants located at a number of 
 favorable points will prove more successful, in Iowa, than those of 
 large capacity and very expensive equipment. 
 
 There seems no reasonable doubt that the time will come when 
 prepared peat fuel will become an important article of manufacture in 
 the state; and that the hitherto neglected peat deposits of northern 
 Iowa will prove a source of domestic fuel but little inferior to, and 
 even less expensive than, the fuel supply in what we have been ac- 
 customed to consider the more favored portions of our state. Neither 
 is it impossible that cities like Clear Lake, Lake Mills, Armstrong 
 and Dows, convenient to large peat-bearing marshes, may yet the most 
 economically obtain their supply of heat, light and power from plants 
 that convert peat fuel into producer-gas. 
 
 Note— I nasmuch as large sums of money have been practically wasted in recent years 
 through the formation of companies to utilize peat beds, it would be wise for intending 
 operators to confer with'thosein Canada, who have a thorough knowledge of the practical 
 manipulation of peat, before investing in a stock company to exploit untried patent pro- 
 cesses or new appliances. This office will be glad to render all possible assistance with 
 regard to determining adaptability of deposits for fuel purposes, methods of working 
 peat, cost of machinery, etc. 
 
REPORT ON THE TESTS OF IOWA COALS MADE 
 BY THE GOVERNMENT COAL -TESTING 
 PLANT AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 
 EXPOSITION, ST. LOUIS, MO., 1904. 
 
 BY 
 
 T. E. SAVAGE. 
 
 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 
 
 An act of congress making appropriations for the fiscal year 1905, 
 which was approved February 18, 1904, contained an item which pro- 
 vided for the analyzing and testing of the coals and lignites of the 
 United States in order to determine their fuel values and the most 
 economic method for their utilization. These tests were to be conducted 
 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., under the super- 
 vision of the Director of the United States Geological Survey. One of 
 the provisions of this law was that all coal offered for testing purposes 
 should be furnished to the testing plant at St. Louis free of cost to 
 the Government. 
 
 The coal-testing plant was equipped with standard apparatus, and 
 with the most approved and accurately calibrated instruments for mak- 
 ing steaming tests, washing tests, coking tests, briquetting tests and 
 producer-gas tests, besides chemical analyses and calorimetric determin- 
 ations. 
 
 The above act for the first time made it possible for coal from all 
 of the coal fields of our country to be brought to a single well equipped 
 plant and be put through an elaborate and expensive series of tests; 
 and that, too, under absolutely uniform conditions and by the same 
 corps of trained experts whose position guaranteed the greatest ac- 
 curacy of work and a true and impartial statement of results. From 
 such a series of tests the adaptability of the coal from any mine or 
 coal field for a particular purpose can be determined, and the coal 
 intelligently used in the way in which its highest efficiency may be 
 secured. The comparative fuel value of the coal of different states 
 can also be ascertained as never before. 
 
 A preliminary report on the work done by this coal-testing plant 
 during 1904 has been recently published by the United States Geological 
 Survey, as Bulletin No. 261. The descriptions of the several tests 
 and the tables of results which appear on the following pages were 
 taken from that report. 
 
 SECURING THE SAMPLES. 
 
 The Director of the Iowa Geological Survey recognized at once 
 the value such a series of tests would be to the coal operators of the 
 
SECURING THE SAMPLES. 
 
 23 
 
 state as well as to every user of coal. He early made arrangements to 
 co-operate with the United States Survey, and to have a number of 
 samples of Iowa coal tested at the Government plant. He selected and 
 secured the donation of five car loads of coal from as many important 
 mines in Iowa, and through the generosity of the railroad companies 
 he was able to deliver four of these lots of coal to the testing plant 
 at St. Louis without any charges for transportation. The freight on the 
 fifth car was paid by the Iowa Survey. 
 
 Below is given a list of the Iowa operators who donated a car load 
 of coal for testing purposes, the grade of coal provided by each, and 
 the number and location of the mine from which the sample was 
 taken. 
 
 Name of 
 sample. 
 
 Operator. 
 
 Mine. 
 
 Location. 
 
 Grade of 
 coal. 
 
 Name of bed 
 
 Iowa 1 
 
 Anchor Coal Co. , 
 Ottumwa, la. 
 
 No 2 
 
 Laddsdale, la. 
 
 Over inch 
 screen. 
 
 Middle bed. 
 
 Iowa 2 
 
 Mammoth Vein 
 Coal Co. , 
 Hamilton, la. 
 
 No. 5 
 
 Liberty Twp., 
 Marion Co., Ia. 
 
 Ran of mine. 
 
 Big vein. 
 
 Iowa 3 ..... 
 
 Gibson Coal 
 Mining Co. , 
 De9 Moines, la. 
 
 No. 4 
 
 Near Altoona, 
 Polk Co., la. 
 
 Over y s inch 
 screen. 
 
 Third vein. 
 
 Iowa 4 
 
 Centerville B.ock 
 Coal Co.. 
 Centerville, la. 
 
 No. 3 
 
 Centerville, 
 Appanoose Co , 
 la 
 
 Over \% inch 
 screen. 
 
 Cower bed. 
 
 Iowa 5 
 
 Inland Fuel Co. , 
 Chariton, la. 
 
 No. 1 
 
 Chariton, 
 
 Lucas Co. , Ia. 
 
 Run of mine. 
 
 Lower bed. 
 
 COLLECTING THE SAMPLES. 
 
 The writer accompanied the representative of the United States 
 Geological Survey in supervising the loading of the car lots of coal 
 that were sent to St. Louis from Iowa, and in securing the samples 
 from the mines 'for chemical analysis. Care was taken in each case to 
 obtain coal for testing purposes that represented as near as possible the 
 actual output of the mine. 
 
 From each of the mines from which a car of coal was shipped to 
 be tested, two samples were taken for chemical analysis. These samples 
 were obtained from points in the mine quite widely separated. They 
 were cut from the full section of the working faces of the seam mined 
 at the time the car was loaded, and were immediately sent to the St. 
 Louis laboratory by mail in air-tight cans. The two coal samples that 
 were collected at the mine for chemical analysis are referred to in the 
 tables which follow as “mine sample A” and “mine sample B” respec- 
 tively. 
 
 As each car load of coal, sent to the plant for testing, was unloaded 
 at St. Louis, a third sample was taken for chemical analysis which 
 
24 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 represented the coal actually contained in the car to be tested. This 
 sample is designated in the following tables as the “laboratory car 
 sample.” 
 
 As the coal was distributed to the testing divisions samples were 
 taken at frequent intervals, quartered down, and analyzed. In this 
 way at least six separate samples from each car of coal were obtained 
 at the plant, and two at the mine. 
 
 CHEMICAL ANALYSES AND CALORIMETER DETERMINATIONS OF 
 THE IOWA COALS TESTED. 
 
 Proximate analyses were made on each sample of coal taken and 
 an ultimate analysis was made on each car sample. Calorimeter deter- 
 minations were made on one mine sample and also on each car sample. 
 It is safe to say that such a series of coal analyses has never before been 
 obtained. 
 
 METHODS OF ANALYSIS 
 
 “The methods employed in the coal analyses were essentially those 
 recommended by the committee of the American Chemical Society. 
 The moisture was determined by drying the weighed sample for one 
 hour in an air bath at 105° C. The calorific value was determined 
 in the Mahler bomb calorimeter. The actual value of the result in 
 the calorimeter was corrected for the sulphuric acid formed in the 
 bomb. 
 
