A briquette is a compressed block of combustible material such as charcoal or sawdust. The term is French, related to the word “brick.” Briquettes are a way to use “small coal,” the finely broken coal bits produced during mining. These small bits were difficult both to ship and to burn. Forming it into briquettes solved the problem. But initially, the process was not very efficient. It could be done by using wet clay as a binder, but then it didn’t burn very well.
The first coal briquette factory was built in France in 1859. The goal was to form the waste material into pieces nearly identical in size, shape, and weight. An improvement in the process came during the rapid industrialization of the Victorian Age when inventions like the hydraulic press made it possible compress the bits of coal into high-quality briquettes. The mass-produced briquettes were economical and easy to store, ship, and burn.
On this date in 1907, the Washburn Leader informed readers that the New Salem Mercantile Company of New Salem, North Dakota had contacted the National Fuel Briquette Machinery Company of New York City. The New Salem company had sent a sample of North Dakota lignite for a test. Fred Leonard, representing New Salem Mercantile, explained that the test would determine whether the machines could properly form North Dakota coal into bricks. If the test was successful, a representative would come to North Dakota to meet with miners and explain the advantages of the brick-making machines.
The briquette company’s machines did, indeed, have an impressive track record. The New York Central and Hudson Railway had ordered three machines to form bricks from anthracite coal dust. A Texas company had purchased several for a new plant that would use lignite coal.
Briquetting North Dakota lignite did catch on for a while, including a “Royal Oak” factory – a name still associated with briquettes, familiar to backyard grillers everywhere, though there doesn’t appear to be any continuing connection to North Dakota.
Dakota Datebook written by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Washburn Leader. “Briquetting Machines.” 4/12/1907. Washburn ND. Page 4.
E.P. Machinery. “Products.” https://www.epcoalbriquetting.com/product/ Accessed 3/11/2019.
Jay Kodiyar Machine Tools. “Briquetting Machines.” https://www.briquettingmill.com/briquetting-machine/ Accessed 3/11/2019.
ACAN. “Coal Briquetting History.” http://www.acanmachine.com/coal-briquetting-history Accessed 3/11/2019.
