Un-burned rice coal ???’s

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Spacecadet
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Joined: Sat. Feb. 10, 2018 9:36 pm
Location: New Paltz NY
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 30-95, Hitzer 30/95
Coal Size/Type: nut
Other Heating: US stove 6041 pellet

Post by Spacecadet » Sat. Oct. 01, 2022 11:35 am

I’ve been burning coal for @ 7 years now I think. I’ve had numerous stoves and have noticed 1 specific thing. Looking at my ash pile, I’ve noticed what appears to be a lot of un-burnt rice coal. All the stokers I’ve had seem to burn it the same. All have been cleaned and the grate holes were cleaned. Overall no stove issues that I can detect. Is the black rice specs unburnt coal or just black ash.
Im questioning the efficiency of the stoker. I ran out of rice last winter so I swapped out the Alaska Channing 2 for the Hitzer 30-95 nut stove and I’ve found I used almost half the coal and the same heat with the other stove.
So is the specs un burnt rice ? Nothing I can see to do or adjust the stove. And I don’t plan on Picking. through the pile to get the rice chips.
Thoughts ?

 
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Rob R.
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Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Oct. 01, 2022 11:43 am

Some of the older stokers did not allow for fine adjustments of feed rate vs. air, and it sounds like yours was not burning as well as it should. It is also possible the rice coal you had wasn't great quality. Some amount of black specs in the ash is normal, but if you noticed that large of a difference when switching to a hand-fed stove, I think something was wrong.

If I was in your shoes I would probably just stick with the Hitzer stoves. My thinking is that if you are going to run a "stove" and not some sort of central heat, you might as well use something that is quiet and works without power. If it uses less coal, that is a nice bonus.


 
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Lightning
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Sat. Oct. 01, 2022 4:03 pm

There is a methodical way to check your ash for unburned coal. Track the weight of your coal going in and the ash coming out. Then caculate ash weight diveded by coal consumed. Coal naturally has a minimum of 8-12% ash. If you get 15-18% that would be acceptable in my opinion. If over 20% there could be some improvement made to get it lower.

Start with a full and level hopper and empty ash tub. Weigh and track the coal added until your ash bucket is full, then weigh it. The last time the hopper is filled bring it back to full and level, this has to be counted as part of the total going in. Make sure to subtract the weight of the containers.

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