Peat industry

In Russia, before the High Command was issued in the 1940s, for economic reasons, peat was not used as fuel. Compared to firewood, peat fuel was more expensive, and the development of peat without state support was unprofitable. In Europe, the massive use of peat as a fuel began as early as the 17th century . And in Russia only in 1773, Mikhail Fedorovich Soymonov, one of the organizers of peat business in Russia, the first special instruction was drawn up for the development of peat ^[2] .

After the release of the Supreme Command to take measures to preserve the forests of the Moscow province, the situation with the use of peat as a fuel changes dramatically. Peat as fuel comes to the first positions. The Ministry of State Property is energetically embarking on the exploitation of state-owned peatlands ^[2] .

In 1851, at the Highest Command, a Committee was established in Moscow for the development of the peat mining industry. The task was set for the committee: “To take care of the development of the peat industry in every way, to observe the proper development of peatlands, to introduce peat fuel in urban and state buildings, and to monitor the sale of the produced peat.” According to data for the period from 1859 to 1861, up to 40 peat bogs were developed near Moscow ^[2] .

On December 21, 1882, a position was established at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Industry at the Moscow State Institute for Mining, to head the development of state-owned peat bogs, with the aim of conducting a widespread study of peat bogs and assisting local residents in developing them. On March 21, 1894, the Turfmeister part was created instead of the head of swamp development. Leonid Apolonovich Sytin was appointed the Chief Peatmaster of Russia, who had studied by this time the issues of peat extraction and its processing in Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland. With the development of the peat industry, there is a need to increase the pace of peat extraction, therefore, at the end of the 19th century, patents were filed for mechanical methods of peat extraction and new machines for peat extraction - peat machines of the Anrep, Schlekeisen and Dolberg systems, Voskresensky, Stepanov, Demidov and others, Brozovsky peat machine , Lepre peat cutter, the work of mining engineer E. Kornander on various methods of peat extraction. In 1883, the first exhibition of peat machines of domestic and foreign production was organized at the Biserovsky peat bog. The best were the cars of the Maltsev Engineering Plant, as well as foreign-made cars ^[2] .

In order not to burn out on imported fuel for boiler houses of their factories and plants, at the end of the 19th century many entrepreneurs decide to engage in their own industrial development of peat bogs. Some industrialists bought plots of peat bogs, others - rented ^[2] .

On March 18, 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (First Session of the 2nd convocation) adopted the Law "On the five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950" ^[3] , which defines plans for peat extraction:

7. Increase peat extraction in 1950 compared to the pre-war level by 39% and increase peat extraction in 1950 to 44.3 million tons. To ensure wide development of peat extraction in the central and western regions of the USSR.

To provide mechanization of labor-intensive processes of extraction, drying, peat harvesting, preparatory and loading operations. To develop the most mechanized methods of peat extraction: milling, bagger, hydrotorf; to ensure the development of narrow gauge transport.

To increase the production of peat briquettes in 1950 to 1.2 million tons. To start organizing year-round production of peat fuel, for which purpose to build a plant for the artificial dehydration of peat.

To ensure the broad development of research work on the mechanization of production, technological and chemical processing of peat.

They develop peat in an open way, because all peat deposits are located on the earth's surface. There are two main patterns of peat extraction: relatively thin layers from the surface of the earth and deep quarries throughout the depth of the peat layer. According to the first of these schemes, peat is extracted by cutting out the top layer, according to the second - by excavation (or lump) method.

Peat according to the method of extraction is divided into:

• milling cutter (it is also detachable; milling) ^[4] ;
• hydrotorf ;
• hydroscraper;
• Bagger
• lumpy ^[4] .

Hydrotorf

Hydrotorf - a hydraulic method for the development of peat , invented in 1914 by engineers R. E. Classon ^[5] and Kirpichnikov V. ^[6] , was widely developed in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century and contributed to the creation of large peat bogs in that period industrial enterprises ^[7] .

Frezotorf

Fresotorf (milling method of peat extraction ) is the most common, but also the most sensitive method of peat extraction to changing weather conditions.

With the milling method, peat is loosened to a depth of 2 cm using a tractor with mounted attachments on it. Such equipment is a milling drum or knife milling cutter. Rotating around its own axis and deepening into the deposits, the cutters remove a small layer of thickness, turning it into crumbs. Peat that is loosened in this way dries in the sun. During drying, peat is turned 1-3 times using a tedder, which is also mounted on a tractor. After the milled peat reaches the desired humidity, it is collected in rolls directly on the field. Milling, stirring and swathing form the so-called "collection cycle". Immediately after swathing, a new milling process begins on the surface of the swamp. Peat collected in rolls absorbs moisture worse and therefore remains dry. After 4-6 cycles of collecting peat, using a conveyor belt from the rolls it is loaded onto trailers and delivered to a special platform for subsequent storage in piles . Milled peat can be dried only in dry sunny weather, because its extraction is possible only in the summer for a fairly short period of time. Milled peat is a loose mixture of small particles of different sizes.