 In calculating the calorific value from the ultimate analyses the 
 calorific value of hydrogen, carbon, and sulphur was taken as, respec- 
 tively, 34,460, 8,080 and 2,250 calories.” 
 
 The results of the analyses of the “mine” and “laboratory car” 
 samples, and of the calorimeter determinations appear in the accompany- 
 ing tables. 
 
CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF IOWA COALS TESTED. 
 
 Analyses of mine and laboratory car samples of coal. 
 
 Iowa No. 1. 
 
 Loss of moisture on air drying 
 
 Analysis of air-dried sample. 
 
 . ( Moisture 
 
 g ! Volatile matter 
 
 ^ 1 Fixed carbon 
 
 ~ l J Ash 
 
 ® f I Sulphur . 
 
 «3 | Hydrogen 
 
 S { Carbon 
 
 2 I Nitrogen 
 
 £> ^ Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories. 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 •Calorific value calculated from ulti- 
 
 Mine sample 
 
 7.90 
 
 3.74 
 41.96 
 42. 89 
 11.41 
 5.12 
 
 6, 843 
 12,317 
 
 Mine sample 
 
 8.00 
 
 4.43 
 40. 52 
 41.65 
 13.40 
 5. 42 
 
 Laboratory car 
 sample. 
 
 3. 20 
 
 5.21 
 31.76 
 48. 51 
 16. 52 
 5. 20 
 4. 61 
 61. 80 
 0. 97 
 10. 90 
 
 6, 329 
 11,392 
 
 mate analysis: 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 6, 230 
 11,214 
 
 Analysis corrected to sample as received 
 
 . f Moisture 
 
 § ! Volatile matter 
 
 u j Fixed carbon 
 
 ^ M Ash. 
 
 ® f 1 Sulphur. 
 
 g | Hydrogen 
 
 § ■{ Carbon 
 
 2 I Nitrogen 
 
 E> l Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories. 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 Calorific value calculated from ulti- 
 mate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 11.35 
 38. 65 
 39.49 
 10. 51 
 4.72 
 
 12.07 
 37. 28 
 38. 32 
 12. 38 
 4.99 
 
 6, 303 
 11,345 
 
 8.24 
 30. 74 
 45. 02 
 15. 00 
 5. 03 
 4.81 
 59.82 
 0. 94 
 13. 40 
 
 6,126 
 11, 027 
 
 6,031 
 
 10,856 
 
win 
 
 26 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 Analyses of mine and laboratory car samples of coal — Continued. 
 
 Iowa No. 2. 
 
 Mine 
 
 Mine 
 
 Labora- 
 
 Mine 
 
 Mine 
 
 Labora- 
 
 sample 
 
 sample 
 
 tory car 
 
 sample 
 
 sample 
 
 tory car 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 sample. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 sample. 
 
 Iowa No. 
 
 Loss of moisture on air drying.. 
 Analysis of air-dried sample. 
 
 . [ Moisture 
 
 g ) Volatile matter 
 u ; Fixed Carbon . . . 
 
 LJ Ash 
 
 ® n Sulphur . 
 
 Hydrogen 
 
 S Carbon 
 
 5 Nitrogen 
 
 [D l Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units . . . 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 Analysis corrected to sample as 
 received. 
 
 . f Moisture 
 
 g I Volatile matter 
 »h ) Fixed carbon. .. 
 ^ l ( Ash 
 
 ® f l Sulphur 
 
 os [ Hydrogen 
 
 S -{ Carbon . 
 
 I Nitrogen 
 
 L Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 9. 30 
 
 7.00 
 40. 65 
 89.52 
 12. 83 
 
 5. 49 
 
 6, 302 
 11,844 
 
 15 65 
 36.87 
 85. 84 
 11.64 
 5. 10 
 
 6,716 
 10, 239 
 
 ,50 
 
 40.82 
 42. 40 
 10.15 
 5. 74 
 
 15.60 
 
 86.94 
 
 38.37 
 
 9. 19 
 
 6.19 
 
 ) 9.60 
 
 i 5.33 
 
 ! 4182 
 
 l 40.69 
 
 > 12.16 
 
 ) 6.52 
 
 i 
 
 11. 00 
 
 5.61 
 42.04 
 8 55 
 13. 90 
 7. 59 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 f 6, 589 
 
 1 11,770 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14.42 
 
 37.81 
 36.78 
 10 99 
 5. 89 
 
 15.90 
 37.42 
 31. 41 
 12. 87 
 6. 76 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5,911 
 
 10,640 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9.80 
 
 4.62 
 40. 96 
 38.99 
 15. 53 
 6.83 
 4. 98 
 60.62 
 0. 93 
 11.16 
 
 11 . 
 
 6, 271 
 11,288 
 
 13.88 
 36.94 
 85 17 
 14.01 
 6. 15 
 6 53 
 54.68 
 0. 84 
 18. 80 
 
 6, 891 
 10, 244 
 
 6, 656 
 10, 181 
 
CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF IOWA COALS TESTED, 
 
 27 
 
 Analyses of mine and laboratory car samples of coal — Continued. 
 
 
 Iowa No. 4. 
 
 Iowa No, 5. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 B. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sample. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 B. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sample. 
 
 Loss of moisture on air drying.. 
 
 9. 40 
 
 8.80 
 
 4.50 
 
 9. 40 
 
 7. 10 
 
 6.80 
 
 Analysis of air-dried sample. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . f Moisture 
 
 8.53 
 
 8. 25 
 
 10.03 
 
 10. 26 
 
 12. 37 
 
 9. 22 
 
 
 39. 12 
 
 38. 23 
 
 37. 27 
 
 35. 10 
 
 36. 98 
 
 32. 71 
 
 u 1 Fixed carbon 
 
 44. 55 
 
 41.40 
 
 41.22 
 
 46.12 
 
 42. 95 
 
 44. 52 
 
 1 Ash 
 
 7.80 
 
 12. 12 
 
 11. 43 
 
 8.53 
 
 7. 70 
 
 13. 55 
 
 ® f I Sulphur 
 
 4. 42 
 
 5. 21 
 
 4. 46 
 
 2.64 
 
 3. 34 
 
 3.42 
 
 
 
 
 6 31 
 
 
 
 6.35 
 
 S CarboiT 
 
 
 
 61.25 
 
 
 
 59. 89 
 
 2 1 Nitrogen 
 
 
 
 0. 94 
 
 
 
 1.22 
 
 Jd ^Oxygen 
 
 
 
 16. 56 
 
 
 
 16. 57 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Calories 
 
 6, 703 
 
 
 6,237 
 
 6,442 
 
 
 6,105 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 12,065 
 
 
 11,837 
 
 11, 596 
 
 
 10, 989 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 
 
 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Calories 
 
 
 
 6, 165 
 
 
 
 6,045 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 
 
 11,097 
 
 
 
 10,881 
 
 Analysis corrected to sample as 
 
 
 
 
 
 received. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ( Moisture 
 
 17.13 
 
 16.14 
 
 14.08 
 
 18.69 
 
 18. 69 
 
 15.89 
 
 g 1 Volatile matter 
 
 35.44 
 
 34. 94 
 
 85.59 
 
 81.80 
 
 34. 36 
 
 30. 49 
 
 u } Fixed carbon 
 
 40. 86 
 
 37.84 
 
 39. 37 
 
 41.78 
 
 39.90 
 
 41.49 
 
 ^ t i Ash 
 
 7.07 
 
 11.08 
 
 10. 96 
 
 7.73 
 
 7.15 
 
 12. 63 
 
 ® r ( Sulphur 
 
 4.00 
 
 4. 76 
 
 4. 26 
 
 2.39 
 
 3. 10 
 
 3. 19 
 
 a 1 Hydrogen 
 
 
 
