The Irish Amelioration Society, the British and Irish Peat Company, and other associations, have of late years been engaged in converting turf and peat into charcoal and other products. Charcoal from turf and peat to a considerable amount has already been made in Ireland. ,Thera are two methods of carbonising the turf or peat, either to subject it to heat in close vessels, by which the other products aro saved as well as the carbon, or to pile it in heaps and apply beat, in the same manner as for wood-charcoal. The beating in close vessels is expensive, and there is not sufficient compensation in the distilled products. The acetic acid and the tar are generally small in quantity and the gases are deficient in illuminating power : hence the charcoal is the only product of much value. The charcoal obtained is from 30 to 40 per cent. of the weight of the dry turf. Tho more economical mode of piling up the turf in heaps has hitherto been found prefer able. The sods are regularly arranged, and laid as close as possible; they are better for being large, say 15 inches long, 6 Inches broad, and 5 inches deep. The heaps are built hemispherically, and are smaller than those of wood. The mass is allowed to heat more than is necessary for wood, and the process is very carefully attended to, on account of the great combustibility of the material. The quantity of charcoal obtained
by this method is from 25 to 30 per cent. of the weight of dry turf. The charcoal so obtained is very light and very inflammable, and possesses nearly the volume of the turf. It usually burns with a slight flame, as the volatile matters are not entirely expelled.
A specimen subjected to analysis gave the following result : Carbon Hydrogen . . . . . 1.70 Oxygen and Nitrogen . . . 4.20 Ashes . 100.00 For many industrial purposes charcoal so prepared is too light, but compressed turf converted into charcoal may attain a density far superior to wood-charcoal, and even equal to that of the best coke obtained from coal.
It is of peculiar importance in the preparation of charcoal from turf that the material selected should be as five as possible from impurities. Surface-turf generally contains less than 10 per cent. of ash, whilst that of the dense turf of the lower strata sometimes contains from 20 to 30 per cent., a quantity which renders it unfit for most practical purposes.