National 300 Soft Coal Boiler on Hard Coal

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mdhorvath
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Location: Sidman Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S500 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea Anthracite

Post by mdhorvath » Tue. May. 14, 2013 8:55 pm

I have a national 300 boiler and Wilburt 30 lb/hr stoker. I'm burning buckwheat hard coal since January. Has anyone else tried this? IT WORKS GREAT!!!
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Berlin
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Post by Berlin » Tue. May. 14, 2013 11:55 pm

yup, I've played with anth in my clinkering-type bituminous stoker and it works just fine. I burn bituminous though - more heat, less ash, and less cost.

 
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mdhorvath
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Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S500 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea Anthracite

Post by mdhorvath » Sun. Jun. 02, 2013 5:11 pm

Update:This is what happens when you burn hard coal in a soft coal stoker!!!

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Update: This is what happens when you burn hard coal in a soft coal stoker!!!!

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rockwood
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Stokermatic
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Baseburners & Antiques: Malleable/Monarch Range
Coal Size/Type: Lump and stoker + Blaschak-stove size

Post by rockwood » Sun. Jun. 02, 2013 6:35 pm

Ouch!
I've only burned soft coal (12K btu+) with a stoker but a couple things come to mind...The coal you're burning is a bit small for this stoker, I think pea coal would have worked better. With larger sized coal you could have the air set lower (or the same) and still be able to effectively burn all the coal in the retort. Smaller size coal can block air from reaching the center of the fuel bed. This results in the coal building up too high above the pot and the perimeter (or parts of the perimeter) of the coal fire to burn extremely hot....I suspect that's what happened here.

I would contact will burt and see if they still sell sectional tuyeres so you can replace the bad ones...I've heard that they may be discontinuing the coal stoker part of the business though.

I would burn soft coal in this in the future. If you don't want to use soft coal, or if it's not available, then I would burn pea hard coal.


 
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mdhorvath
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Joined: Sat. Mar. 09, 2013 3:42 pm
Location: Sidman Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S500 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea Anthracite

Post by mdhorvath » Sun. Jun. 02, 2013 7:20 pm

I have a spare set of tuyeres. I am replacing this with an AHS s500 anyway so it will soon be up for sale.

 
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Berlin
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Post by Berlin » Sun. Jun. 02, 2013 9:58 pm

That's too bad, why are you replacing it?

I've seen tuyeres look like that when used with soft coal too. Typically its from too much air and not leaving enough ash over the retort. A fuel bed somewhere between 6-12 inches is ideal.

 
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mdhorvath
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Posts: 96
Joined: Sat. Mar. 09, 2013 3:42 pm
Location: Sidman Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S500 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Pea Anthracite

Post by mdhorvath » Mon. Jun. 03, 2013 6:09 pm

I have numerous excuses for changing including difficulty finding good stoker coal, the soot that falls on my home, the huge amount of clinkers and I'm looking forward to only taking ashes out of the furnace once every two or three days in stead of three times a day.

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