 5 67 
 
 
 
 6.74 
 
 S -{ Carbon 
 
 
 
 68.49 
 
 
 
 55.81 
 
 S3 j Nitrogen 
 
 
 
 0.90 
 
 
 
 1.14 
 
 £3 [ Ox v gen 
 
 
 
 19.83 
 
 
 
 21.49 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Calories 
 
 6,073 
 
 
 6,957 
 
 5, 836 
 
 
 6,690 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 10,931 
 
 
 10,723 
 
 10, 505 
 
 
 10,242 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 
 
 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Calories 
 
 
 
 5, 888 
 
 
 
 5, 634 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 
 
 10, 598 
 
 
 
 10, 141 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 For purposes of comparison with the Iowa coals there are given 
 below the analyses of two samples of Illinois coal and two samples 
 from Missouri. 
 
 Analyses of mine and laboratory car samples of coal — Continued. 
 
 Illinois No. 
 
 Illinois No. 6. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sam 
 
 B. 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sample. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 B. 
 
 Loss of moisture on air drying, 
 
 1 50 
 
 2.70 
 
 5.60 
 
 4.00 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sample. 
 
 Analysis of air -dried sample. 
 
 j f Moisture 
 
 o j Volatile matter 
 
 £ i Fixed carbon 
 
 . I < Ash 
 
 * ( l Sulphur 
 
 es j Hydrogen 
 
 S ■{ Carbon 
 
 2 I Nitrogen 
 
 t> L Oxygen . . . 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 6.00 
 
 32.16 
 
 54.49 
 
 7.26 
 
 1.00 
 
 6.63 
 34. 93 
 61.78 
 7.67 
 2. OS 
 
 Calories 6, 986 
 
 British thermal units 12,585 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 5 90 
 3J. 29 
 62. 16 
 11.59 
 1.77 
 4.92 
 67. 30 
 1.43 
 12.99 
 
 6,724 
 12, 103 
 
 9. 84 
 38.86 
 44 96 
 8.34 
 3.82 
 
 6, 483 
 11,669 
 
 10. 35 
 
 35. 35 
 42 91 
 
 11.36 , 
 8. 95 
 
 6.13 
 32.68 
 47. 46 
 14.73 
 4.45 
 4.88 
 60.61 
 1.23 
 14.20 
 
 6,199 
 11, 158 
 
 6, 615 
 11, 907 
 
 6, 059 
 10, 906 
 
 Analysis corrected to sample as 
 received. 
 
 ^ f Moisture 
 
 o f Volatile matter 
 £ ) Fixed carbon . . . 
 
 I J Ash 
 
 ® f 1 Sulphur 
 
 os j Hydrogen 
 
 S Carbon 
 
 7.60 
 
 7.34 
 
 31.68 
 
 34. 29 
 
 53.67 
 
 50.84 
 
 7.15 
 
 7.63 
 
 0. 99 
 
 2 04 
 
 H | Nitrogen 
 
 D l Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories 6,881 
 
 British thermal units — 12, 336 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 8. 60 
 
 14. 89 
 
 13. 94 
 
 29.47 
 
 34. 80 
 
 33 93 
 
 50.75 
 
 42.44 
 
 41.22 
 
 11.23 
 
 7. 87 
 
 10. 91 
 
 1.72 
 
 3.61 
 
 8.79 
 
 6. 09 
 
 
 
 65. 48 
 
 
 
 1.39 
 
 
 
 15.04 
 
 6, 642 6, 120 
 
 11,776 11,016 
 
 6, 436 
 11,585 
 
 14.43 
 29.48 
 42.81 
 13. 28 
 4. 01 
 6. 49 
 54. 59 
 1.11 
 31.52 
 
 5, 591 
 10, 064 
 
 5, 465 
 9, 837 
 
CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF MISSOURI COALS TESTED. 29 
 
 Analyses of mine and laboratory car samples of coal — Continued. 
 
 
 Missouri No. 2. 
 
 Missouri No, 
 
 , 4. 
 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 B. 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sample. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 A. 
 
 Mine 
 
 sample 
 
 B. 
 
 Labora- 
 tory car 
 sam 
 
 Loss of moisture on air drying. 
 
 6.20 
 
 5.00 
 
 2. 60 
 
 7.40 
 
 6. 00 
 
 7. 70 
 
 Analysis, of air-dried sample. 
 
 Jl 
 
 a. 
 
 Moisture 
 
 Volatile matter 
 Fixed Carbon... 
 Ash 
 
 Sulphur 
 Hydrogen 
 Carbon ... 
 
 9. 10 
 
 8. 31 
 
 41.07 
 
 38. 47 
 
 41.53 
 
 42. 00 
 
 8.30 
 
 11.22 
 
 4. 04 
 
 4.03 
 
 Nitrogen 
 
 P L Oxygen 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 ultimate analysis : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 6,625 
 
 11,925 
 
 9.14 
 
 6.42 
 
 4.86 
 
 34. 53 
 
 40. 73 
 
 43.74 
 
 39. 02 
 
 45. 39 
 
 44. 86 
 
 17.31 
 
 7. 46 
 
 6. 54 
 
 5.30 
 
 5. 46 
 
 5.32 
 
 4. 96 
 
 
 
 56.26 
 
 
 
 0.99 
 
 15.19 
 
 6, 806 6, 962 
 
 10,451 12,632 
 
 5, 719 
 10, 294 
 
 5. 39 
 44.91 
 44. 47 
 5. 23 
 5.55 
 5. 77 
 72.45 
 0.75 
 10. 25 
 
 7, 516 
 13, 529 
 
 7,526 
 13, 547 
 
 Analysis corrected to sample as 
 received. 
 
 M f Moisture ... 
 
 o j Volatile matter 
 
 £ j Fixed Carbon 
 
 I j Ash 
 
 J f ) Sulphur 
 
 «s j Hydrogen 
 
 8 < Carbon 
 
 5 j Nitrogen 
 
 £> t Oxygen • 
 
 Calorific value determined : 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 Calorific value calculated from 
 
 ultimate analysis 
 
 Calories 
 
 British thermal units 
 
 14.74 
 
 12.90 
 
 38. 68 
 
 36.54 
 
 38. 95 
 
 89. 90 
 
 7.78 
 
 10. 66 
 
 8. 79 
 
 3.83 
 
 6,214 
 
 11,185 
 
 11.50 
 
 13. 34 
 
 10.57 
 
 33. 63 
 
 37. 72 
 
 41.11 
 
 38. 01 
 
 42. 03 
 
 42.17 
 
 16.86 
 
 6.91 
 
 6. 15 
 
 5. 16 
 
 5. 06 
 
 5. 00 
 
 5. 12 
 
 
 
 54. 79 
 
 
 
 0.96 
 
 17.11 
 
 5,655 6,447 
 
 10,179 11,605 
 
 5,570 
 
 10,026 
 
 12.67 
 41.45 
 41.05 
 4. 83 
 5. 12 
 6.18 
 66. 87 
 0.69 
 16.31 
 
 6,937 
 12, 487 
 
 6, 946 
 12, 503 
 
 A careful comparison of the above tables shows that the average 
 per cent of sulphur contained in the Iowa coal samples is 4.67, and the 
 same figures represent the per cent of sulphur in the coals of Missouri. 
 The average amount of ash present in the Missouri samples is a little 
 less than that in the Iowa coal samples. The six samples of Illinois 
 coal contained on the average a slightly smaller per cent of sulphur than 
 the coals of Missouri and a somewhat larger percentage of ash. It 
 would seem that for domestic purposes the coal of these three states 
 should rank about equal in value. 
 
