Fuel Density

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Sunny Boy
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Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 2:36 pm

For anyone else who was wondering along the same lines.

I've been wondering a couple of things in connection with which coal size to stock up for the new base heater. Reading past threads about what some owners say is the best size for heating and longest burning, some of the info seemed contradictory.

Plus, I've wondered just how much the firebox on my range is supposed to hold. Now that it has new grates, instead of one of the old grates being badly warped upward taking up coal space, I can now get that answer.

So, I filled the firebox with nut coal and then removed and weighed it. It came to 20 pounds.

Then I tried filling the firebox with stove coal to the same level as the nut coal. That came to 18 pounds.

So, in the same space, using stove coal instead of nut coal there's a loss of 10% coal by weight.

Having used some stove coal in the range last winter I found that while it reacted faster to damper changes, it also did not last as long before needing reloading. Now, I have further proof of that loss of fuel density by measuring weights for a given space.

The first picture is 20 pounds of nut coal. The second is the stove coal - third is the scale showing the stove coal from the second picture. Each time, the scale was zeroed out for the empty weight of the bucket before it was filled so the scale is showing just the weight of the coal.

Paul

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coalnewbie
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Post by coalnewbie » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 3:12 pm

Simple powder mechanics will tell you that is you mix but and stove the density will be the greatest as the interstices tend to fill up. Perhaps you have hit on the best reason for range coal.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 3:40 pm

Hey Paul.. compare a five gallon bucket of nut size against a five gallon bucket of stove size then compare it to a five gallon bucket of mixed.. :-)

I'd be very curious to see how they measure out. Using the bucket should give you even more accurate measurements for density..


 
scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 3:44 pm

"Fuel density" will remain the same regardless of the size of the coal.

A pound of nut has the same energy as a pound of stove.

You simply get less "Fuel in the tank" if you will, by increasing the size of the rocks.

What am I missing?

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 4:10 pm

scalabro wrote:What am I missing?
I believe Paul is meaning the density of the load of coal, not the actual density of the coal material itself.. Which has more coal? According to his measurements, the Stove size load was 18 pounds and the nut size load was 20 pounds..

 
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Sunny Boy
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Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Sep. 02, 2014 4:46 pm

Lightning wrote:
scalabro wrote:What am I missing?
I believe Paul is meaning the density of the load of coal, not the actual density of the coal material itself.. Which has more coal? According to his measurements, the Stove size load was 18 pounds and the nut size load was 20 pounds..
Correct Lee.

Sorry if I confused anyone. I meant fuel density (weight) within the same space. In other words, how much coal will each size fit in the same firebox.

And if I could get a smaller size than nut coal to not fall through these grates, the firebox would hold even more weight of coal.

Paul


 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Wed. Sep. 03, 2014 2:33 am

He means BULK DENSITY, not the specific gravity/denisty of the coal itself or carbon (and carbon forms tertiary structures so even pure carbon's density varies slightly based on these structure differences -- carbon's pretty neat !)

Bigger particles usually = less weight per volume or less bulk density

 
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Wed. Sep. 03, 2014 2:38 am

Sunny Boy wrote:
Correct Lee.

Sorry if I confused anyone. I meant fuel density (weight) within the same space. In other words, how much coal will each size fit in the same firebox.

And if I could get a smaller size than nut coal to not fall through these grates, the firebox would hold even more weight of coal.

Paul
Assume that you could pack it extremely well, with no air pockets in the fire box between the coal particles .... but alas, your coal likely would not burn ... needs those gaps to allow air flow for combustion.

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