Coalpail.com Forum

The burning experiment is supposed to occur this weekend. Changes are always possible. The experiment has to start from somewhere.

From what I've gathered, this stoker is being designed to handle the Western bituminous coals (Wyoming, etc.) and these coals tend to not clinker like the Eastern coals. The rotating burn pot is more to just eject the ash down into the pan below, and possibly to keep any clinker formation minimal.

I don't think that stoker would burn the local Illinois coal we have here very well. The high volatile content requires high firebox temperatures which will be hard to achieve with the stoker pot hanging in the middle of air, whereas a stoker set in the traditional refractory hearth will not have the excess air and furnace volume to deal with. I also think the Illinois coal would still clinker up into a big glob and maybe take the entire fire with it when it falls over the edge.

Of course, I am totally guessing at this point, so that EFM might burn our stuff really well. That would be a GOOD thing.

When I tried to burn West Virginia Bitum coal in my Iron Fireman, which was set up like this EFM, that is suspended over an ashpan, without supporting refractory around the firepot,,, what happened is exactly what Chris described. The tall coke tree grew, and when it fell over, the bottom of the coke tree was the fire, and the fire went with the tree into the ash pan...

From the description of the Wyoming coal I've read, the EFM design should work, it may not be as efficient as burning anthracite,,, but at ~$50/ton... who cares??

With no clinker removal needed every 12 hours,, this boiler should be a winner... nobody likes to be tethered to their heating appliance... I'm really enjoying my AA boiler in this warm weather,, my hopper holds about 2 weeks worth of coal, and an ashpan is good for about 3-4 days... virtually maintenance free.

Greg L

The test burn went very well, with no ash problems at all, and now the experiment will continue as the pot will be installed in a working boiler nearby.

As stated above, the experimental stoker is being installed into a working 520 nearby. We are waiting for a 500# shipment of coal from Wyoming to arrive.

That's proabably some damn expensive coal...

Looking forward to your testing. Doing a shop expansion this year and will need another stoker. Here is a shot of the stoker coal we get here in Wester Co.
Gary

Hey that coal is shiny! Thought Bit coal was dull?????? Scott

Today I heard that a larger feed worm and tube was made due to there being 3 different sizes of coal that are lumped into one grade. There are some Prill parts being recycled too for the experiment.

Hey that coal is shiny! Thought Bit coal was dull?????? Scott

Scott,
Don't know about that. I have been burning this going on 5 years now. Haven't noticed any changes in the look. I will be interested in how the stove handles the Klinkers. I think that will be the biggest hurtle with selling to the general public.
Gary

I don't think the coal from Wyoming created clinkers. It burned nicely.

No klinkers..now that would be something.
Here are my mine from yesterdays run. Only ran part of the day, as it was warm.
Gary

Hi Klinker Mine,, where does your coal come from?? And, what type of coal burning appliance are you burning it in?? A hand feed? A stoker, and if so, what kind??

Those clinkers look very familiar , I used to see ones like that every day, or at least every day I tried to 'hook' them from the bottom of the firebox..where they were block the air flow through the grates..

Greg L

Greg,
It is a converted Lenox. Its a stoker that feeds from the bottom. They make great additions to the road. Here is a pile I have been saving since Jan 1. I am going to rough in a road down in the bottom of my property this summer. They really help in the winter, especially up here at 7000ft

The coal comes from Oxbow and their longwall mine here in Western CO
Gary
**Broken Link(s) Removed**

Bituminous burning stokers are rare out east.. especially ones in operation.. Can you post a photo of it?? Is it an underfeed firepot, with a refractory ledge around the perimeter of the firepot where the clinkers collect for your manual removal?? I have an old 'Iron Fireman' underfeed stoker meant for bituminous, but I used it for burning anthracite,, without the perimeter ledge, the ash [no hard clinkers] just falls off the edge and into the ashpan below.

A couple of photos would be great!!

Apparently the Wyoming coal has fairly high volitiles but also a fairly high ash fusion temp, so clinker formation is rare.. sounds like nice coal once the volitiles are burnt off. Does your converted Lennox have heated over-the-fire secondary air to burn of the volitiles from the freshly feeding coal??

I think this EFM would burn your clinker-prone coal, but you may not have all the clinkers fall freely into the ashpan, you may have to coax them around the stoker's mechanism. I think most would fall without issue.

Greg L
.