 It will be noticed, also, that the calorific value of the Iowa coals 
 compares very favorably with the coals of Missouri and Illinois, yielding 
 on the average 6,144 calories and 11,066 British thermal units. 
 
 WASHING TESTS. 
 
 The washing apparatus at the World’s Fair coal-testing plant con- 
 sisted of a New Century jig and a modified Stewart jig. The former 
 
30 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 is designed for washing finely pulverized material, while the latter will 
 successfully wash coal composed of pieces up to one and one-half inches 
 in diameter. The modified Stewart jig gave good satisfaction, and 
 seems very well adapted to most kinds of coal. 
 
 Charges of Iowa coal for coking tests were first washed, and 
 the results of this process appear in the following analyses: 
 
 Iowa No i. — Lump and fine coal 'from mine No. 2, Anchor Coal 
 Company, Laddsdale, Iowa. 
 
 About five tons of this coal were washed for a coking test, but the 
 coal was not tried in a raw condition, and consequently the coking test 
 affords no clue to the improvement made by washing. The change is 
 
 shown by the chemical analyses. 
 
 Analyses showing effect of washing Iowa No. I coal. 
 
 
 Car sample. 
 
 Washed coal 
 for coking. 
 
 Ash 
 
 16.0 
 
 10.25 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 5.03 
 
 4.61 
 
 
 Iozua No. 2 . — Run-of-mine coal from mine No. 6, Mammoth Vein 
 Coal Company, Hamilton, Iowa. 
 
 About 5^ tons of coal were washed for a coking test. The reduc- 
 tion of impurities effected by washing was not great, as shown by the 
 following analyses: 
 
 Analyses showing effect of washing Iowa No. 2 coal. 
 
 
 Car sample. 
 
 Washed coal 
 for coking. 
 
 Ash 
 
 15.22 
 
 10.28 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 4.66 
 
 3.93 
 
 
 Iowa No. 3. — Lump coal from mine No. 4, Gibson Coal Mining 
 Company, Altoona, Iowa. 
 
 About 4I tons of this*coal were washed for a coking test. The 
 improvement in the quality of the coal effected by washing is shown in 
 the following analyses: 
 
 Analyses showing effect of washing Iowa No. 3 coal. 
 
 
 Car sample. 
 
 Washed coal 
 for coking. 
 
 Ash 
 
 14.01 
 
 8.03 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 6.15 
 
 4.55 
 
WASHING TESTS. 
 
 81 
 
 Iowa No. 4. — Lump coal from mine No. 3, Centerville Block Coal 
 Company, Centerville, Iowa. 
 
 A charge consisting of about 4^ tons of this coal was washed for 
 coking purposes. The results were not so satisfactory as those obtained 
 on other samples from this state. The analyses are given below: 
 Analyses showing effect of washing Iowa No. 4 coal. 
 
 
 Car cample. 
 
 Washed coal 
 for coking. 
 
 Ash 
 
 10.96 
 
 7.14 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 4.26 
 
 3.59 
 
 
 
 Iowa No. 5. — Run-of-mine coal from m ine No. 1, Inland Fuel Com- 
 pany, Chariton, Iowa. 
 
 A charge consisting of nearly 5 tons of this coal was washed for a 
 coking test, but the coal did not coke, although the washing was fairly 
 successful in reducing the impurities, as shown by the following 
 analyses : 
 
 Analyses showing effect of washing Iowa No. 5 coal. 
 
 
 Car sample. 
 
 Washed coal 
 for coking. 
 
 Ash 
 
 12.63 
 
 3.19 
 
 7.93 
 
 2.28 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 
 samples No. 3 and No. 5. In the former the ash was reduced 6.98 per 
 cent, and the amount of sulphur was lowered 1.60 per cent. In some 
 samples the improvement by washing was slight. 
 
 The removal of impurities from coal by means of washing is ac- 
 complished by the sorting action of water upon particles fairly uniform 
 in size, but differing in their specific gravity. In some states there is 
 a growing practice on the part of the operators to wash their coal, 
 especially that which is to be burned into coke. The cost of washing 
 does not exceed 6 or 7 cents per ton. 
 
 It is possible that some of the Iowa coal would be sufficiently 
 improved by washing to make that process profitable. For most pur- 
 poses it would be very desirable to reduce the sulphur content of the 
 coal as low as possible. The efficiency of washing in accomplishing this 
 result depends largely upon the form in which the sulphur of the coal 
 exists, and whether this undesirable constituent is disseminated through 
 the coal in a finely divided condition. 
 
 In Iowa coal the sulphur commonly occurs either in the form of 
 gypsum (hydrous calcium sulphate) or as pyrite or marcasite (iron disul- 
 phide). The specific gravity of coal is variable, but is somewhat less 
 tfcan 1.5. That of gypsum is abmit 2.31, while that of iron disulphide 
 
32 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 is about 4.95. It will be seen that as pyrite and marcasite have a density 
 so much greater than that of coal they can be much more readily sepa- 
 rated from it by washing than can gypsum whose specific gravity is 
 more nearly equal to that of coal itself. In any event the tests show 
 that the benefits from washing would differ greatly at different mines. 
 
 COKING TESTS. 
 
 The coking tests at the Government testing plant were made in 
 ordinary bee-hive ovens of standard shape and size, 12 feet in diameter 
 and 7 feet high. Before being charged into the oven the coal was 
 passed through rolls which reduced it to particles one and one-half 
 inches in diameter or less, and then washed as above stated. 
 
 The general results of these tests are given below: 
 
 Iowa No. 1. — Lump and fine coal from mine No 2, Anchor Coal 
 Company, Laddsdale, Iowa. 
 
 In this test, as in all those on Iowa coals, the charge was of washed 
 coal. The charge weighed 9,500 pounds, and after burning 46 hours 
 yielded 4,828 pounds of coke and 572 pounds of breeze and ash. The 
 coke was brittle, with cracks lengthwise and crosswise through it. It 
 was also high in sulphur and ash. 
 
 Iowa No. 2. — Run-of-mine coal from mine No. 5, Mammoth Vein 
 Coal Company, Hamilton, Iowa. 
 
 The charge in this test consisted of 10,000 pounds of washed coal, 
 which was burned for 64 hours. The coke (3,866 pounds with 1,153 
 pounds of breeze and ash) was all in small pieces sintered together and 
 with no bond. 
 
 Iowa No. 3. — Lump coal from mine No. 4, Gibson Coal Mining 
 Company, Altoona, Iowa. 
 
 The charge in this test consisted of 8,000 pounds of washed coal, 
 which was burned for 43 hours. It yielded 3,336 pounds of fine- 
 fingered, brittle coke that was high in sulphur and ash, and 585 pounds 
 of breeze and ash. 
 
 Iowa No. 4. — Lump coal from mine No. 3, Centerville Block Coal 
 Company, Centerville, Iowa. 
 
