Abstract
THE problem of air pollution by smoke has long engaged the attention of scientific workers, but only latterly has the public realised that its solution is of first-class importance to the civil life of the community. The presence of pollutants in the atmosphere is proof of wastage of fuel. If fuel is properly and completely burned, the maximum amount of heat will be obtained without smoke, whereas if it is incompletely burned, smoke will be produced. The ultimate source of all heat, or energy, is the sun, which in its direct form of sunshine should be accessible, and in its indirect form of fuel should be conserved. Air pollutants must therefore be attacked for the two-fold reason that they blot out the sunshine, and are produced only by wastage of fuel. In November last, at the request of members of the General Science Club of teachers in the Pittsburgh High Schools, who considered it essential for all students to have a rudimentary knowledge of fuels and their uses, Messrs. H. B.Mellerand L. B. Sisson, of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, issued a pamphlet on the subject. Therein are listed the fuels most commonly used, namely, coal (anthracite, semi-bituminous and bituminous), coke, oil and gas (natural and manufactured). Data are adduced to show in as compact a form as possible of what these fuels are composed, how and why they burn, what products they give off and whether such products exert a beneficial or deleterious effect. Finally, indication is given of the efforts which have been made to date to rid the atmosphere of pollutants. The booklet is in effect an exposition of facts which every citizen should know if he is to help in the solution of the problem of obtaining maximum heat from fuel with minimum air pollution
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The Municipal Smoke Problem. Nature 137, 353 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137353b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137353b0