My EFM WCB24 Hand-Fired Boiler Was Wasting Coal

stoker-man wrote:Top efficiency includes recycling the coal openly laying on my lane. Yesterday I raked it up and sifted it and got about 150# back. It annoyed me to see it there.

It annoys me also. I have some in my driveway and yard, because the dump truck was too far back when he started dumping. I wasn't here when it was delivered. I've got about 75lbs. or so to clean up when I can. But 3 bulging discs with nerve infringement keeps me from doing a lot of things at the present time.

I too had problems with the grates jamming my Tarm. It was from the bone I was getting from the mine run Nut coal I was using. Some of that bone looked like coal but after burning it was still intact and strong as granite. I went back to Pea coal. With Pea coal the bone can still fall straight through the grates. My ashes look perfect; there is practically no wasted coal anymore. I can burn the Pea 365 days a year.

Ok, I'm back again with my coal burning experiment. I have lots of time to play in the Winter. The experiment began on 1/6 with 300# of nut coal, about 9000 cu. in. or (7) 5-gal. buckets.

3 days later I have 22.5# of unfiltered ash. The total amount returned for reburning is 16.15#, or 71%. Some of the reason for the waste is because the grates get jammed right away, remaining open, and when I have to open the bed and push down the ash, I use a pipe to break it up. After a long burn, there isn't enough of a bed to ignite new coal, so I add 2 or 3 pieces of pallet wood which works well. I also keep a flue damper adjusted to keep the draft around negative .05. The flue temp is usually 100-200 degrees with a SS lined chimney 25' high.

How soon are you shaking the grates after starting a fresh fire?

i poke through the pile before I add coal and then after a long burn before I add coal.

The next time you start with a clean firebox, try and let it burn 24 hours before shaking the grates, and then just shake them enough until the slightest resistance is felt. I am wondering if you are being too aggressive poking/shaking and getting unburned coal into the grates, when it should be only ash,

stoker-man wrote:Ok, I'm back again with my coal burning experiment. I have lots of time to play in the Winter. The experiment began on 1/6 with 300# of nut coal, about 9000 cu. in. or (7) 5-gal. buckets.

Did you start on 1/6 with a totally cleaned out fire chamber?

yes

Power went out last night soon after it was relighted after a warm day. Had to scoop everything out. Does anybody have an effective battery backup package. I would need to run up to two Taco 007s and a zone valve, or 3 007s and no zone valve. Not worried about heating the house, but overfiring the boiler if I'm not home when the power goes out.

stoker-man wrote:yes

Ok, you have to account for ash that has settled in the fuel bed along grate frames or where ever to get a fair measurement to use for a coal vs ash comparison. The way I do it is by measuring over a 8-10 day span, starting a few days after a new fire and clean out..

Finished up my test today. I started with 300# of nut coal; source unknown. I ended up with 5.5# of spent rock/clinker as in picture #2. 19.8# of pure ash and 27.1# to be reburned, as in picture #1.

Where's the rest of the weight? Started with 300# and only have 52.4# remaining.

It's worthwhile for me to continue reburning just to reduce the amount of waste I have to dispose of. I had been using it for fill, then covering with soil and planting grass, which wasn't cheap or easy.

As for Rob's suggestion, I'm not getting ash that can go through the grates. The coal burns and the entire pile is orange and then it goes cold, remaining about the same size as what I put in to start with. Maybe the design of the grate system or firebox isn't conducive to good coal burning. Fortunately, I use less than 2 tons for a typical Winter and use wood for heat and hot water for the other 9 months. It does a great job with wood.

Burning the recycled coal.

Something strange is going on. Perhaps the coal bed is getting too hot and the ash is fusing together.

Try some stove size coal.

I don't see any brand of coal mentioned,maybe it is lousy coal ? Along with Rob's suggestion of trying stove size coal ...... maybe you should try the stove/egg mix from Gale coal in Ginther ,Pa. If your unit works fine with wood chunks,maybe it would like coal chunks too.

I can't get stove coal nearby. I'm thinking that pea might work well. With the price of oil only slightly higher than the equivelant of coal, I'm getting my tank filled this summer.