 The coke produced in this test was of the same general character as 
 that obtained from Iowa No. 3, except that it was not quite so high in 
 either sulphur or ash. The charge consisted of 8,000 pounds of washed 
 coal, which was burned for 40 hours, producing 3,722 pounds of coke 
 and 426 pounds of breeze and ash. 
 
 Iowa No. 4. — Run-of-mine coal from mine No. 1, Inland Fuel Com- 
 pany, Chariton, Iowa. 
 
 The result of this test, made on 9,000 pounds of washed coal and 
 burned 66 hours, was a mixture of unburned coal, charred coke, and ash. 
 
 All of the Iowa coals tested are too high in sulphur to produce blast- 
 furnace coke, and as the sulphur occurs largely as gypsum it can not be 
 removed by washing. The ash is also high in relation to> the fixed 
 carbon. 
 
BRIQUETTING TESTS. 
 
 38 
 
 The accompanying table presents 
 a comparison of the chemical com- 
 position of the washed coal and of 
 the coke burned from the same in 
 each of the above tests. 
 
 This table shows that from an 
 average charge of 8,900 pounds of 
 coal only 3,150 pounds of coke was 
 produced. This represents a yield 
 for the coal of less than 36 per 
 cent of coke, and more than 6 per 
 cent of ash and breeze or fine coke. 
 This coke, too, was of a rather in- 
 ferior quality. The better grades 
 of West Virginia coal yielded 70 
 per cent of coke and only 2 to 4 
 per cent of breeze and ash. The 
 average yield of coal in coke 
 throughout the United States is 
 about 60 per cent. 
 
 Since the tests reported above 
 were made coals quite like the Iowa 
 product, which failed in the earlier 
 tests, have been coked with a fair 
 degree of success. Other tests will 
 be made and there is still ground 
 for hope that commercial coke may 
 be made from Iowa coal. 
 
 BRIQUETTING TESTS. 
 
 “One ton of lump coal from 
 mine No. 3 of the Centerville 
 Block Coal Company, Centerville, 
 Iowa, was briquetted with 7 per 
 cent of pitch as a binder. The bri- 
 quettes were well pressed, of a 
 grayish color, but on cooling crum- 
 bled decidedly. They weighed 6.73 
 pounds each. As they did not con- 
 tain an excess of pitch, 7 tons more 
 of this coal were briquetted with 
 8 per cent of pitch, in order to have 
 a sufficient quantity for a steam 
 test. The resultant briquettes were 
 bluish-black in color, but they were 
 not quite hard enough, although 
 fairly strong, and would stand 
 considerable hard treatment in 
 
 Iowa No. 
 Iowa No. 
 Iowa No. 
 Iowa No. 
 Iowa No. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sample, 
 
 
 
 
 
 JO to 
 co bo 00 00 oo 
 
 Per 
 ct. . 
 
 Mois- 
 
 ture. 
 
 G 
 
 
 CO CO CO CO CO 
 «<i p p jyi 
 
 
 Voli 
 
 tile 
 
 mat 
 
 ter 
 
 of 
 
 g. 
 
 
 O Cn 00 CO 
 
 -a rf*. i-» 
 
 
 . Y few 
 
 0 
 
 
 4^COCOCC4^ 
 
 r* f 7 * F' ir* 
 *<icooo««^o 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Fixed 
 
 car- 
 
 bon. 
 
 9 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 B 
 
 •3 
 
 0 
 
 CD 
 
 
 00 p p 
 COh-OJNStO 
 03 03 00 CH 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Ash. 
 
 G 
 
 0 
 
 9 
 
 Mp3 4*. 03 
 
 Ox CH!C 03 
 ootocnoji-* 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 'g'm 
 
 3 S 
 3 . 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 
 joooooSo 
 
 0000 01 
 00000 
 00000 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Amount 
 charged in 
 oven. 
 
 
 03 it* !(>. 05 
 050CDIMS 
 
 Hours. 
 
 Coking time. 
 
 
 ! coco® 
 
 ! -Qcooooo 
 
 . toco OiW 
 
 • M05COUO 
 
 o- 
 
 CO 
 
 Amount pro- 
 duced. 
 
 
 ' ‘Ot 
 
 . tooocn-q 
 
 " OSOICJ3M 
 
 O' 
 
 Co 
 
 Breeze and 
 ash. 
 
 
 10.53 
 
 5.73 
 
 13.05 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Mois- 
 
 ture. 
 
 
 
 i M 
 
 
 Voli 
 
 tile 
 
 mat 
 
 ter. 
 
 G 
 
 9* 
 
 
 t§5S ■ 85 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 o’ 
 
 9 
 
 a 
 
 
 . 
 
 ; cop; © 
 . h-» ^ • co 
 
 0 CD • CO 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Fixed 
 
 car- 
 
 bon. 
 
 Coke 
 
 1— • 1 — » I ►-* 
 
 ; J— O • ^ 
 
 be co* 
 
 CO ►— • 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Ash. 
 
 0 
 
 B 
 
 *3 
 
 O 
 
 CD 
 
 
 • CO 
 
 CO 01 • 00 
 -a -1 • CO 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Sul- 
 
 phur 
 
 <r*- 
 
 o" 
 
 a 
 
 
 loo' • 
 
 ; II ' 2 
 
 Per 
 
 ct. 
 
 Phos- 
 
 phor. 
 
 us. 
 
 
 
 • H* 
 
 : 888: 3 . 
 
 1 
 
 Specific grav- 
 ity. 
 
 
 60.7 
 
 88.7 
 
 41.7 
 46.5 
 
 
 Per cent, pro- 
 duced. 
 
 
 Very brittle 
 Sintered. 
 Fine finger* 
 Do. 
 
 Charred coJ 
 
 
 
 
 ® P- ‘ 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 & 
 
 9 
 
 ■ 
 
 p* 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 5 
 
 ur 
 
 _ta 
 
 Table showing results of coking tests. 
 
84 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 transportation. In burning they held together until consumed. They 
 weighed, on an average, 6.77 pounds each. The eggettes made from 
 this same mixture were stronger than the briquettes, had a polished 
 surface, but were very brown in color. In the cook stove they burned 
 very satisfactorily, crumbling but little.” 
 
 Steam tests w T ere made on these briquettes under the boilers of 
 the Government testing plant, which showed that every 3.8 pounds of 
 the briquettes would furnish one horsepower of energy for one hour. 
 The briquetting test is especially interesting to the coal operators of 
 Iowa inasmuch as it indicates that the fine waste material, that is 
 usually lost at the mines, can be successfully briquetted and placed on 
 the market as a good quality of fuel. It also demonstrates that about 
 8 per cent of the pitch or tar is necessary to furnish the desirable bond 
 to the briquettes. 
 
 ! 
 
 STEAM TESTS. 
 
 Steam tests were made on each of the five samples of Iowa coal, 
 and also on the briquettes of the Centerville coal above described. The 
 method of conducting these tests and of reporting the results was in 
 accordance with the standard approved by the American Society of 
 Mechanical Engineers. The tests were made with Hein water- tube 
 boilers and Allis Corliss engine, generating electrical energy through a 
 Bullock 240-volt generator. 
 
 Some of the most important results of the tests of the Iowa, Illinois 
 and Missouri coal samples appear in the 'following table. 
 
