Utah Bituminous burning in the efm DF520

This coal was the easiest to start out of all the coal I've tested so far. It was lit and burning within a minute or so. It produces very little ash, but more than the Wyoming coal. After burning about 45 pounds, the ash was still on the ring and hadn't fallen into the ash can. There were no clinkers formed and the fire was very hot.

There was no problem feeding the coal, which was sized properly.

Tried different settings on the air. A setting of 3 produced a full pot of burning coal, but was too smokey. A setting of 4 was acceptable, but still produced a little smoke in the boiler. A setting of 5 produced a clean flame with a little burning down into the pot. It also produced intense heat, with flames shooting up to the top of the boiler. Holds the fire well during the downtimes and checking the overnight hold now.

After playing around with the settings, the final air setting was 5 and the feed was maximum. There was a careful balance of air to feed ratio so the coal wouldn't burn down into the pot, but yet burn as smoke-free as possible. The videos show the fire and smoke with these settings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtaQWfDwnbo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y00uNSylX7I

Thanks for doing the test and posting video.
I really appreciate you taking the time to test various soft coals from around the Country/Canada. It would be nice if someone would send soft coal from Kentucky/West Virginia as I understand some of the best quality soft coal is found in these states.

stoker-man wrote:checking the overnight hold now.

How did it go?

Got involved with another job.

I went in the next morning and stuck my hand into the pot to see if I could feel any heat after 17 hours of shutdown and left some flesh in the pot. The auger was empty, so I cranked in some coal, turned on the air, and within 5 minutes, I had a roaring fire again.

I was going to weigh the ash and volume, but haven't done that yet. The ash is very fine and crumbly, probably on a few pounds worth out of the 60# I started with.

As with all the tests of bit, we aren't used to seeing any smoke at all with anthracite, but it's only minuscule compared to wood burning. The fire produced almost NO sparks, so flyash might be minimal. I don't know the longterm effects of burning bit either.

How dirty/sooty does a bit burner get? The coal seems like a winner in my opinion.

stoker-man wrote:left some flesh in the pot

Yikes

This coal I sent you for the test is typical as far as Utah coal goes, Med-high volatile matter/low ash. This coal wasn't oiled but both oil/non-oil treated stoker coal is available.

stoker-man wrote:How dirty/sooty does a bit burner get?

I can't speak for coal from other areas however Utah/Colorado coal burned in stokers does smoke a little bit but soot/fly ash is minimal if stoker is running properly.

stoker-man wrote:I don't know the longterm effects of burning bit either.

None. If a stoker burning soft coal is properly maintained it will last for many years. I still see some of the earliest models of stokermatic coal furnaces come up for sale from time to time and they still work!