Can You Covert Oil a Boiler to Coal??

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efo141
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Post by efo141 » Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 11:31 am

Is it possible to make a Keystoker or similar stoker unit work in a used oil boiler? As long as you had room in the burn chamber for the stoker unit and ash pan why wouldent this work? Has anyone herd of this being done?

 
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Post by gaw » Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 1:18 pm

I have heard of conversions the other way around, coal to oil, as long as you are not too worried about efficiency. I am sure with some imagination, cutting, welding, and fabrication you could stick a stoker into an oil boiler. How well would it work? That could be a problem. Generally coal boilers need more water capacity than oil or gas. I do not think it would be very practical. If you have an old coal boiler that someone rigged an oil burner into would be a different story. My guess is that most of those boilers have been sent to the scrap yard years ago.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 4:42 pm

The general design is pretty different between the two fuels but I think it would really be determined by the oil boiler you plan to use for the project, the way it is configured and water capacity. Most likely the only piece you would use is the pressure vessel itself and fabricate the rest. If you could post pics or drawings of the one you plan to use, I'm sure the wizards here would have plenty of ideas about it.

 
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Post by LsFarm » Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 6:34 pm

I have an old oil boiler in the basement,, it was retired long ago.. I removed the sheetmetal to see if I could do exactly what you are suggesting.. at leat with this boiler it's a no-go.. the fire chamber is way too small, there are too small and narrow gaps between the sections for the coal heat and flyash to move through and there appears to be too many places that would clog with fly ash..

I suppose there are some oil boilers that have a simpler design that would work with coal , but I haven't seen one yet.

Greg L

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Post by efo141 » Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 7:50 pm

Forgot about the fly ash problem. I think your right, most modern boilers are to tight and would plug with fly ash.


 
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Post by coal novice » Mon. Sep. 01, 2008 7:56 pm

I'm new to the forum... this is an awesome resource!

I'm a heating mechanic looking to install a coal boiler add-on to my existing BURNHAM oil boiler. Unfortunately the equipment lead times for the units that I like are out to Feb-Mar. '09.

I happen to have an old AMERICAN STANDARD ARCOLINER 4-section Cast Iron Oil Boiler (from a residential change-out last winter, that never made it to the scrapyard). I'm wondering if this boiler would be suitable for conversion to coal. There are large flue passages through the boiler, it appears to have a large water content, the fire box measures 15" wide x 15" long x 28" high (approx), there are two front section doors accessing the fire box (16" wide x 12" high and 16" wide x 10" high) and a third door accessing two large horizontal flue passages at the top of the boiler.

I'm 3rd generation in the trade... my father tells me these were great boilers in their day. Is conversion a possibility?

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thank you.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Mon. Sep. 01, 2008 8:39 pm

Pics or drawings would be nice. You will need a shaker grate or stoker assembly, these can be purchase fairly easily. The flue passes probably won't be useful in this case unless they are vertical, a horizontal flue would plug with flyash quickly.
In most cases, this is not a great idea, but again post some info and the coal wizards will advise/comment.

 
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Post by BIG BEAM » Thu. Sep. 04, 2008 4:24 pm

coal novis
I'm a plumber too.That boiler would be great for coal.I've seen one of them years ago burning coal(hand fired).The person built the boiler up on about 5 or 6 coarses of red brick and that acted as the ash pit.On the top of the brick he built the grate holder out of thick steel and the grate was cast iron.he even had an ash pan made for it,the ash pan was HUGE.He made the ash pan door out of steel with an air adjuster.The door seal was done with a gasket glued on the brick and steel grate holder.All and all a simple set up.The reason I know how it was built is I took it out and installed a new oil boiler.The oil burner hole was closed off with a steel plate also.The guy was getting older and wanted an oil burner so we put in a 4 sec. Weil Mclane(sp?)boiler.I don"t know if it burnned bit or anthracite.I can't remember all the details it was back in the 70"s
DON

BTW I'm 3rd gen also but gramps said my father was an idiot so I shouldn't count his generation. :lol:
Last edited by BIG BEAM on Thu. Sep. 04, 2008 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by BIG BEAM » Thu. Sep. 04, 2008 4:27 pm

coaledsweat wrote:Pics or drawings would be nice. You will need a shaker grate or stoker assembly, these can be purchase fairly easily. The flue passes probably won't be useful in this case unless they are vertical, a horizontal flue would plug with flyash quickly.
In most cases, this is not a great idea, but again post some info and the coal wizards will advise/comment.
They have big fins and look like what we used to call porkchop sec.but they were solid sec.

DON

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. Sep. 05, 2008 10:14 pm

coal novice wrote:it appears to have a large water content, the fire box measures 15" wide x 15" long
The grates would measure about 12-13" square, what is the formula for BTU output for this size grate? Anyone?

As long as you don't have a small horizontal tube in the exhaust path, it should work.


 
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Post by gaw » Fri. Sep. 05, 2008 10:50 pm

coaledsweat wrote:
The grates would measure about 12-13" square, what is the formula for BTU output for this size grate? Anyone?

As long as you don't have a small horizontal tube in the exhaust path, it should work.
That would be dependent on how many pound per hour you could burn. Depth of the coal will matter somewhat also. It sounds like a small stoker like found on a 75-90 thousand BTU stove would work or were you thinking about some sort of hand fired setup?

This is an intuitive guess so take it for what it is worth.

 
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Post by efo141 » Sat. Sep. 06, 2008 11:29 am

Will Keystoker or any other sell just there stoker/hopper unit to you? I could probably find a older boiler that would work but I need the stoker unit. Leisure Line said they would not sell just the stoker.

 
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Post by coal novice » Sat. Sep. 06, 2008 6:44 pm

Guys;

Thank you for the informative responses regarding the ARCOLINER conversion. I'd really like to do this.

BIG BEAM; Your description of the old ARCOLINER conversion is encouraging. However, it seems as if this must have been a dry base boiler... mine's a wet base. (The ARCOLINERS were manufactured in both configurations.)

The wet base design will require that the ash pan be located within the boiler and not below it... but it should still work, right? The larger front access door is at the bottom of the boiler.

Thanks again for the help.

 
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Post by BIG BEAM » Sun. Sep. 07, 2008 6:40 pm

Yep,it was open on the bottom(dry base).
DON

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