STEAM TESTS 
 
 35 
 
 Iowa No. 1 
 
 Iowa No. 2 
 
 Iowa No. 8 
 
 Iowa No. 4 
 
 do 
 
 Iowa No. 5 
 
 Illinois No. 1 
 
 Illinois No. 2 
 
 Illinois No. 3 
 
 Illinois No. 4 
 
 — do 
 
 Illinois No. 6 
 
 Missouri No. 1 .. 
 
 Missouri No. 2 
 
 Missouri No. 3 
 
 Missouri No. 4 
 
 
 Name of sample. 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Nut, very dirty 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Mine run, dull 
 
 Large briquettes 
 
 Nut, medium bright 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Slack, dull, washed 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Lump, dull 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Mine run, dull 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Nut, dull 
 
 Nu<3. dull 
 
 
 Coal : size, "and condition. 
 
 w © ^ o p w p oo m 55 ^ & w 
 
 H-©pD©©©©l~3^QtOOOOOfO-q-3QD 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Fixed carbon. 
 
 Chemical composition. 
 
 ^tpCOCCOOCGCCCOOOCOCOOOCOOOGOCO 
 
 l- 4 l-*OOaOCO**tf>‘f- 4 ^© < <10X©>— COO 
 ©OOOOOOf- 4 **-UO©-Q»— ‘0>OCOtf^O*00 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Volatile matter. 
 
 f-* HHHHH 
 
 #^©©©00©U0~C»i— o*©»— >f^oo**oo«o 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 WHHHMHhMHmHHMHM 
 
 ^ © pt CO tO p* © 00 
 
 to OOCO^C^OH-^rf* !-*©*© CO 
 © — ©©OOCJt©CJ«C&©©H-*CrtC*»*^»4*- 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Ash. 
 
 |J^Mi^|^W^f-‘h-CO^WpOO*p5*.p5 
 
 woo©ooi*.oowcrcasi*.©©’©©-qco 
 
 00CJltC-5000SQDO05OC0Ol*».~?C0C0 
 
 Per ct. 
 
 Sulphur (separately 
 determined). 
 
 1— * HMM H- 4 
 
 ojojopjoopoojoooopfo© 
 
 ©©©©©©©I- 4 © ©©©©©©© 
 
 oooioo©tOt«^co«qcoooco©cot>yto 
 
 Hours. 
 
 Duration of trial. 
 
 COOHjDOO® ooS Ppoopo 
 CTaoa>-qco-qc»m©»-‘ro«oc>so5coao 
 i-i*oiosif>.oiai05®MOp®aiooo3 
 cnoo©~icc©-q-3a.i*~o©cnoo05r— 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Total coal consumed. 
 
 MmMMmhI-iMMIOMHMHHI - 1 
 
 t-‘^©©©CD-a©l-‘f-‘OOOOTOO<®CD 
 
 (»».©OO^I^-aj«©©J— 
 
 H-blM4^COao©C&ttf4».-3btOJCO-3-‘3 
 
 
 Horsepower developed by 
 boiler. 
 
 tOtStOMtStai-'tOJNOtONtClOfcStetO 
 
 OpOlMJWWjpr-tOjkWH'pCBWCO 
 
 ©00©GOCOh-iOOtOOS®lO>-*©©t>3W 
 
 »^tn©©ip.co+»«)©©«)i-‘t\3©ooco 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Dry coal burned per 
 square foot of grate sur- 
 face per hour. 
 
 oooo©©ife.6aco©©»awi^.h-‘©©M 
 00 to 00 MO-S-^K.OMOOSMMOlll. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Equivalent evaporation 
 
 from and at 212° F. per 
 pound of dry coal. 
 
 u^puucoupcsuppu^^w 
 
 tOOOtOeNODOOOOO»ejl®~300©©©<0 
 
 ©OitO~qi«c£>COfO>*».tN3“a©aocOI-‘f-‘ 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Dry coal per indicated 
 horsepower hour. 
 
 ©©©n^-^oo-3 05Koo©-^®©©go 
 ©OCOc^tOOCCi^OOCnOTOr— "^WtS 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Dry coal per electrical 
 horsepower hour . 
 
 Results of coal tests under boiler , 
 
86 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 From this table it appears that when burned under the boilers 
 at St. Louis the Iowa coals, on the average, yielded energy sufficient 
 to maintain a horsepower for one hour for each 3.9 pounds of fuel 
 consumed. It will be seen that the average of the four samples of 
 Missouri coal also required 3.9 pounds to furnish one horsepower of 
 energy for one hour — practically the same quantity as the Iowa coal. 
 For the six samples of the Illinois coal, the average weight of coal 
 burned per horsepower hour was a little more than 3.7 pounds. Of 
 the Pennsylvania and West Virginia coals there were required about 
 3 to 3.1 pounds to yield one horsepower hour of energy. 
 
 PRODUCER-GAS TESTS. 
 
 Among the notable and important facts brought out by the Govern- 
 ment coal tests at St. Louis, none have a greater economic bearing than 
 those connected w T ith the tests of producer-gas. It was demonstrated 
 that bituminous coal, such as is produced in Iowa, can readily be 
 converted into gas and that when this gas is burned in a gas engine 
 it yields from two to two and one-half times as much energy as could 
 be obtained from burning the same coal under a boiler. The same 
 statement is true of the lignites of North Dakota, Indian Territory 
 and Texas. 
 
 The tests were made using a Taylor (R. D. Wood & Co.) producer, 
 and a Westinghouse triple-cylinder, vertical gas engine of 235 brake 
 horsepower, operating a Westinghouse 240-volt generator. 
 
 The results of the producer-gas tests on all of the Iowa coal 
 samples are not at present available, but those on the Mammoth Vein 
 sample, from Hamilton, Iowa, appears in the following table with those 
 of representative samples from other states. This table embodies a com- 
 parative summary of some of the results of the coal tests in the genera- 
 tion of power (1) by the boiler and steam engine, and (2) in the 
 producer and gas engine. 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 i * 
 
•Coal actually consumed in producer only. 
 
 •{•This is fuel-bed surface in producer and not strictly grate surface. , ^ „ , . , . .. 
 
 |ln gas-producer plant this includes the coal consumed in the producer and the coal equivalent of the steam used in operating the producer. 
 § Gas-producer hopper leaked during these tests. 
 
 PRODUCER— GAS TESTS. 
 
 37 
 
 O £.g |g S S-S-g-g-g g s g 
 
 I s S “ ®S.b 
 
 WcrqwagoQiwiwjzp o ® £ o ° 2Z 
 
 tzSp ts tap p g o ST M ** - - - - 
 
 50 s» SB P t» SO 
 
 >3 3 3 3 354: 
 
 O Q O O ° 9 • 
 
 tt «o 00 -3 I- 1 • 
 
 ; o o ; 
 
 : Vq<« . 
 
 : 33; 
 
 . o o • 
 
 
 & 
 
 UH HM »— * H H H M H 2 
 
 Oop®OOffl®OffiOO®OOpOOO §■ 
 ®i-*0®t->0®®o'® ®M-ai-‘®Ol-*®b 05 
 
 WWOOOOOOOuOO-^OtOMO'WSwMaJMUi 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Duration 
 
 of trial. 
 
