Burning Dirty Dusty Coal in Stoker

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steevesj
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Post by steevesj » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 12:16 pm

I need some advice. I was just given about 1 1/2 tons of buckwheat anthracite that was in an old building under the floor joyces. It is in feed bags and very dusty. Some has dirt mixed in where they got to the bottom. Will burning this be a problem for my Keystoker KA-6? I doubt I will use the coal with dirt mixed in but am not sure about the not so dirty coal. I really don't have any good ideas about cleaning it and not sure that I am that ambious if I did.
Thanks,
Jon

 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 12:45 pm

Just wash it off, put some in a bucket with holes in the bottom, rinse it real good and dump it into another or your coal bin. Shouldn't hurt it. It just won't burn if it's not coal. maybe mix it with what you have so you are not burning the dirt/coal mix 100%.....

 
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wlape3
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Post by wlape3 » Fri. Oct. 23, 2009 12:54 pm

The only problem I've ever seen with dusty or dirty coal is the dust/dirt can cause an auger to bind if you have some particularly wet coal. This happened to me once and I have stopped putting coal dust from the inside of the plastic bags into my hopper. Also, depending on the design of your burner area the dust can fall into the air grate an eventually reduce your airflow.


 
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jpen1
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Post by jpen1 » Sat. Oct. 24, 2009 9:07 pm

Get some rabit wire or some #8 mesh and nail/staple it fast to some 1" x 4"s nailed/screwed together to make a 4 sided frame. Pour some coal in wash it withah a hose shake it a little then dump it into some buckets or back into your coal bin.

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Sat. Oct. 24, 2009 10:57 pm

Just wash it as suggested and while doing so look it over for anything that could cause a jam in your Keystoker-namely stones or other foreign matter. I don't think the dirt will be a problem. The beauty of the Tri-Burner on my Alaska is practically anything will go out of the hopper and down the grate without a problem. Last winter when I was low on coal I had some that went off the tarp onto 3/4" stone, I tried to weed it all out but came up with a few ashpans with giant clinkers in them, turned out to be red-ash surprise (ash with a stone center).

As far as the fines/dirt going through the holes in the grate: Removing the proper parts and vacuuming out under the grate should be on the "routine maintenance" list for any stoker of this type.

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