Coal Fired Pool Heater

 
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blue83camaro
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Post by blue83camaro » Sat. Sep. 15, 2007 12:46 am

I am building a coal fired pool heater. I have the heat exchanger and the shaker grate built. Hopefully this weekend I will get the refractory cement in the fire chamber. Then I have to build the base with the ash pan and blower. I will post picks as soon as it is finished. I tested the heat exchanger with wood and it worked good but adding wood every 15 min gets old fast not to mention the creasote build up on the exchanger. The heat exchanger is made from 11 runs of 5/16 copper tubing connected to 1 inch copper manifolds.


 
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cheapheat
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Post by cheapheat » Sun. Sep. 16, 2007 11:05 am

Hey blue I am looking forward to seeing those pics

 
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blue83camaro
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Post by blue83camaro » Sun. Sep. 16, 2007 7:53 pm

a few pics of my progress. The fire chamber is one you are looking down into at the shaker grates. It will have a 1.5 inch thick cast refractory wall. The can below will hold the ashes and the blower. On top of the fire chamber will sit another can containing the heat exchanger but it will only be about 8 inches tall. I will refine the whole system if it works good.

Attachments

pool heater.jpg
.JPG | 256.7KB | pool heater.jpg
shaker grate.jpg

the gap between grate and outer can will be filled with refractory cement all the way to the top. I will use a form after the shaker grate.

.JPG | 205.7KB | shaker grate.jpg
heat exchanger 1.JPG

75 ft of 5/16 copper tubing

.JPG | 264.3KB | heat exchanger 1.JPG

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Tue. May. 31, 2011 3:36 pm

I have been reading about and researching coal-fired water heaters for my pool.

Here's a good link, albeit wood-fired, but the site gives some useful information.

http://www.woodstovepools.com/WSP-PROFILE.html

 
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2001Sierra
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Post by 2001Sierra » Tue. May. 31, 2011 9:21 pm

How about a Stoker Pool heater for us "girly" aka older coal burners. Just remember we have been there and done that and maybe "Earned" the stoker right for our older coal burning bones :P :P

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. May. 31, 2011 10:02 pm

My EFM is heating the pool right now...80 degrees currently. :D

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. May. 31, 2011 10:39 pm

80 degrees???? are you takin a bath or swimmin---the old swimming hole down at the creek is about 60*--I think my willy got sucked up towards my adams :oops2: :clap: toothy


 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Wed. Jun. 01, 2011 8:40 am

I would never, ever, use a wood-fired pool heater!

I guess I posted the wood-fired heater link as an example of what could be made using a coal-fired stoker.

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Tue. Jun. 21, 2011 9:43 am

I am posting this for future reference:

The goal is to have a heater that has enough capacity to heat the pool to your desired level in a reasonable amount of time. Maintaining that temperature is a lot easier once the pool is up to temp.

First, the capacity of most pool heaters are rated in BTU's or British Thermal Units. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water, one degree F. And since there are 8.33 gallons of water per pound, it takes 8.33 BTU's to raise one gallon of water, one degree F.

Now let's calculate:

1. Determine the number of gallons in your pool (G).

2. Determine the amount in temperature that you want to raise the pool temp (the easiest way to figure this is to use the air temp as the minimum and the desired pool temp as the maximum) (Delta T).

3. Calculate the number of BTU's needed (BTU) per gallon of water by multiplying step 2 x 8.33. Multiply this number times the gallons of water in your pool (G). This is the number of BTU's to raise your pool temp from the minimum to desired temp.

4. Determine how FAST you want to be able to go from the minimum temp to the desired temp (in hours) (H).

5. Divide the total number of BTU's from step 3 by the hours in step 4 to yield the BTU's per hour that your heater will need to deliver.

6. Multiply Step 5 by a error factor of 20% and add to step 5. This is approximately the size of heater that you will need.

Example:

1. Assume pool volume, G = 10,000 gallons 2. Assume 80F desired pool temp and 60F air temp. Delta T = 80 - 60 = 20F 3. BTU's per gallon x Delta T: 8.33 x 20 = 166.6 BTU's per gallon. BTU/Gal x Gallons (G): 166.6 x 10,000 gal = 1,666,000 Total BTU's. (Wow, seems like a lot!) 4. Assume I want to be able to warm the pool in two days of continuous operation = 48 hours. 5. Total BTUs / Hours: 1,666,000 / 48 = 34,708 BTU's per hour. 6. (BTU/Hr x 20%) + BTU/Hr: 34,708 x 0.20 = 6,941 BTU's 6,941 + 34,708 = 41,649 BTU's per hour.

Now, most pool heaters come in a round number of BTU's like 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, etc. You should select the closest size to your needs (usually on the higher side is best).

Hence, for this example, a 50,000 BTU heater would be more than adequate.

Obviously, you could also work these calculations backward to determine what Delta T you could handle given a certain size heater and pool size.

 
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AA130FIREMAN
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Post by AA130FIREMAN » Tue. Jun. 21, 2011 3:36 pm

Don't you know the easiest way to heat the pool is go to your local jenny craig and post a pool party poster, when they arive dump a box of twinkies in the pool and all that excess blubber will warm the pool in no time flat. :lol:

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. Jun. 21, 2011 3:37 pm

That might work, but the pool would be half empty when they all got out.

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Tue. Jun. 28, 2011 7:03 pm

If I had a dedicated boiler for just heating the pool, would any boiler work well or the smaller the better?

And, being the summertime, a boiler would have a hard time staying lit in summer temps.

The load would be 35,000 to 50,000 BTU's at most. Any boilers that small or would another method work better?

This would also be a chlorine free pool using an ozone generator instead of the harsh chlorine.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Tue. Jun. 28, 2011 7:26 pm

EarthWindandFire wrote:This would also be a chlorine free pool using an ozone generator instead of the harsh chlorine.
Ozone is corrosive too.

 
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Post by cabinover » Thu. Jun. 30, 2011 5:06 am

I used my AA and a SS heat exchanger. Was the best week we've spent in the pool last summer. Haven't gotten around to plumbing it again this year, just not enough time.

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Thu. Jun. 30, 2011 9:40 pm

C'mon Bob! No midnight swims for you! ;)


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