Rotating coal in a bunker?

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job
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Post by job » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 5:29 pm

I started burning coal in 2017. My coal bunker is 12x8x8' and I burn anthracite nut coal.
We burn most of the year as we use hot water for our business.

In the last 2 years I have not cleaned out the back of the bunker. Is this something that should be done and If so about every so many years? I'm down to about 1.5 tons in the bunker and have a dump truck load coming mid next week.

I have a WC55 and waist oil boiler with 1,500 gallons of pressurized storage.

 
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Post by CoalJockey » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 5:37 pm

All the fines are settled to the bottom by now, if it were myself I would want to get the coarse stuff out of there and burn it. You can shovel the top off until you get down into the dirty stuff and screen it from there. Perhaps the fines are not an issue for you since you are running a hand-fed unit.

Some guys would say “happy day” and let it lay in there for the next 30 years but we own a coal yard and having clean coal for our customers is #1.

Just my thoughts, ‘tis all.

 
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Post by job » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 8:48 pm

Thank you CoalJockey.
Some how your response told me to do it, but you also talked me out of it.

I'll pull it to the door with the subcompact tractor.
I never thought about it, but With tons of fines It's just harder to keep a good air flow through the fire when loading. There is a bit of a trick to it. If i did scream it what would you do with the dust?

 
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Post by cabinover » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 9:02 pm

Take it out with the garbage? Throw it on the farthest end of your driveway? Especially after an ice storm.


 
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Post by CoalJockey » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 9:46 pm

cabinover wrote:
Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 9:02 pm
Take it out with the garbage? Throw it on the farthest end of your driveway? Especially after an ice storm.
Yup. Toss it in your neighbors outdoor wood boiler.

I really don’t see this as a do-or-die thing, but just as a housekeeping measure if you like to keep the dust down when you are doing your firing. As you mentioned, enough fines will help snuff a low fire.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Mon. Apr. 29, 2019 9:54 pm

You should try and avoid putting one load of coal on top of another. Everytime it is moved you are creating fines whether it is the loader dumping in the truck, shoveling it or the coal bouncing off of other coal during delivery into your bin. Wherever the coal is coming in is where the bulk of the fines will be, the larger pieces will roll off the pile as it's building. You should try and work your way to there first. If you can alternate which side you empty year to year do that. It really depends on the bin and how you are getting it delivered.

 
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Post by job » Tue. Apr. 30, 2019 6:58 pm

I ended up running it all through a 3/8" screen and loaded it into my dumping trailer.

I'm going to scoop up the fines and put the in a drum and drop them at the family farm. I'm sure someone will burn them.

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. May. 01, 2019 10:17 am

How often it gets cleaned depends on who your dealer is.

My bulk dealer (Staelen's Coal Sales, Madison NY) does a pretty good job of washing the coal before delivery. It's more uniform sized and far cleaned than any brand of bagged coal I've ever used.

As Richard pointed out, poured into a bin by coal shute there is a higher concentration of small stuff under where the end of the shute was. Whenever I dig there I get some fines, but not enough that just putting them into the stove causes any problems.

Back when I was just running one stove, my bin was about half the size of yours - 5 X 8 X 6 high.

After that several years of going through 3-4 tons a year, since there was some fines turning up in the coal, I figured the bin would need cleaning. I let the level go down and shoveled the season remainder into 5 gallon buckets, then cleaned up the accumulation of fines. There was only enough fines to not-quite fill a 5 gallon.

A couple of years ago, I bought a ease heater stove and expanded the bin to 8 x 12 x 6 high. Now, running two stoves for 1-1/2 seasons and using the larger bin, I used 10 tons per season. So about 15 tons in the bin since it was last cleaned. I've emptied one side and most of the other down to floor level. Looking at the exposed floor I doubt I can fill a 5 gallon pail with the amount of fines that are visible.

Paul


 
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Post by job » Wed. May. 01, 2019 6:43 pm

I don't have any decent anthracite dealers in VA where I'm at.

There is a co-op that will order it by the semi load only if there able to presell most of the load. I get 10 or 20 yards at a time. I thought I was getting 10 yards on 5-7-19, but I think there sending me 20 yards. I think there's under 5 people

I truly do not know how many tons I go through a year, but I'll fire up sometime in July and will only shut down to clean till spring.

 
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Post by AllanD » Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 4:45 pm

It is Rock, on average it is 250million years old, Why bother?

I keep my stove Coal in a pickup truck bed supported on a heavy wooden
frame (constructed of railroad ties) when I filled my bin last season, I had nearly a ton that wouldn't fit, that I simply dumped in a Plastic bed liner set on the ground.

I use my uncle's dump trailer as it hauls 3.5 Tons at once and Lehigh Coal is only 19 miles away

I'm burning that coal first as It will not be accessable once it snows OR if it rains then freezes, but meanwhile my Bin is full and dry as that bed has a Cap (topper or whatever you prefer to call it) and the tailgate is under my Aluminum patio cover right outside my patio door

 
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Post by Richard S. » Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 7:20 pm

AllanD wrote:
Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 4:45 pm
It is Rock, on average it is 250million years old, Why bother?
If you keep putting one load on top of another what happens is a lot of the fines from each load migrate to the bottom. This is especially true if you are getting bulk delivery, most of the fines will be directly below where the end of the chute was. This also where you will find the flatter pieces of coal.

 
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Post by Lightning » Sat. Nov. 09, 2019 9:26 pm

Like Richard said, if it's possible alternate sides or dig towards the coal chute door first before taking from other parts of the bin.

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