 
 § 
 
 CCWtOMM 10 MMHMCO MCSMtCl^ 2 
 pOj^f-Cipi^^pwMMr-KippOpW S 
 
 0000 05 00 CO 00030500050 0 00 to 
 0000 — jooojooco— 100— 50000 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 t* r* b 
 
 0-3<I»1* : l-5*500000®(»*q®®®00*500 O' 
 «JHu5 05 03-<ail-‘00«l»»0\'IWOU05M-J to 
 Oi«H ‘OOIO®^ t o-Jtn w® 10 O0 00i—«wu— 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Total dry coal 
 consumed per 
 hour. * 
 
 
 rfx Ctf fcC CO to to CO CO CO CO CO JO CO CO CO CO CO CO 00 H 
 h-CKioiow- ijjooc>j^oo^i^oo»^CR^oy 
 apoowp oooij-*oo O' 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 0 i^^ 00000000 y._H-Ow^r--C 0 piLNJa 07 -^»-* g 
 
 OtO&-3-3l-*©CO©«<JOilO©>~*C7*COh-‘lOOOCN 6© 
 
 ^OOOOt^^'OOl^OCnTOOO^^l^^CCOCO©^ 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Dry coal burned 
 per square foot 
 of grace surface 
 per hour. + 
 
 
 joooaoaiOw^oovi-scsoo^o^oo^iTS b 
 
 OiOWWffl'eMOOOSXOifflHOOlAOl*? to 
 OtO05N00050505«MU«— 5«OCWC*00O5l— ‘0500 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 O' 
 
 ©xopoeoopo^joooe^j^jpooopo^ioo^ioo • 
 
 ®®OO®ffl®OM»O0iaiOiA.MOKIW 
 WO®MOIWOlM*5UOWlj(i*»MOI'lit»l- tn 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Water 
 evaporat- 
 ed from 
 and at 212° 
 F. per lb. 
 of dry coal 
 
 
 1— » 1— * K—t 1 — 1 1— ‘ t— • 1 — ■ I—* 1 — 1 1 — 1 ‘ 1 — ‘ i — ■ 1—* i — » 1 — 1 1 — * >— * i — • 
 
 OpI*.jf ».**.*.**. GO H-* OJ tO tOOO tO CO tO tO 
 
 OOi-*05*».COOf-‘ejtO»— rf».000rf».co>*.0ccncn 
 ®<!M0JOO®OM*.®l5 0)01'l0t0l^«l 
 Moao>cn«iooo®S-5Mif»i*<i®-Q<ioi 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 British thermal 
 units per pound 
 of dry coal 
 used. 
 
 
 i — * i—* i — • i— • !—» i — 1 1 — » i — » i— » »— » >—• i— » »— • *-^i i — » i— » »— » i — » 
 
 O ** *>- _>K h^popopj-‘p 0 j_C 05 t® OijJO CO 
 
 Oiooe*c*<»coa9aocon!».!f<.co(f».cooaoor®c» 
 
 ®«tO**-CHOOOOOOtOOS000 010l03CO*-Kf*-CT> 
 05^.00000 M®tOO)K® to. CM CO -5 w- h- CU C7I 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 oooooo i -®oo i -ooo«s)m®®Ki- 
 60 pi oo » JO 05 p\ 00 to p t*-. to J-» p W 00 00 
 
 ootaooioiGa®’®®owooiM-' |,J -5 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Electrical horse- 
 power delivered 
 to switchboard. 
 
 
 ©©©CO<©CO©SD©©©CO©©SOtOsO©© 
 J-i^COjQ^OpOOO © © ©OOCDpp 
 
 tobooo©h-»^I^©b?4*c^cw©©©^©to© 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 b 
 
 ^ pi 0» p* C& Ce Os *n Os *» *>. -fc^ •*«. O* 
 
 iopt^pCnCJiVCotacob'blOCQKiOoC^OoO 
 
 <scoojci9 | i^tsoc9tsc«cji*»t>.cn0»0'fc''e'0o 
 
 Steam 
 
 plant. 
 
 Total dry coal 
 per electrical 
 horsepower 
 per hour, j 
 
 
 b 
 
 *<5>, to? 
 
 ^ClC)00O5®NSiCi*S««««tsl5ll5sOHOKijN 
 
 Gas-pro- 
 
 ducer 
 
 plant. 
 
 
 • ® OQ <rf P jr»-j ►* ® o 
 
 2 £ O 2 9 H. 
 
 Comparative summxry of the leading results of the coil tests mide under the boiler and in the gas producer. 
 
38 
 
 RESULTS OF IOWA COAL TESTS. 
 
 The two columns in italics are directly comparable, and 
 the figures are worthy of the most thoughtful consideration. The Iowa 
 coal sample was found to yield 2.86 times as much energy when con- 
 verted into gas and the gas burned in a gas engine as when the coal 
 was fired directly under the boiler. For the nineteen samples named in 
 the table the amount of coal consumed per horsepower per hour by the 
 boiler plant was on the average 2.57 times that used in the gas pro- 
 ducer plant. 
 
 The above results have great economic significance. Probably more 
 than three-fourths of the coal mined in Iowa is used for the generation 
 of power. This would make 4,880,740 tons of coal consumed in 
 power production out of the total of 6,507,655 tons mined in Iowa 
 during 1904. Disregarding the difference in cost of installation and 
 operation of machinery, and with the very conservative estimate of 50 
 per cent gain in efficiency of coal by means of the gas producer and 
 gas engine above that of the boiler and steam engine, the saving by 
 the former method would be equal to 2,440,370 tons of coal. This 
 at $1.60 per ton, which was the. average price at the mines of Iowa 
 coal in 1904, would be equivalent to an annual saving to the people 
 of the state of $3,904,592. 
 
 For 18 samples of coal from 12 different states the average composi- 
 tion of the gas by per cent of volume was as follows: carbon dioxide 
 10.08, oxygen 22, carbon monoxide 15.45, hydrogen 9.59, marsh gas 
 5.50 and nitrogen 59.13. 
 
 In conclusion it should be said that the Government has provided 
 for continuing the coal-testing w r ork that was begun at St. Louis last 
 year, and arrangements are being made by the Iowa Geological Survey 
 to have tests made on a number of other samples of Iowa coal. 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Ackerman peat machine 17 
 
 Altamont moraine 8 
 
 Anrep peat machine 17 
 
 Armstrong, peat marshes near 13, 14 
 
 Beaverton peat briquetting plant, 18 
 
 estimated cost of 18 
 
 Briquettes from centerville coal 33 
 
 steam tests on 34. 35 
 
 Briquette*, peat 18 
 
 cost of production at Beaver- 
 ton 18 
 
 cost of production in Hol- 
 land 18 
 
 method of manufacture 18 
 
 per cent of water in 18 
 
 Calorific value of Centerville coal 27 
 
 Chariton coal 27 
 
 Gibson coal 26 
 
 Illinois coals 28 
 
 Laddsdale coal 25 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal 26 
 
 Missouri coals 29 
 
 Centerville coal, briquetting tests on 33 
 
 calorific value of 27 
 
 chemical analyses of 27, 33 
 
 coking tests on 32, 33 
 
 donated 28 
 
 steam tests on 35 
 
 washing tests on. . 31 
 
 Cerro Gordo county, peat marshes in . . . 12 
 
 Chariton coal, calorific value of 27 
 
 chemical analyses of. . 27, 33 
 
 coking tests on 32, 33 
 
 donated 28 
 
 steam tests on 35 
 
 washing tests on 31 
 
 Obemioal analyses of Centerville coal 27, • 
 
 83, 85 
 
 Chariton coal. 27, 83, 35 
 Gibson coal.. 26, 83, 35 
 
 Illinois coals 28, 85 
 
 Laddsdale coal . 25, 83 
 
 35, 
 
 Mammoth Vein 
 
 coal 26, 33, 85 
 
 Missouri coals. ..29, 85 
 Chemical composition of coke from 
 
 Centerville coal 33 
 
 Gibson coal 33 
 
 Laddsdale coal .... 33 
 
 Clarion, peat marshes near 13 
 
 Clay county, peat marshes in 14 
 
 Clear Lake, peat marshes near 12 
 
 Coke, average yield from coal in U. 8.. 33 
 Iowa coal — 33 
 
 Coking tests on Centerville coal 32, 33 
 
 Chariton coal 32, 33 
 
 Gibson coal 32, 33 
 
 Laddsdale coal 32, 33 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal. 32, 38 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Comparative table of coal and coke 33 
 
