Why is/was the short auger used for burning pellets?

Last winter I was burning with just the short auger in a 55g plastic drum. If the air was set too high( in my case, 4 teeth, 4 on the air), it would blow fumes out the auger. If I didn't have a least 2 feet of coal in the drum, I would get fumes out of the drum. I just kept the lid clamped on the top of the drum. This year I added a bin auger, and I have had no issue with fumes, even with the air cranked up to 6 (an experiment).

I am using one gallon per ton waste motor oil (10w 30). I am 99.9% sure the pipe is installed correctly but I am going to pull the pipe today and make sure that it is good to go. If I remember correctly there was only one way for that pipe to go in but of course I could be wrong.

Thanks again,
Glenn

grobinson2 wrote:I am using one gallon per ton waste motor oil (10w 30). I am 99.9% sure the pipe is installed correctly but I am going to pull the pipe today and make sure that it is good to go. If I remember correctly there was only one way for that pipe to go in but of course I could be wrong.

Thanks again,
Glenn

There is a roll pin in the bottom of the opening for the pipe to make sure it is "indexed" properly. If that pin is properly aligned with the slot in the pipe, and the pipe is full seated, the holes should be in the right spot. However, if the holes are plugged with fines, or prune pit dust & oil, or some other mysterious substance...you can get fumes down through the auger tube.

Well then the pipe is most deffedently installed correctly. As far as being clogged it is a posibility I guess but it sure wouldent be from the pits. They are a thousand times cleaner then rice coal especialy coal from UAE. I have a sneaky feeling it is the oil, doing the smoking as it is heated and probably evaperating before it gets into the pot. As far as smoke from the pits and coal mixture I have a feeling it is because they are just not packing tight enough in the tube. Also please keep in mind that due to how I have my coal bin setup I only have a foot or two on top of the auger at any given time.

Thanks,
Glenn

The short pipe could be installed both ways, right and wrong. I often suggested eliminating one slot so it could only be installed correctly. I'm not sure if they made that change yet.

Good evening guys,
This evening I emptied the coal bin that my auger pulls out of. I was able to of course see the auger tube and auger. As the blower turned on I noticed smoke coming out of the tub but it did not have the sulfur smell of coal but instead smelled like the waste oil. After about five to ten seconds the smoke stopped even though the blower was still on. The blower shut off and twenty minutes or so later it came back on and the same thing happened. Of course as the coal in the auger got used up and the auger tube was partially empty more and more smoke would come out of the auger for a longer period of time. When the tube was about empty as the blower would run the smoke would keep coming out of the tube but would not stop as it did before. I then covered the auger and tube with coal and manually turned the auger to feed coal into the unit. Once the tube was full of course the smoke stopped completely. Stoker-Man can you please elaborate as to the right way and wrong way the short tube can be installed? I really do not want to shut this thing down and take it apart in the morning.

Thanks,
Glenn

The holes drilled into the short pipe always face UP.

Sounds good. I will shut it down and check first thing in the morning.

Thanks again,
Glenn

Good evening guys,
On Thursday I shut down the boiler cleaned it out completely and took out the auger and side clean out plates. I did have the auger installed correctly with the holes facing up. What I found was that the waste oil that I put on my coal had clogged everything up. I took two videos one before I cleaned out the pot and one after. I will post those this evening when I get home from work and put links to them here in the post. As you will be able to see in the bottom of the pot right above the auger there is a black hard lump that is blocking quite a few of the air holes. I had to chip this stuff up and then vacuumed it out of the pot. Needless to say I am eager to have this batch of coal gone so that I can get another load and not put waste oil on it. I started the boiler up again and it is running like a champ, but I am sure the same thing is going to happen again sooner or later. As least if I dont put any pits in there the smoke is minumul and once I am through this batch of coal I will clean everything out again and then try non oiled coal and pits once again.

Thanks again,
Glenn

Glenn, it seems more likely that the pits produce some tar when first heated and this is causing the crusty, sticky, buildup. I ran a few hundred pounds of pellets through my combustioneer for the hell of it, just to see how they would burn, and when I stopped and switched back to coal, the coal didn't burn quite right. I cleaned out the pot and found what you're describing - which had never happened with my coal oiled with waste oil or mineral oil from TSC (I do a thorough cleaning of the pot and tueyeres bi-annually, and, after years of burning oiled coal never had that happen until I burned pellets). This leads me to believe that the pits have some potential to produce a bit of tar or creosote just like pellets (perhaps not as badly) at the point where they begin to get hot, but before they fully ignite in the burnpot.

Also, why don't the anthracite stokers have what ALL bituminous stokers have, which is a small tube from the combustion air blower (about 1/2" dia.) going to the auger tube? This tiny air tube leads back to the middle of the auger tube to put just a slight amount of pressure in the tube thus keeping all fumes and coal gasses from backing up into the bin. This system works very well and prevents any backflow of gasses not just into the bin, but prevents heat from the fire backing into the auger.

Berlin,
That is very interesting indeed. I had thought about that too and you may very well be right. My theory that it was the waste oil was mainly based on the fact that when I removed the auger, those holes in the top as well as the bottom of the bot where the finds drop down into the ash bin when you pull that side handle was caked full of grinds and waste oil. I wish my EFM had that tube you are talking about for the auger. Do you think that is something we could do on my 520?

Thanks,
Glenn

An excessive amount of plugged holes in the burn plates will cause air to travel down the auger tube...the path of least resistance. The buildup of oily fines in the air chamber is not a good thing. If it gets bad enough it can distort the air pattern, or in an extreme case...catch on fire.

I don't see any part of the flight in the bottom of the pot. Did it break off? It should end around the middle.

Good morning guys,
When I took those pics I had the auger pulled most of the way out so the flight would be further down the tube.

Thanks again,
Glenn

So after four or five days of burning 100% UAE coal with the same waste oil still on it I am starting to get smoke out of the auger. Of course I checked the pot and low and behold I have some buildup in there again. Glad I only have another three tons or so to burn through with this oil.

Thanks again,
Glenn