The milling process is also used to produce lumpy peat fuel. In this case, the peat deposit is first loosened (to a depth of 500 mm ) and redone, and then formed into pieces of the required size ^[8] .

Excavator or lump

Excavator or lump method of extraction - when the excavator method produces peat fuel in the form of large pieces weighing 500-1000 g.

The excavation method of extraction is also called “lumpy”, the process of harvesting lump peat is not very different from milling, but less dependent on weather conditions. Sod peat is extracted using a mounted disc with a hydraulic cylinder . The disk lifts peat to the surface from a depth of about 50 cm. In the cylinder, it is pressed under pressure , and then pushed out through rectangular nozzles and waved on the surface of the field. The result is the so-called "wave" lumpy peat. After several hours of drying in the sun, lumpy peat formed almost does not absorb moisture. Sufficiently dried lumpy peat (like milling peat) is collected in rolls, where it is dried. After that, another portion of peat is raised to the surface. Thus, 1-3 layers of peat are rolled, after which it is collected and transported for insertion into the piles.

Carved

The carved method of peat extraction is an old, artisanal method of peat extraction by manual or mechanical (machine-molding) cutting of peat bricks. It was used on small and shallow peatlands . Almost completely replaced by mechanized methods of peat extraction ^[9] .

Sizes of peat bricks of machine molding are: 300x100x90, 300x130x110, 350x130x130 mm ^[10] .

Work Safety

On February 25, 2000, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted the Decree “On the approval of the list of heavy work and work with harmful or hazardous working conditions, the implementation of which prohibits the use of female labor” ^[11] , which lists the work performed by profession:

• 81. Ditch;
• 82. Uprooter;
• 83. Machine operator for the extraction and processing of lumpy peat;
• 84. Machine operator for the preparation of peat deposits for operation;
• 85. The operator of a peat mining excavator;
• 86. A peat worker, busy on a felling of trees, on a lining of peat bricks.

The Government of the Russian Federation adopted Decree of 02.25.2000 “On the approval of the list of heavy work and work with harmful or hazardous working conditions, the implementation of which prohibits the use of labor of persons under eighteen years of age” ^[12] , which lists the work performed by profession:

• 434. Apparatchik for drying peat
• 435. Peat cooker
• 436. Quarryman
• 437. Briquette machine operator
• 438. The operator of machines for the extraction and processing of lump peat
• 439. The operator of machines for the extraction and processing of milled peat
• 440. Machine operator for the preparation of peat deposits for operation
• 441. The operator of a peat mining excavator
• 442. A peat worker engaged in work on trailed mounted mechanisms in the preparation and repair of peat fields, hitching and uncoupling mechanisms, and maintenance of fire fighting units; forest logging with simultaneous uprooting of stumps on peatlands, felling of trees by unhitching and stacking of wood, cutting of commercial wood and stumps with circular and pendulum saws; on distillation, moving and installation of a pumping room, excavator, intermediate conveyor supports, tensioning station, peat extraction units and mechanisms at a workplace.

Peat can be removed from peat extraction sites year-round, mainly by rail along the permanent and temporary narrow gauge tracks . Narrow-gauge railway (for example, Pishchalsky t / pr ) is used to transport peat . Peat can be delivered to large consumers in broad gauge wagons, for this peat is reloaded using peat reloading - a car dumper . Peat is transported for agriculture by road in the winter on temporary winter roads. If peat is stored and stored on dry land, then peat can be transported by road all year round. For this, equipment for container transportation of peat can be used ^[13] .

In connection with the possible spontaneous combustion of peat and fires in forests and drained peat bogs, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted the Decree of June 30, 2007 “On the approval of fire safety rules in forests” ^[14] , which states:

30. When extracting peat in forests, it is required:
a) to separate the operational area of ​​the peat deposit with the facilities, buildings, warehouses and other objects located thereon from the surrounding forests with a fire gap of 75-100 m wide (depending on local conditions) with a water supply channel of the appropriate design size located along the inner edge of the gap;
b) cut down coniferous forest, as well as deciduous trees more than 8 meters high, and remove logging residues and felling from the entire area of ​​the fire gap;
c) completely remove the woody and shrubby vegetation at the fire break from the side of the forest on a strip 6–8 m wide.
31. It is forbidden to lay logging residues and other wood waste, as well as mined peat, on fire breaks separating the production areas of peat deposits from forests.
32. After the completion of peat extraction, land reclamation should be carried out taking into account fire safety in the developed areas.

- VII. Fire safety requirements in forests for peat extraction

• Martinson A.G. , Vvedensky V.P. Research of peat deposits . - M .; L .: ONTI NKTP USSR. Chap. ed. mining and fuel literature, 1936. - 296 p. - 3000 copies.

• Peat machines - www.dic.academic.ru
• Milling method for peat extraction - www.peatmoss.ru
• Information portal Peat industry "Peat industry" - www.industry-peat.ua
• All-Russian Research Institute of Peat Industry of VNIITP OJSC - www.rcom.ru
• Extraction and Hydrotorf (Neopr.) . Date of treatment February 21, 2019.