The UK-based Minerals Engineering Society (MES - originally
the Coal Preparation Society) has just published a book by
John Hillman entitled "A History of British Coal Preparation".
Members of the MES have each been sent a complimentary
copy - mine came through my letter box this morning. The
covering letter from the MES secretary, Andrew Howells, says
"Copies of the book are also being provided to the libraries of
the UK universities that still run Mineral Processing courses
and to other learned organisations"
Further copies are available and can be obtained from Eur Ing
A. W. Howells, 2 Ryton Close, Blyth, Worksop, Notts, S81 8DN
(tel 01909 591787, e-mail [log in to unmask]) at a price
of £35.00.
The hard-bound book, of xii + 468 A5 pages, has chapters, in
Part 1, "Coal Preparation's Social History", on:
1: Coal preparation in Britain 1800-1890
2: The advent of the Baum jig, 1891-1920
3: Innovative Years 1920-1946
4: The coal preparation engineer emerges 1947-1973
5: Resurgence and Decline 1974-2000
Chapters in Part 2, "History of Coal Preparation Technology",
are on:
6: Trough Washers;
7: Dry Cleaners;
8: Upward Current Washers;
9: Jig Washing;
10: Dense Medium Separators for coarse coal;
11: Cyclone Systems for small coal
12: Fines Treatment;
13: Miscellaneous Processes;
14: Centrifuging and Drying;
15: Design and Construction;
16: Research, Education and Training
Within chapters are subsections, e.g on "Water-Only Cyclones",
"Spiral Concentrators", and each subsection has its own list
of references. There are copious diagrams, and some tables of
results - enough to be interesting, but not so many to be tedious.
The above is only a quick "preview", to bring the book to the
attention of those who might be interested. I think it should prove
an interesting read. My initial quibble would be that the Index
seems to dwell on people and the companies which made the
equipment and built plants. Thinking to look up the write-up on
the Larcodems installed at Point of Ayr colliery when I visited it
in 1987 (see Mining Magazine, Sept 1987, pp 226 et seq), I
found that neither Larcodems nor Point of Ayr are listed in the
Index, although the plant in question is indeed well described
in the chapter on Dense Medium Separators for Coarse Coal.
Another small quibble - the Contents page which lists the
chapters given above omits to tell the reader which page each
chapter starts on. My final point - having worked for some time
for GEC/Fraser and Chalmers, I am pretty sure the firm's name
was spelt that way, not Frazer, as in the book.
These points aside, I am sure anyone interested in the history
of coal preparation will find this book useful, prepared, as it was,
by members of what was, originally, the Coal Preparation Society.
Tony Brewis
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