Briquettes - A slice of Irish life

Ambled up to the shop this morning to get something, so I brought the camera for a blip. It is always easy to see something when you head off walking.

Its the everyday things that we see that we take for granted. The bale of briquettes has been a way of life in Ireland for a long time. Years ago when you hadn't enough for the coal you sometimes bought a bale of briquettes. You would see people who lived in flats or bedsits heading up the road carrying a bale to keep them warm on a cold night.

Central heating has eaten into this, but they are still on sale so there is a need for them and long may they live.

Briquettes

Bord na Móna Fuels Limited produce a range of peat based fuels for domestic and industrial customers. Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes are one of Ireland?s premier brands and enjoy nation wide distribution.

Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes are made from 100% natural products with no additives or binders. They are produced using a complex and energy efficient process. Each briquette is a small block of highly compressed dry peat.

Because Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes are much drier than turf they are easier to light. They produce more heat when burned and less smoke. Modern technology has been used to ensure consistency of product.

Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes are an environmentally friendly solid fuel, due to their low sulphur emissions. Their use, along with other low-smoke fuels, has played a significant part in making the air of Dublin and Cork cleaner.

The process of manufacturing Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes has a number of stages.

Peat which has been milled on the surface of the bog, is air dried and stored. It is then brought by narrow gauge railway across the bogs to the factory.

Different grades of peat are carefully blended in the factory to ensure raw material consistency.

It is then ground to a fine particle size and dried to about 10% moisture content using heat from large industrial boilers at this stage, the peat is a fine, powdery material.

The peat is extruded through a twin-stamp briquette press. The compression is sufficient to bind the remaining water with the peat, so forming the briquette.

When the Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes have cooled they are baled and automatically baled and palletised.

Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes are manufactured at two locations in Ireland, Littleton in Co. Tipperary and Derrinlough in Co. Offaly. Bord na Móna Fuels Limited holds ISO9002 for the manufacture and distribution of Bord na Móna Peat Briquettes and holds the Q-Mark (based on business excellence) from Excellence Ireland. Both briquette factories have attained the "Excellence Through People" awarded from Fás.