Storing Bituminous Coal ???

Hey everyone. I live in southeastern Montana and have been getting coal from Decker, MT. I would like to get a couple extra ton and store it over the summer. I have a few ?s regarding safe storage. I plan on storing it in an old underground garage. "Its a building built into the side of a hill." I plan on storing it in a metal stock water tank that is set up on pallets and cover it with a tarp to keep the occassional roof leak from dripping in the coal. I know I can keep the coal dry and protected from snow or rain, but I was wondering about the higher humidity that results during the spring or after a rain. Should I be concerned about spontaneous combustion from the higher humidity of the underground building??

Ben

I wouldn't be concerned about storing a few ton.

I have a pole shed that has clear plastic roof and side panels to use as a greenhouse. Could I safely store 40 or 50 ton of coal in a building like that? If I filled it 4 or 5 feet deep it would hold 50 ton or more. Would it be better to resheet with steel instead of the clear roof?

Here is some info on storing bit in bulk.
http://www.archive.org/stream/bituminouscoalst00s ... h_djvu.txt

is there any danger of anthracite self combusting,???????

bverwolf wrote:Hey everyone. I live in southeastern Montana and have been getting coal from Decker, MT. I would like to get a couple extra ton and store it over the summer.
Ben

Hi bverwolf, Is that coal that you got from Decker, Mt. considered Powder River Basin coal? I have never burned or or even seen it in person, but I heard that it crumbles down to dust after a short time. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Fran654 wrote:is there any danger of anthracite self combusting,???????

At about 925*F.

I'm not sure if its considered Powder River Basin coal or not. I'm pretty sure the coal that comes from the Gillette, WY area is considered Powder River Basin Coal. I know for a fact that it will crumble pretty easily. The coal I've been getting from Decker seems to be much better coal than the coal from Gillette. It seems to be much harder and burns hotter with less ash and clinkers. In fact, I've only had a few clinkers in the two years I've been burning it. It burns to a fine powder ash. If I burn the stove pretty hot during really cold weather, the ash will clinker a little, but not much. The so called "clinkers" are maybe 1/4" in diameter. The Gillette coal I've had experience with seemed to have lots of clay or dirt in it and seemed to make lots of clinker like stuff. It also seemed like from a 5 gallon pail of coal, yod would get 7 gallons of ash. lol Well maybe not quite that bad, but it did produce alot of ash. I'm much happier with the Decker coal. One thing I do notice about the decker coal is that it has a lot of violatles. I've had some pretty good puff backs if I get lazy and shut the air down too early after reloading. If I take the time and give it plenty of air after loading and "bank" the coal I don't have any troubles however. Since the puffbacks, I have names my stove "puff the dragon." lol If you have any more questions about coal from Decker, let me know. I'll try to answer your questions to the best that I can.

Ben

I would consider it pretty close to the same. Keep in mind that the coal will vary from mine to mine and even from one part of the same mine to the other.

The clay or dirt you were getting might be more of a factor of handling than anything else as the coal I burn from my mine has less than 5% ash as far as the hardness it's quite hard, keep in mind the way the coal is mined in our neck of the woods where explosives are used to fracture the coal to make for easier loading and crushing. The chunks I get, I use a 5 lbs sledge to bust them up, most of the time it takes a couple of whacks.