Hopper bottom Grain bin gravity flow to boiler?

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Debartello
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Posts: 3
Joined: Mon. May. 13, 2019 1:35 pm
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
Stoker Coal Boiler: Looking at a keystoker boiler

Post by Debartello » Mon. May. 13, 2019 3:06 pm

Hey brothers,
Army Vet living in Vietnam but moving back to the states so getting the money and plan together. Im about to pull the trigger on a 4,000sqf house in eastern, PA that has a working gas boiler with cast iron radiators that appears to be serviceable. I am sold on getting a keystoker coal boiler to replace the gas boiler. I have 10 grand reserved for the upgrade to a coal boiler. The current gas boiler is located in the garage so that it would be able to receive a straight pvc shot to a hopper silo I could place next to and above the garage as the garage is recessed into a hill.
https://farmandranchdepot.com/Hopper_Bin_With_Fou ... ory_id=430
That silo would be perfect accept:
it clearly and plainly says "storage of non-flowable materials void all warranties. Soybean meal, meat scraps and many other materials are NOT considered free-flowing and should not be stored in bins"
Is rice coal wet or dry technically considered a "free flowing" material?
wet would be ok frozen (i think but do not know) as long as it is broken up but is the ability to gravity flow through PVC inhibited without the agitation provided by an auger which I will not have? My end goal is to have a hopper silo similar to the link above placed diagonally out and above the side of my garage gravity feeding directly into a boilers hopper. I have not contacted a salesperson yet, I will in the next few months. I am going to need the cheap heat because I want to heat the big house, medium sized swimming pool, hot tub and driveway in the winter . I also have not worked out how to prevent the water from entering the house from the pvc without adding restriction to the gravity flow.
Any insight to any of these issues would be greatly appreciated. I have always heated with wood and was raised with wood burning so making the jump to coal is an epic change that so far has been proving to be a great idea from reading this awesome forum.

 
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Debartello
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon. May. 13, 2019 1:35 pm
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
Stoker Coal Boiler: Looking at a keystoker boiler

Post by Debartello » Fri. May. 17, 2019 6:44 am

I see Jim from Macungie running 4" PVC at a 43 degree angle that is working good for him with his auger but I am not seeing any threads about just running gravity from a bin to the hopper. If there is a dependable way to deploy this with a hopper bin it would be preferred right? Would still have to check the boiler hopper to make sure it is being gravity fed, Graphite paint in the grain hopper/pvc, keeping the steepest angles possible, getting the coal oiled will reduce bridging of the coal maybe? Is bridging of rice coal so much an issue this is exactly why not many use gravity only?


 
CapeCoaler
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Location: Cape Cod, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: want AA130
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Fri. May. 17, 2019 11:39 am

There are a few threads on gravity feed...
Smaller outside bin that feeds to the hopper by gravity only...
Your feed bin should be good if the cone is 45* or more...
Rice and buck are pretty fluid...
The connector pipe from bin to house should be PVC and 6-8"...
As straight as possible...
A wye off the bottom off the bin bottom...
Straight shot to the inside hopper...
The wye will give the ability to shove a rod down the straight pipe...
Pipe should be 45*+ to keep the flow...
You could test with an IBC tote at top of hill with pipe to bin...
Coal must be dry by the time freezing weather happens...
So fill in spring and burn year round...
Could even run some pex on bottom of cone to keep the bottom of the bin cone happy...

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