Briquette

Briquette is the result of briquetting, is in a raw material crushed and pressed into a uniform shape by means of briquetting press. If the shape is very small (less than 2 cm in diameter), called the squeeze " pelleting " and the product pellets.

History

By the end of the 20th century in the German-speaking world, especially from brown coal briquettes were distributed; therefore, the word " briquette " colloquially often used as a synonym for " lignite ". Brown coal briquettes are brick shaped and pressed without binder under high pressure. In the Rhineland briquettes are known as " Klütten " known. In the technical language of the coal there is also the Eiformbriketts. These are prepared from comminuted coal, wherein coal-tar pitch is used as a binder.

Etymology

The French word briquette is the diminutive of brique = " Brick "; as well as the Spanish ' la briqueta '.

It is related to the English term brick for brick and the word break ( among others, the fraction = the fraction material). The name should be in the 19th century, first as jocular term for the metal lunch Brotbehälter the Saarland miners ( " shaped press coal " ) enters into German.

Briquetting of coal

The production of briquettes from coal of the coal dust is brought from the Colliery and initially stored in a coal bunker. About a bucket elevator, he is thrown into a dryer. It is then blended in a kneader at about 100 ° C with a pitch Mill finely ground coal tar pitch. After pressing in a die press is still a cooling required.

When using brown coal it is lumpy brought from the mine to the bunker. In wet service as crushing, grinding and sizing of coal takes place. Following this, the coal is dried and pressed binderless briquettes.

Compared with normal coal have rectangular briquettes the advantage that they can be well and easily put together or stack them up for their regular shape and therefore occupy only a relatively small space. Because of her compared to smaller pieces of coal, low surface and high density, they hardly take up with wet storage on moisture. Another reason why they are a good fuel and the ones used for locomotives and steamships.

Only for domestic heating determines the oval nut and egg briquettes (eggs coal), which are produced in roll presses. The otherwise hardly usable coal dust (because coal dust -air mixtures can explode, the transport, eg in Powder products wagon is consuming ) can utilize well in this way.

Two German lignite brands are Union briquette briquette record (since 1904) and Lusatian.

Other briquettes

The same procedure is used with other solid fuels, most common in wood. When compression ( briquetting ) of wood arise wood briquettes. Very much smaller compacts are called pellets. Rare briquettes are made ​​from plant residues or waste paper. However, this may be burned only in specially approved for installations.

In addition to fuels, among other ores, waste, including scrap and feed to be segmented and briquetted. This includes sponge iron - the craft since the Iron Age and now largely industrial - is " briquetted " before further processing. The briquettes or pellets are industrially Gattierungsbestandteil for gray cast iron from the cupola or for the production of steel in electric arc furnace.

Briquette bed on a road in 1991 in Naumburg ( Saale)

Couffinhal - briquette press, 1900

Cylindrical shape with burned holes, which is widely used in East Asia

Straw briquettes