 of moss, wood, peat 
 
 and coal 6 
 
 Conditions of peat accummulation 6 
 
 ‘ ‘Cut peat” 16 
 
 amount of water in 18 
 
 preparation of.....,...’ 16 
 
 use in Europe 16 
 
 Distribution of peat marshes in Iowa 8 
 
 Dows, peat marshes near 13 
 
 peat fuel manufactured at 20 
 
 Dryness of Iowa peat marshes 14 
 
 Duncan, peat marshes near 14 
 
 Emmet county, peat marshes in 13 
 
 Forest City, peat marshes near 11 
 
 Franklin county, peat marshes in 13 
 
 Fuel value of coal 15 
 
 “cut peat” 16 
 
 “machine peat” 17, 18 
 
 peat briquettes 15, 18 
 
 wood 15 
 
 Gibson coal, calorific value of 26 
 
 chemical analyses of.. 26, 33 
 
 coking tests on 32, 33 
 
 donated 28 
 
 mining company 23, 30, 32 
 
 steam tests on 35 
 
 washing tests on 30 
 
 Hancock county, peat marshes in 11 
 
 Iowa Fuel and Brick Company 20 
 
 Kanawha, peat marshes near 11 
 
 Laddsdale coal, calorific value of 25 
 
 chemical analyses of 25, 83 
 
 coking tests on 82, 83 
 
 donated 28 
 
 steam tests on 35 
 
 washing tests on. 80 
 
 Lake Mills, peat marshes near 10 
 
 Lakes, origin of basins 7 
 
 process of filling 7 
 
 Lemke, Henry, cited 20 
 
 “Machine peat” fuel 16 
 
 compared with coal 17 
 
 cost of production of 17 
 
 manufactured in Iowa 20 
 
 mills, cost of 17 
 
 preparation of 16 
 
 water in 17 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal, calorific value of. 26 
 chemical analyses of. 25, 33 
 
 coking tests on 32, 33 
 
 donated 28 
 
 washing tests on 31 
 
 Meservey, peat marshes near 13 
 
 Miller, peat marshes near 12 
 
 Moraine, Altamont 8 
 
 Norman, peat marshes near 10 
 
PAGE. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Northwood, peat marshes near 10 
 
 Norton O. L., cited 19, 21 
 
 on peat gas 19 
 
 Palo Alto county, peat marshes in — 14 
 
 Peat as a source of producer-gas 19 
 
 basins, origin of 7 
 
 briquettes ... 18 
 
 cost of production at 
 
 Beaverton, 18 
 in Holland 18 
 
 pressure on 18 
 
 water in 18 
 
 calorific power of 15 
 
 fuel, advantages of 15 
 
 compared with coal 15 
 
 wood 15 
 
 kinds of 16 
 
 preparation of 16 
 
 gas fuel, value of 19, 20 
 
 cost of plant 20 
 
 industry in Iowa 20 
 
 marshes, dryness of 14 
 
 in Cerro Gordo county 8, 12 
 
 Clay county 9, 14 
 
 Emmet county 9, 13 
 
 Franklin county 9, 13 
 
 Hancock county — 8, 11 
 
 Palo Alto county 9, 14 
 
 Winnebago county. . 8, 10 
 
 Worth county 8, 9 
 
 Wright county 9, 13 
 
 near Armstrong ..13 
 
 Clarion 13 
 
 Clear Lake 12 
 
 Dows 13 
 
 Duncan 11 
 
 Forest City 11 
 
 Kanawha 11 
 
 Lake Mills 10 
 
 Meservey 13 
 
 Miller 12 
 
 Norman 10 
 
 Northwood 9 
 
 Ruthven 14 
 
 Scarville 10 
 
 Thompson 11 
 
 quantity estimated in Iowa 8, 9 
 
 stoves, heating efficiency of 19 
 
 uses of 14, 15 
 
 Producer-gas. 19, 37, 88 
 
 composition of 38 
 
 from peat 19, 20 
 
 fuel value of 19 
 
 table of results of tests on 37 
 
 Ruthven, peat marshes near. 14 
 
 Scarville, peat marshes near 10 
 
 Steam tests * 34 
 
 average results of 36 
 
 method of conducting 34 
 
 on briquettes from Centerville. 
 
 coal 34, 35 
 
 on Centerville coal 35 
 
 Chariton coal 35 
 
 Gibson coal 35 
 
 Illinois coals 85 
 
 Laddsdale coal 85 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal 35 
 
 Missouri coals 35 
 
 table of results of 85 
 
 Sulphur in Iowa coals 81, 32 
 
 removal by washing 81, 82 
 
 from Centerville coal 81 
 
 Chariton coal 81 
 
 Gibson coal 80 
 
 Laddsdale coal 80 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal 30 
 
 Tests, briquetting 33 
 
 on Centerville coal S3 
 
 coking on Centerville coal 32, 33 
 
 Chariton coal 82, 83 
 
 Gibson coal 82, 88 
 
 Laddsdale coal 32, 32 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal.. 82, 83 
 
 producer- gas 36 
 
 on Mammoth Vein coal. 37 
 table showing results of 37 
 
 steam 34 
 
 method of making 84 
 
 on briquettes of Centerville 
 
 coal 35 
 
 Centerville coal 86 
 
 Chariton ooal 35 
 
 Gibson coal 35 
 
 Illinois coals 85 
 
 Laddsdale coal 85 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal — 83 
 
 Missouri coals 85 
 
 table showing results of.. 85 
 
 washing 29 
 
 method of making 29 
 
 on Centerville coal 81 
 
 Chariton coal 31 
 
 Gibson coal 80 
 
 Laddsdale coal 80 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal 80 
 
 Uses of peat 14, 15 
 
 Washing coal, cost of 81 
 
 removal of impurities 
 
 by 81, 82 
 
 tests on Centerville, coal 81 
 
 Chariton coal 81 
 
 Gibson coal 80 
 
 Laddsdale coal 30 
 
 Mammoth Vein coal 80 
 
 White, Ohas. A. on Iowa peat marshes.. 5 
 
 Wilder, Frank, A. cited 21 
 
 Winnebago county, peat marshes in 10 
 
 Wood, L. H. , cited 5 
 
 Worth eounty, peat marshes in 9 
 
 Wright county, peat marshes in 13 
 
t 
 
 
 0112 027682613 
 
 
 
 mm *> l?wl flOPM 
 
 Lg* ' */5y^Pv^ 
 
 3v ! 
 
 
 ■Bf'> * Jjfr, 
 
 ^yn^ym^E^. sjFXffc 
 
 
 
 rMMJttix > rfwtr \4^wb£># 
 
 %j3Mp 
 
 
 
 
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